Alissa Jeffries Memorial Award
In the 1960's the junior high school was the primary mode of schooling for young adolescents. In fact, by 1960 nearly four out of five graduates had come from a junior high school experience. The emergence of the middle school, however, came as a result of the dissatisfaction with the junior high school. Leading the list of complaints was the concern that the junior high school had become a replication of the high school with its Carnegie units, departmentalized program of studies, and interscholastic athletics. In addition, inadequately prepared teachers and an overall program that did not meet the unique intellectual, physical, and social needs of young adolescents were also of concern.
With concern mounting over the effectiveness of our junior high schools, it was evident that a change was necessary. The person to initiate that change was William M. Alexander (considered to be the Father of Middle Schools). It was during a speech given at Cornell University, that Alexander unveiled his vision for a school that was designed specifically for the young adolescent...a school he would name the Middle School.
Soon after his speech at Cornell, Alexander and his colleagues continued to write about the new middle school. Initially the middle school concept was founded on the following components (McEwin, 1992):
 | a comprehensive curriculum plan, |
| a home base advisory plan, |
| continuous progress arrangements, |
| team planning/teaching, |
| a variety of instructional plans, |
| many explorations, |
| adequate health/physical education programs, and |
| planning/evaluating systems. |
Thirty-four years have passed since Alexander introduced the middle school concept. Today, middle schools continue to grow in both popularity and number.
Click here to see what components make up today's middle school concept.