Middle School Timeline

By ChristinaL512

  • First effort to reorganize primary and secondary schools

    In 1888, Charles Eliot, president of Harvard University, makes the first steps toward reorganizing primary and secondary education. He recommends that schools shift from an 8 year elementary/4 year high school model to a 1-6 elementary and 7-12 secondary model.
  • Period: to

    First push for the creation of a middle school

    Alvin Howard pushes for a 6-8 middle school. HOWARD, ALVIN W. 1956. "The Carnegie Unit." Clearing House 39:135–129

  • 4/5 adolescents attend junior high

    Numbers of students attending junior high schools gradually rose. Between 1940 and 1960, junior high students rose from half of adolescents to 4/5.

  • Pushes for 5-8 schools

    William Alexander and Emmet Williams push for 5-8 schools with learning centers and "wing units."

  • First book promoting 6-8 middle schools, The Middle School, written

    Donald Eichorn writes the first book, The Middle School, advocating for a 6-8 middle school. Eichorn used Piaget's theories of development for much of his design.

  • Midwest Middle School Association created

    Midwest Middle School Association, late the National Middle School Association, is created.

  • "Caught in the Middle" published

    California publishes one of the first reports calling for middle school reform, soon to be followed by about 15 other states. Caught in the Middle: Educational Reform for Young Adolescents in California Public Schools (California State Department of Education)

  • Turning Points

    Turning Points is first published, detailing eight main principles of structures and practices needed by middle school students. CARNEGIE COUNCIL ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT. 1989. Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York

  • Turning Points 2000 is published

    Turning Points 2000, a sequel to the original Turning Points written in 1989, is written by Dr. Anthony Jackson and Dr. Gayle Davis. It outlines "seven points of approach for middle grades school reform."

  • This We Believe Executive Overview published

    Sue Swaim, John Lounsbury, and Edward Brazee write this paper, describing "major goals of middle level educators, essential attributes that guide and support students' attainment of the major goals, as well as characteristics of successful school for young adolescents."