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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think application middle schools that would follow the application high schools like Banneker, SWW or Ellington would be a great idea. They would have to be smaller than their HS counterparts, so 8th graders who did not attend one of the magnets could still have opportunity to apply to the HS. [b] There's no reason not to have these options in MS and only in HS[/b].[/quote]

Yes, there is. Or at least there is an argument for it. The argument is that students develop at their own pace, often even on different trajectories in reading and math. This is why there is no separation in elementary school. You'll hear countless stories of students who did so-so in elementary but all of a sudden 'got it' in middle. And the reverse, of students who aren't getting it in elementary but then suddenly do in middle school. Add to that the often different developments in reading and math, and you can easily see that separating students at age 10 into 'you get it' and 'you don't so much' may not serve most students well. European models doing just that are heavily debated and have struggled to develop pathways to cross over.
IMHO, if some sort of separation is called for at that age, a much more promising model for middle school is the differentiation or tracking under one and the same roof, so that students can enroll in regular or advanced options flexibly. Some may be consistently advanced on all subjects, others only in some subjects; some may start off regular, then move on to advanced, and vice versa. You'll find this practiced in various forms at Stuart-Hobson and Hardy, and Deal also I believe. It can be a little confusing to investigate it all because of a flux in terminology, some politically accepted and some not so much. And you'll want to check what's truly behind it, whether they are models in name only or also in practice.[/quote]

I really strongly agree with the approach above.  If we have a school that serves advanced kids there has to be a way for kids to move in and out.  I don't know if there are examples of this in other jurisdictions.  While Deal does track in math, our experience has been that the teachers do push those kids who are more advanced in other courses.  I don't understand why folks are so adamant that it has to be separate.  Another gift from Dr. Kim who showed that it is possible to serve all levels of learners in one classroom.  Folks forget that Deal's turnaround was not made completely on the backs of high SES kids - those families weren't attending Deal to the degree they are now when she started.[/quote]

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