Sec. 2. Findings
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Congress finds the following: Research shows that Federal funding for students in middle school and high school, particularly grades 6 through 12, is significantly lower than funding for elementary and postsecondary students. International comparisons indicate that students in the United States do not start out behind students of other nations in mathematics and science, but that they fall behind by the end of the middle grades. In reading, 31 percent of students in grade 8 read at or above the proficient level on the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Average reading scores were lower at grade 8 for most racial/ethnic groups compared to 2019. In mathematics, 27 percent of students in grade 8 displayed skills at or above the proficient level on the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Evidence demonstrates unfinished learning for the Nation’s students, including students from the middle grades, resulting from the COVID–19 pandemic. Black and Hispanic students, in particular, were less likely to have access to the prerequisites of learning—devices, internet access, and live contact with teachers.
Left unaddressed, these opportunity gaps could translate into wider achievement gaps. By grade 6, a student who attends school less than 80 percent of the time, receives unsatisfactory marks for mild but sustained misbehavior, or who fails English or mathematics, has only a 10 to 20 percent chance of graduating on time. Without effective interventions and proper supports, these students are at risk of subsequent failure in secondary school, or of dropping out. According to Gallup, student engagement is strong at the end of elementary school, with nearly 3/4 of 5th graders (74%) reporting high levels of engagement.
But similar surveys have shown a gradual and steady decline in engagement for older students, with approximately 1/2 of students in middle school reporting high levels of engagement. Student transitions from elementary school to the middle grades and to secondary school are often complicated by poor curriculum alignment, inadequate counseling services, and unsatisfactory sharing of student performance and academic achievement data between grades. Middle grades improvement strategies should be tailored based on a variety of performance indicators and data, so that— educators can create and implement successful school improvement strategies to address the needs of the middle grades; and teachers can provide effective instruction and adequate assistance to meet the needs of at-risk students.
Middle grade teachers face unique challenges due to the increased individual subject matter focus of the curriculum combined with the physical, intellectual, and emotional changes faced by early adolescents transitioning from elementary school to high school. Combining measures of academic achievement and motivation, social engagement, and self-regulation—the behavioral domains essential for success across the school and work continuum—provides a more holistic picture of students, including their likelihood of enrolling in an institution of higher education following high school graduation.
This information, available in middle school, allows for early identification of and intervention with students who may be less likely to complete secondary school and attend an institution of higher education. Appropriate academic accommodations, age-appropriate discipline, access to assistive technology, and evidence-based interventions must be used with students with disabilities, particularly in the middle grades, as— the dropout rate for learning disabled students is more than twice the dropout rate of all students; nearly half of young adults with learning disabilities have been involved in the justice system; and students with disabilities have a graduation rate nearly 20 percentage points lower than the graduation rate for general education students.
Local educational agencies and State educational agencies often do not have the capacity to provide support for school improvement strategies. Successful models do exist for turning around low-performing middle grades, and Federal support should be provided to increase the capacity to apply promising practices based on evidence from successful schools.