Middle School Teacher Prep: Effective or Ineffective?

Lindsey Moody

Longwood University

READ 650: Evaluation of Literacy Research

Dr. Snow

April 4, 2021
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Abstract

Teacher Prep Programs (TPP) serve to prepare pre-service teachers for their life as a

teacher after college. TPPs vary from college to college, but some teacher prep programs have a

specialized middle school program for those that are interested in teaching middle grades. One

area of concern with such variation in TPPs is whether middle school teachers are adequately

prepared to teach once in the classroom (Yecke, 2005). Also, some argue that the varied terrain

of middle school teacher prep should be more centralized and there should be a more specialized

curriculum for middle grade teacher prep (Cook, Howell & Faulkner, 2016). Middle school

principals suggest a desire for teachers that are certified in multiple subject areas (Mee &

Haverback, 2017). This begs the question of which criteria middle school TPPs are using to meet

the dynamic needs of a middle school environment.

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Middle School Teacher Prep: Effective or Ineffective?

A teacher preparation program is something that every teacher goes through during their

college years. This program prepares future teachers for the world of education by having

courses that are embedded with hours in the public school systems. However, there is a different

selection for those who want to pursue the role of a middle school teacher. Usually, middle

school teacher prep is treated as an addition to either an elementary or secondary degree. Since

most middle school teacher preparation programs are treated this way, most literacy practices are

taught for either the elementary or secondary certification and not middle school. Thus, it brings

us to the question: Should middle school teacher prep programs be reformed to give teachers the

appropriate preparation?

Agreements in Research

Looking at different types of research on middle school teacher prep, researchers agreed

that some type of reform needed to be done. One major issue that points to middle school teacher

prep reform is teacher preparation. Yecke (2005) stated that “alarming percentages of middle

grade students were taught by teachers who lacked a college major or certification in the areas

they were teaching” in the 1999 to 2000 school year. However, in more recent studies, Mee

(2017) found that most middle school principals highly recommend that candidates are

specialized in two middle school subject areas, with the next preference being that they are

specialized in one middle school subject area.

Another issue that points to reform is that middle school teacher prep is not the same in

every state. As Faulkner (2017) states, “...close examination of teacher preparation and licensure

across the country reveals a terrain that is uneven and somewhat difficult to navigate” (Faulkner

et. al, 2017). Middle school teacher prep varies from state to state, which makes it difficult to
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think about how well middle school teachers will be prepared when they begin teaching. The

article also points out that “of the 1,324 programs offering teaching preparation, about 25% have

a specialized middle level program and an additional 25% offer some type of course or

experience connected to the middle grades. But slightly more than half of the institutions had no

specialized middle level preparation” (Faulkner et. al, 2017). The study also states how there is

not an “independent identity” of middle school teacher prep, as most teacher preparation

programs treat middle school as an addition to either a primary or secondary licensure.

With the understanding that middle school teacher prep needs reformation, what should

this reform look like? Should there be a specialized program for just middle school? Are there

small tweaks to be made? Most researchers agree that a specialized middle school teacher prep

program is needed. The Association for Middle Level Education also states on their website that

they “value young adolescents and are prepared to teach them” (AMLE, 2012, p.15). This shows

that educators are willing to make reform for these students. However, there are some disputes

how this reformation should be carried out.

Possible Solutions

The main idea of reform is that universities should offer a specialized middle school

program. As Howell (2016) states, “our desire is for all states to adopt middle level licensure and

for all teacher preparation programs to provide specialized middle level preparation”. This idea is

supported by the fact that middle school is a specialized area. Elementary and secondary both

have their own teacher preparation programs, so why should middle school be left out? Cook et.

al (2016) believes that high quality teacher preparation is essential and without specialized

teacher prep for the middle grades, it puts them at a major disadvantage. This idea is also

mentioned in a previous article that was written by the same group of researchers. Cook et. al

(2016) insist that it is “critical for teacher preparation programs to examine the current
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pathways” to create options that include specialized middle grade preparation. This article points

to reformation of middle school teacher prep that is very specific to middle school.

Even though there is an overall agreement that specialized middle school teacher prep is

needed, there isn’t any explanation on how to go about this. In all of the articles, they discuss a

need for this type of specialization but there are never any ideas on what to do next besides more

research.

Conclusions

Research agrees that middle school teacher prep needs reformation; however, there is

little research that points to where we should start. Even though more research is needed, I

believe it is time to push forward with this information. If I were to start this movement, I would

begin by questioning university officials. This would begin research to see where university

officials stand on this issue and how they believe their middle school teacher prep program could

change.

Part II. Methods

Research Question(s) What is the best way for teacher prep

programs to make a more specialized course
for middle school?

Proposed Methodology Used to Test the Qualitative - Survey Data

Question:

Participants: University Officials (involved in education

field)

Context: A survey will be given to university officials

that are involved in education. The survey will
ask them questions about their middle school
licensure program and if they believe it should
be changed, and if so, how.

Outcome Measure: I will use the data that comes from the survey
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results. This will be the beginning steps to get

ideas from university officials on how they
believe we could change middle school
licensure programs.

Hypotheses: I hypothesize that university officials will

agree with the research (that middle school
needs specialized teacher prep) and that they
will have a multitude of different ideas on
approaches that schools could use to create a
more specialized middle school teacher prep
experience.

References
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Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE). (2012). Association for middle level

education middle level teacher preparation standards with rubrics and supporting

explanations. Westerville, OH: Author.

Cook, C. M., Howell, P. B., & Faulkner, S. A. (2016). Specialized middle level teacher

preparation: moving from advocacy to actualization. Middle Grades Review, 2(1).

Faulkner, S. A., Cook, C. M., Thompson, N. L., Howell, P. B., Rintamaa, M. F., &

Miller, N. C. (2017). Mapping the varied terrain of specialized middle level teacher

preparation and licensure. Middle School Journal, 48(2), 8–13. https://doi-

org.proxy.longwood.edu/10.1080/00940771.2017.1272911

Howell, P.B., Faulkner, S.A., Cook, C.M., Miller, N.C., & Thompson, N.L. (2016)

Specialized Preparation for Middle Level Teachers: A National Review of Teacher

Preparation Programs, RMLE Online, 39:1, 1-12, DOI: 10.1080/19404476.2015.1115322

Mee, M., & Haverback, H. R. (2017). Middle school principals’ perceptions and preferences

when hiring teachers. American Secondary Education, 45(3), 38–49.

Yecke, C. P. (2005). Mayhem in the middle: How middle schools have failed america - and how

to make them work. Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.