The middle school concept is based on the developmental traits of young adolescents. Participants will explore the social, emotional, physical, moral, and intellectual traits of the 10-15 year-old and understand school structures and teaching strategies that support such needs.
VT AOE MG Endorsement Competencies:
Middle grades teachers demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of the cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and moral characteristics, needs, and interests of young adolescents to create healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging learning environments for all.
Middle grades teachers employ middle grades practices that celebrate and are responsive to young adolescents’ local, national, and international histories, language/dialects, and individual identities (e.g., race, ethnicity, culture, age, appearance, ability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, family composition).
Middle grades teachers advocate for developmentally responsive schooling practices and policies for every student.
Middle grades teachers understand and value the ways diverse family structures and cultural backgrounds influence and enrich learning.
Middle grades teachers communicate and collaborate with all family members to build positive, collaborative relationships with families from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
Middle grades teachers are aware of and reflect on their own biases and of how implicit biases affect them as educators. They have learned techniques for mitigating the effects of biases on their teaching practice with young adolescents.
By experiencing and reflecting on an integrative, developmental approach to middle grades curriculum and pedagogy, middle level educators will become more committed to implementing this approach in their schools.
VT AOE MG Endorsement Competencies:
Middle grades teachers use their knowledge of student learning standards to design, implement, and evaluate developmentally responsive, meaningful, and challenging curricula for every learner.
Middle grades teachers help learners make connections among content, ideas, interests, and experiences by developing and implementing relevant, challenging, integrative, and innovative curricula.
Middle grades teachers create learning opportunities within and across their disciplinary fields that enhance students’ transferable skills.
Middle grades teachers integrate student voice into learning while strengthening students’ informational, critical, technological, quantitative, multicultural, and media literacies.
Middle grades teachers partner with the local and global community to bring the community into the classroom and the classroom into the community.
Middle grades teachers are aware of and reflect on their own biases and of how implicit biases affect them as educators. They have learned techniques for mitigating the effects of biases on their teaching practice.
Middle grades teachers have learned techniques for addressing prejudice, cultural bias, and oppression in teaching materials, educational practices, and learning communities to ensure equitable access to meaningful learning opportunities.
MGI Description: Explore the design of structures that support developmentally appropriate educational experiences for young adolescents — block scheduling, shared governance/ leadership, interdisciplinary and partner teaming, transitions, teacher advisories, and others.
VT AOE MG Endorsement Competencies:
Middle grades teachers understand the major concepts, principles, theories, and research underlying the philosophical foundations of developmentally responsive middle grades programs and schools.
Middle grades teachers create and support democratic classrooms in which student voice and student-centered pedagogy empower students with agency and choice in their learning.
Middle grades teachers effectively employ practices such as interdisciplinary teaming, advisory programs, flexible grouping, flexible block schedules, personalized schedules, and common teacher planning time.
Middle grades teachers implement the elements of a middle grades philosophy regardless of grade configuration of the building.
Middle grades teachers create welcoming learning environments that are inclusive of all students and their families.
Middle grades teachers understand the differential needs of students so that they can employ technology so that teachers and families can enhance communication, collaboration, decision-making, and the ability of students to work at home.
MGI Description: By collaborating with colleagues to understand and assess proficiency, participants will develop strategies and use technologies to assist students in personalized learning to engage all students using a student-centered pedagogy that includes anytime, anywhere learning and multiple pathways for student success.
VT AOE MG Endorsement Competencies:
Middle grades teachers collaborate with each other and with students to define proficiency and determine progress toward achieving it.
Middle grades teachers measure students’ prior learning through a comprehensive and balanced-assessment system and adjust instruction and help students design their personalized learning plans.
Middle grades teachers demonstrate their ability to motivate and engage all students and facilitate their learning through the establishment of equitable, caring, and productive learning environments and developmentally responsive materials and resources (e.g., technology, manipulative materials, contemporary media, personalized learning plans).
Middle grades teachers adopt a student-centered pedagogy that includes anytime, anywhere learning and provides multiple pathways for students to demonstrate proficiency including portfolios, performances, exhibitions, and projects.
Middle grades teachers help families understand the systems used to support personalized learning (e.g., learning management systems, personalized learning plans, portfolios).
Middle grades teachers understand and value diverse family structures and cultural backgrounds and collaborate with family members to build positive, collaborative relationships.
