WAVE Blog

By J. Tyler — Senior Vice President — WAVE, Inc.

Sound research from the fields of education and youth development demonstrates that helping students transition from middle school to high school makes a big difference in whether a student eventually graduates. America’s Promise Alliance’s 15 in 5 Campaign, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s publication of The Silent Epidemic, hoist the issue and stoke national outrage. But we must turn that outrage into action – and thankfully, effective innovations are available that more schools can begin today.

One way a middle school can make a difference immediately is to add a curriculum to its course offerings that is tailor-made to the developmental needs of young adolescents — one that helps them learn and practice new social, organizational, communication, and leadership skills. Implementing it for all students can rapidly improve the school culture, but it’s especially important for those students identified as most at-risk.

Middle schools should look for a flexible, experiential curriculum that:

• concentrates on personal growth, resilience amid struggles, interpersonal success, preparation for high school, career exploration and service to others
• teaches skills not commonly taught in the early grades like planning, organization, team building, networking, and conflict management
• helps every student envision post-secondary education and the world of work as places where they will eventually belong
• introduces concepts of responsibility, decision-making, choices, and consequences
• uses hands-on activities and teamwork, not the typical classroom competition

The most at-risk students – not just the natural leaders, straight-A students, and most confident kids — will thrive when given engaging opportunities to practice the concepts they learn through the curriculum.

For example, in conjunction with using the WAVE In Middle Grades curriculum, schools can establish a “leadership association” as an extra-curricular. The students get special leadership training and write their own mission related to making a positive difference in their school and community. By choosing, planning, and executing their own service projects, they learn real world lessons as they confront challenges, experience success, and feel the impact that today’s work has on tomorrow’s achievements.

Finally, teachers need on-going support and training as they implement the curriculum. Schools should get help from an organization that will be with them for years, not just for one or two in-services sessions. Teachers deserve sustained training, on-going assistance, and a partner that has the external resources to quickly respond to unexpected needs. Because no matter how good the curriculum, it’s the relationships made in the classroom, between students and teachers that will carry a student through.

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