Gender-Based Education in Middle Schools: A Literature Review

Challenges of Middle School Education and Overall Achievement

For many decades there have been disparities in education along the lines of gender. Some of these disparities were the result of sexism and an unwillingness to teach female students. However, in the current educational environment many of these disparities can be attributed to the fact that boys and girls simply learn differently. As such, adjustments have to be made in teaching styles. These adjustments are particularly needed at the middle school level, where subjects such as math and science become more difficult and female students start to lose interest. Gender segregation within the context of middle schools is a topic that has received a great deal of attention in recent years, as has the disparity between boys and girls in math scores at the middle school level.

The purpose of this literature review is to summarize the existing research related to gender-specific learning experiences in middle school students. More specifically, the review focuses on the challenges associated with middle school education and overall student achievement. It also summarizes research related to gender differences in learning styles, and examines gender-based education both generally and as applied to middle school in particular. A synthesis of findings is provided at the conclusion.

Since the inception of middle schools in the 1980s, controversy has surrounded the concept of a separate school for students entering early adolescence. The idea behind the development of middle schools was to offer an alternative to the traditional junior high school. Educators believed that middle schools would create an educational environment more consistent with the needs of children in early adolescence. With the introduction of middle school also came new organizational and instructional practices, such as the interdisciplinary team approach to instruction ("Problems and Promise"). That is, students have different teachers for each subject as a way to prepare them for high school. Dickinson (2001) argues that middle schools also came about because educators wanted to keep early adolescents away from the negative influences posed by older adolescents. Educators also believed that middle school would expose students to college preparatory classes prior to entering high school. With this understood, middle school was established because of both social and scholastic concerns (Dickinson, 2001).

For many years, educators have acknowledged the difficulties associated with middle school education that are not present at the elementary or high school level. Early adolescence can be a difficult time for students. According to an article entitled "Problems and Promise of the American Middle School," there are approximately nine million students in middle school. Middle school serves as "an intermediary phase between elementary school and high school" ("Problems and Promise," p. 1). The article explains that middle schools have taken blame for many of the behavioral and academic problems seen in adolescents, as well as for the disengagement that teen students exhibit toward school and academic achievement.

In many school districts, middle school comprises students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, though in some districts it includes only 7th and 8th graders. Although there has been a great deal of concern about the middle school concept and the problems that exist for its students, many of these issues remain unresolved.

One of the primary problems with middle school is the issue of transition. Many students have attended a single elementary school where they are familiar with teachers and fellow students. In middle school, however, a significant transition takes place because students come from several different elementary schools and are often placed in classes where they know none of their classmates ("Problems and Promise"). This can lead to considerable problems in how students adjust to the new environment.

A book entitled Middle School and the Age of Adjustment reiterates that transitioning from elementary school to middle school can be quite difficult. The author explains that students suddenly go from having one teacher to having as many as seven, each with a different teaching style and different expectations. As the author notes, "At age eleven, children now must adjust to seven teachers, seven personality types. Even if every teacher was a model of patience and helpfulness, adjusting to seven authority figures takes some time. For example, Mrs. A. may post the homework on the front board, and Mr. B. may post homework on the sideboard. As simple as this may sound, it is difficult for some eleven-year-olds to think expansively enough to adjust to this" (Bernstein, 2002, p. 14).

Additionally, middle school students must be more organized than in elementary school because teachers are no longer constantly reminding them of expected assignments. Becoming more organized requires help from both teachers and parents and is a genuinely difficult aspect of the transition (Bernstein, 2002). The author also notes that one surprisingly difficult aspect of middle school is memorizing locker combinations. Many students arrive not knowing how to open a locker, and in middle school they typically have two — one for gym class and one for other classes. Failing to open a locker often causes sixth-grade students significant anxiety, illustrating the breadth of challenges the transition presents.

A book entitled Reinventing the Middle School identifies two major challenges: interdisciplinary or team teaching, and teachers who have not been adequately trained to work with early adolescent students. The author contends that the interdisciplinary approach is often difficult to implement because teachers do not know how to communicate effectively with one another. Without communication, such an approach is nearly impossible to implement well. In addition, teaching early adolescent students presents challenges that many teachers are not equipped to handle. These students are going through a range of emotional, social, and physiological changes that affect mood and behavior — and, consequently, the way they learn.

A book entitled Focus on the Wonder Years: Challenges Facing the American Middle School elaborates on the problem of teacher preparation:

"Unlike elementary and high school teachers, middle school teachers typically have not been trained to teach at the grade level they are teaching; rather, most have been trained to teach at either the elementary or the high school level. Middle school teachers certified at the elementary level may lack an in-depth knowledge of their subject area. Middle school teachers certified at the elementary or high school level may not understand the developmental needs of young adolescents or the instructional practices advocated for today's middle schools. Thus, there is a push to require middle school teachers to obtain specific certification." (Juvonen et al., 2004, pp. 73–74)

The authors further assert that many middle school teachers do not have sufficient knowledge of the subject matter they teach. Compared to high school teachers, middle school science, social studies, and math teachers are frequently teaching subjects in which they were not formally prepared — that is, subject areas in which they did not major or minor in college (Ingersoll, 1999; Juvonen et al., 2004). A study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics found that nearly 50% of all middle school students, and more than 50% of students in high-poverty middle schools, have instructors who do not hold at least a minor in the subject they teach ("To Close the Gap, Quality Counts," 2003; Juvonen et al., 2004, p. 75).

Research has focused particularly on subject-matter preparation in mathematics. Heaviside et al. (1998) found that having a teacher with a bachelor's degree in mathematics increased mathematics achievement in eighth graders, though the same was not true for fourth-grade students. Chaney (1995) found that strong subject-matter preparation of math and science teachers was positively correlated with an increase in student achievement. Juvonen et al. (2004) emphasize that a teacher's in-depth understanding of mathematics is especially important in middle school, noting that eighth-grade students who take algebra are more likely to apply to college than those who do not (Atanda, 1999). When middle school students have teachers with college degrees in the relevant subject matter, those students are more likely to perform well on tests (Wilson, Floden, & Ferrini-Mundy, 2001).

Researchers who have reviewed the evidence on subject-matter training believe that teacher training programs should address not only content but also its conceptual underpinnings and the development of strong reasoning ability (Wilson, Floden, & Ferrini-Mundy, 2001). Other evidence suggests that the effects of teachers' subject-matter preparation on student performance may be cumulative (Monk & King, 1994) and most apparent in courses of greater difficulty (Hawk, Coble, & Swanson, 1985). It is important not only that teachers possess subject-matter expertise but also that they know how to transmit this knowledge to students (Killion, 1999; Juvonen et al., 2004, p. 75).

Indeed, one of the major challenges facing middle schools in America is a lack of teacher preparation — both in terms of working with early adolescents generally and in terms of subject-matter depth. The RAND research brief "Problems and Promise of the American Middle School" also notes that no research has conclusively demonstrated that students benefit academically from the middle school environment. To the contrary, there is evidence suggesting that separate schools and the transitions they require can cause problems that negatively affect students' developmental and academic progress. RAND recommends that states and school districts consider alternatives to the 6–8 grade structure in order to reduce multiple transitions and better align educational goals across grades K–12.

The challenges of transition are also visible in overall achievement data. Even though average achievement scores have risen over time, serious disparities persist — particularly along racial and ethnic lines. Nearly 70% of American eighth-grade students do not perform at grade level in science, math, and reading, based on national assessments. This is especially true among Black and Latino students, even those whose parents hold college degrees. To address this, some researchers recommend programs such as summer school prior to sixth grade and additional reading and math coursework during the middle school years.

According to Focus on the Wonder Years, curriculum focus in American middle schools has historically centered on meeting the social, emotional, and psychological needs of early adolescents. In more recent times, however, the trend has shifted toward academic achievement, driven largely by the accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This federally mandated act requires all middle school students to be tested and places sanctions on schools whose students perform poorly. Critics have also argued that middle schools are academically undemanding, pointing to poor performance on international mathematics and science assessments as evidence (Carnegie, 1989; Jackson & Davis, 2000; Schmidt, McKnight, et al., 1999; Cooney, 1998a; Juvonen et al., 2004, p. 28).

Overall academic achievement is vitally important for students and for America's standing globally. American fourth-grade students perform at an average level in mathematics when compared to peers in Australia, Canada, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, England, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, and Slovenia — ranking ninth among those nations. However, by eighth grade, American students fall below average, with only five of those countries ranking lower (Juvonen et al., 2004). The research suggests that American students do not struggle with math at the elementary level; the decline occurs between fourth and eighth grade. This pattern has led some educators to question the purpose and value of the middle school model and to call for its reform (Juvonen et al., 2004).