“Middle Schools are a forgotten piece to the No Child Left Behind puzzle, and yet they represent over half of all students tested under NCLB,” said Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, a member of the Education and Labor Committee. “This reauthorization is a critical opportunity to advance national middle level policy and help raise student achievement in the middle grades. Thoroughly preparing all students to graduate ready for a demanding global economy makes the transformation of middle level education an imperative.”
This past summer, Rep. Grijalva introduced H.R. 3406, the Success in the Middle Act, which would offer federal support low-performing middle schools. HR 3406 would drive student improvement and school turnaround by:
- Requiring State Education Agency’s to create a middle school improvement plan for eligible schools and developing an early warning data system to identify at-risk students.
- Calling for increased technical assistance and support in order to raise student achievement and foster successful professional development.
- Establishing professional learning communities focused on student and teacher success in the middle grades and across middle grades throughout and between school districts.
- Funding a clearing house and database dedicated to housing and disseminating best practices in the middle level.
“In order to have any real chance of turning around our nation’s lowest-performing high schools and raising the graduation rate, we must work to turn around our lowest-performing middle schools,” said Grijalva. “The middle years are a critical time in a student’s education and the schools and educational programs they experience will have a significant impact upon their future. We must not let middle schools fall behind.”
Rep. Grijalva will be offering H.R. 3406 as an amendment during the upcoming mark-up of the No Child Left Behind Act in the Education and Labor Committee.