An Historical Overview of the Middle School Movement, 1963–2015

Over 50 years of articles related to the middle school movement in the United States were examined and analyzed in order to uncover the movement’s primary themes associated with practice, research, and policy. Using a qualitative content approach, researchers created themes to represent the movement decade by decade. The years 1963–1979 were identified as the beginning of the Middle School Movement and its search for an identity. The next decade, 1980–1989, was a time of advancement and progress, and the movement became identified with practices, such as team teaching, interdisciplinary curriculum, and advisory. The years 1990–1999 saw pressure on the movement advancing from national policies, but the movement persisted with a sense of hope. To combat challenges to the middle school movement’s core beliefs and practices, an era of research on middle school practices emerged, and this research focus characterized 2000–2009. The current decade continued the research focus with an international perspective and efforts to identify and describe a “signature” middle school pedagogy. From this historical perspective, it was determined that core middle school practices must continue to grow and thrive in order to meet the social and academic needs of future generations of young adolescents.