Van Hoose

“The quality of the relationship between teachers and students is the single most important aspect of middle level education.” - Van Hoose (1991, 7)

I believe that this quote holds so much truth for middle level educators. Recently we have been looking at how teams in middle level education have many benefits for the students, parents, and teachers. In order for a team to be effective, I believe that it needs to have strong collaboration by the team leaders, strong communication, trust, organization, and data driven decision making. When you have a strong team, you have strong students who you are changing the lives of one step at a time.

Along with teams, another important aspect in middle level education is advisory groups. In order for an advisory group to be effective, much like the teams, they need to a leader, usually a teacher, who is an advocate for his/her students. When this relationship is established for the students, it is then important to have regular scheduled meetings for the group, administrative support, parent contact, and a huge theme of community. These are only some of the important aspects, but I believe are some of the most important for a strong advisory group.

If a school is able to collaborate to make a strong team and strong advisory groups, then the school dynamic could change for the better. A different relationship would form between student and teacher which could then influence better decisions for those students in the future. This bond allows the student to have someone they trust, rather someone they have to just see everyday for class. I hope that whichever school I teach, if in a middle level, is able to enforce a strong team environment and also amazing advisory groups in order to better the students!