Whether students attend college or head right into the workforce after high school, the education they receive in middle school can play a powerful role in their future. With that belief in mind, Whittier Middle School recently partnered with our feeder high school and the larger community.
We did this for several reasons. First, a positive middle school experience helps students make a positive transition to high school, which can then enhance their future earnings and well-being (ACT, 2008; Mizelle, 2005). Second, we knew that to improve student achievement in middle school and beyond, schools must increase the community's capacity to provide students with experiences outside school that will complement the learning that goes on inside school (Holloway, 2004). Third, as the National Parent Teacher Association (2002) has reported, community collaboration expands "learning opportunities, community services, and civic participation."
About Our School
Located in the midwestern city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Whittier Middle School serves approximately 1,000 6th–8th grade students. Approximately 60 percent of students receive free and reduced-price lunch. Many of their parents have had no postsecondary training, and many are not aware of the opportunities available to them during high school and beyond. We felt the need to educate our students and expose them to the possibilities that await them.
We developed a new course called High School Readiness and Career Exploration that targeted approximately 25 8th grade students who had high academic ability but who might not have had opportunities or encouragement outside school. We felt that forming partnerships with other community entities would help these students make the transition from middle school to high school and eventually from high school to postsecondary education or a career. In our initial stages of the course, we were able to form three successful alliances within our community: students and staff at Washington High School, instructors at Southeast Technical Institute, and resident physicians and medical students at Sanford School of Medicine.
Partnership with Washington High School
Our students feed into Washington High School, a four-year comprehensive high school with approximately 2,000 students. Washington High School was thrilled to form a partnership with Whittier Middle School. Too often, the staff there had seen freshmen make a poor transition and fall through the cracks, and they were eager to find strategies to help their incoming students.
As part of the partnership, Washington High School staff and students provided hands-on activities in mathematics, science, and language arts. They also provided key information on cocurricular activities. Each week, our students heard from staff and student representatives from technology education classes, athletic teams, book clubs, Junior ROTC, and many others. Each of these presentations was experiential, as students participated in a variety of activities. For example, our 8th grade students took part in a demonstration of an advanced placement chemistry lab.
Our 8th graders also began to build relationships with people at the high school when they were transported to the high school and paired with 9th grade students whom they shadowed for most of a day. We involved families by inviting them to a pizza party hosted by the high school, with the opportunity to attend a high school play. All of these activities from our partnership with Washington High School laid the groundwork for a smooth transition to high school.
Partnership with Southeast Technical Institute
We also contacted Southeast Technical Institute, a local technical school offering numerous postsecondary degree options for nearly 40 career paths. The institute brought representatives from electronics, electroneurodiagnostics, pharmacy technology, law enforcement, automotive technology, and other programs to educate our students with hands-on activities.
For example, when their surgical technicians came to visit our class, students donned surgical technicians' gowns and gloves. Electroneurodiagnotic instructors came to our school to show students how math applies to the way basic electricity works, and other institute instructors brought glass heads to show where diodes are placed on the head to test for brain impulses. We also hosted pharmacy tech instructors who presented information on drugs and safety and gave students an opportunity to use pill counter machines.
We also took our 8th grade students to the Southeast Technical Institute for tours. Our partnership with the institute allowed students to participate in programs rather than just read about them.
A Whittier Middle School student examines a model of a leg during High School Readiness and Careers class.
Partnership with Sanford School of Medicine
For our third partnership, we approached the resident physician programs at Sanford School of Medicine, a local medical school that eagerly collaborated with us. Resident physicians and medical students in radiology, orthopedics, neurology, dermatology, pathology, pulmonology, and other medical fields visited Whittier.
When cardiologists came to our school, they brought actual hearts to show students the differences between healthy and nonhealthy hearts. Students used stethoscopes to listen to one another's hearts and practiced taking classmates' blood pressure. The 8th grade students got instruction from orthopedic doctors on applying bandages, splints, and wraps; then they split into small groups to practice.
Sanford School of Medicine Internal Medicine resident Jason Dauffenbach, casts the arm of a Whittier Middle School student during an orthopedics lesson.
Neurologists brought in models of the brain and showed students how to use a reflex hammer and other techniques to give neurological exams. Pathologists used microscopes to enable the students to examine cells. Students learned the basics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation from an emergency medical doctor and practiced doing compressions on a mannequin. Pulmonologists demonstrated how to measure lung capacity and talked about the dangers of smoking.
Students also learned the differences between a medical student and resident. Although residents and medical students were the ones presenting to our students, they were careful to include a wide variety of related career opportunities in their discussions. Shane Samuels, graduate medical education specialist at Sanford School of Medicine, said,We understand all students are not interested in being physicians, but there are scores of other careers in health care. Hopefully, the students have learned as much [about health careers] as our resident physicians have about working with middle school students.Officials at Sanford were so convinced of the merits of this partnership that they applied for competitive grants to expand the experience of our students in exploring health careers.
Student Response
After our first year, we wanted to find out whether our efforts helped ease the transition to high school, so we conducted surveys with former Whittier students after the first quarter of their 9th grade year. Each of the approximately 25 students who responded indicated that the High School Readiness and Career Exploration class had helped them transition to high school. They said that they had developed relationships with key high school personnel that had helped make the move to their new school easier.
When we asked students about their post–high school plans, many of them were still undecided. However, those who did indicate a future career often mentioned one that had been presented to them in the High School Readiness and Career Exploration course. We knew 9th grade students might not be firmly decided on a career, but we felt that our efforts had given students a vision of what the future could hold for them. One of our students who took the course as an 8th grade student and was surveyed as a 9th grader said,This class helps prepare students for their futures. There are a lot of 8th grade students who do not know what they want to be. This will help them figure it out for high school and for what they want to do in life.
We are tracking our students longitudinally to follow their continued success in high school, as well as the opportunities they pursue after high school. Our first class of students is now in its senior year of high school, so we look forward to collecting data about the students' postsecondary plans. Experiencing high school, postsecondary, and career options through community partnerships at the middle school level is opening pathways for our students and helping to bring rich community resources to our school for students who might not have otherwise have had the opportunity.
Into the Future
We are excited about the results of our High School Readiness and Career Exploration course and feel that community partnerships have provided unique opportunities for our students. With such success, we are in the process of expanding our course to involve additional partnerships with other postsecondary institutions—specifically the University of Sioux Falls and the Sioux Falls campus of Colorado Technical University.
The University of Sioux Falls will allow students to take campus tours and learn about programs in the natural and exercise sciences, criminal justice, paramedic training, nursing, and education. One of our campus visits will also include a formal lunch with etiquette practice. Students will visit dorm rooms and campus buildings and experience a bit of student life at a university.
Our partnership with Colorado Technical Institute will provide experiences in computer networking, crime scene analysis and reconstruction through the forensic investigation program, and a campus visit.
Sometimes as educators we assume that our students have the same access to the community that we have. This is far from true for many of our students. In fact, only 10 percent of the students currently enrolled in our High School Readiness and Career Exploration course had ever been on the University of Sioux Falls campus, which is located less than three miles away from Whittier Middle School. By bringing some of our community and its wealth of resources to our students, we believe that we have expanded their horizons.
