In the News
June 2007
Education's Difficult Stage, Gotham Gazette, June 4, 2007.
Read Gail Robinson's article to learn how the New York City Department of Education has enlisted the Academy for Educational Development (and the Middle Start team) to help failing middle schools in the city and hear from Patrick Montesano, Director of Middle Start, on his thoughts of what is most important for middle grades reform.
May 2007
Middle School Task Force Hosts Staten Island Forum on Student Supports for Academic Achievement (PDF)
The New York City Council's Middle School Task Force held the fourth in a series of public forums tonight at IS 49 Berta Dreyfus Intermediate School in Staten Island. Patrick Montesano, Director of Middle Start, participates as a member of the TaskForce that is chaired by NYU Professor Dr. Pedro Noguera and charged with developing a set of recommendations to improve academic achievement in New York City's middle schools.
April 2007
Schools Chancellor Klein Announces New School Support Organizations to Provide Services to Schools Beginning in the 2007-08 School Year This press release announces that the Academy for Educational Development (the parent organization of the Middle Start Program) has been selected as an approved partner support organization (PSO) for the New York City schools.
March 2007
Middle Start participates in the New York City Council's Middle School Task Force
In March, Speaker Christine C. Quinn kicked off the Council's Middle School Task Force, which has been charged with developing a set of recommendations to improve academic achievement in New York City's middle schools. Patrick Montesano, director of AED Middle Start and vice president and director of the AED Center for School and Community Services, was one of approximately 20 middle-grades leaders and advocates invited to join the task force. Members are working to develop a blueprint to reform and restructure the City's middle school system. The task force began its work with a series of public meetings that were held in all five boroughs to gather information from parents, students, teachers, school administrators and advocates. In addition, the task force members have been visiting middle schools throughout the city and reviewing test scores, best practices, and recommendations from previous task forces. The task force is also considering the research and recommendations put forth by the NYC Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ).,AED helped to inform CEJ's January report-New York City's Middle-Grade Schools: Platforms for Success or Pathways to Failure-and its subsequent "call to action." Also being considered are issues outside of the classroom, such as parental involvement and connecting students to support services and enrichment programs.
The Middle School Task Force has been meeting frequently throughout the spring and is scheduled to complete its work by the end of June. Given Middle Start's long history of improving student achievement in the middle grades, one area that AED has taken the lead on is the shaping of formal recommendations on teaching and learning in middle-grades classrooms.
View the press release (PDF) with more information on the Task Force.
February 2007
NYC Principals and Teachers Travel to Michigan to See Middle-Grades School Improvement in Action
Read the press release describing this exciting trip.
January 2007
Taking Middle Schoolers Out of the Middle, The Ledger Online, January 22, 2007.
In her article highlighting the debate about middle schools, Elissa Gootman quotes Middle Start Director, Patrick Montesano's thoughts on the matter.
Report: Almost Half City's Middle School's Are Failing, New York Sun, January 16, 2007. Patrick Montesano, Middle Start's Director, shares his concerns in Sarah Garland's article.
December 2006
Partnerships in Middle Grades Comprehensive School Reform
Alexandra "Sandy" Weinbaum VP of AED and senior advisor of Middle Start co-authors a chapter in the book Examining Comprehensive School Reform, edited by Daniel K. Aladjem and Kathryn M. Borman and published by the Urban Institute Press.
Other News
- 5/11/2006 -- Middle Start Teacher Recognized For Teacher Appreciation Week (PDF)
- 4/18/2006 -- Middle Start School Featured in Teaching Today (PDF)
- 12/06/05 -- Middle Start Princpal Receives Prestigious Milken Award
- 11/14/05 -- Middle Start's Publishing Efforts Are Recognized
- 09/11/05 -- Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts Are Underway
- 06/16/05 -- Middle School Turnaround: A Model for Excellence in the Middle Grades
- 02/12/05 -- Arkansas Selected As Schools-to-Watch State
- 02/02/05 -- Michigan Selected As Schools-to-Watch State (PDF)
- 01/19/05 -- Middle Start Leader Named Arkansas Teacher of the Year
- 10/19/04 -- Middle Start Calls for More Research About Middle Grades Education
- 08/25/04 -- Middle Start Joins New Coalition
- 03/15/04 -- New National Study Identifies Middle Start as a Promising School Improvement Intervention
- 02/23/04 -- School-Improvement Program Meets Blue-Ribbon Panel's Standard for Excellence
- 12/18/03 -- Michigan Schools in the Middle Wins Christa McAuliffe Award for Excellence
- 10/29/03 -- Middle Start Offers Portraits of High-performing Middle-Grades Schools in Celebration of the Month of the Young Adolescent
- 09/26/03 -- Middle Start Applauds Mayors? Pledge to Increase Involvement in Public Schools and Commends Their Resolve to Provide Unprecedented Leadership for Middle Grades
- 07/28/03 -- Middle Start Featured on NPR's All Things Considered "Innovations in Middle Grades Focus of National Story"
- 03/31/03 -- School Administrators Face Stiffest NCLB Challenge in the Middle Grades
- 01/08/03 -- Middle Start Marks One-Year Anniversary of NCLB By Recognizing the Act's Worthy Goals But Calls for More Focused Middle Grades Related Policy and Support
- 10/31/02 -- Middle Start Marks Month of the Young Adolescent With Cross-Regional School Visits
