The Middle School Model and Successful Middle School Program

The Successful Middle School

AMLE believes that the true middle school is one that has been planned and organized to address the developmental and cultural needs of students of ages 10 to 14, generally including grades 5-8. We articulate this middle school model through the publication of our landmark position paper, The Successful Middle School: This We Believe, now in its fifth edition.

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The Successful Middle School at a Glance
Middle School Glossary

Implementing the Middle School Model

AMLE’s core mission as a non-profit membership association is to help schools actualize the successful middle school in their own communities. We work toward that mission through The Successful Middle School Program, a comprehensive set of tools and resources for educators, school, and districts. Not sure where to start? Connect with Katie Powell, AMLE Director for Middle Level Programs.

The Successful Middle School Book Study

The Book Study

A team book study of The Successful Middle School provides a participatory and reflective deep dive into the foundational text. Build a cohesive vision for your school improvement journey and align professional development with the needs of your school.

Prefer to conduct your own study? AMLE Members enjoy exclusive access to the self-directed study guide.

Successful Middle School Online Courses

The Online Courses

The Successful Middle School Course Series explores each of these essential attributes and characteristics through 21 self-paced, virtual modules with exercises and reflections throughout.

The Successful Middle School Assessment

The Assessment

Driven by research-based exemplars, AMLE’s holistic school assessment helps gauge your implementation of middle grades best practices. Led by an AMLE coach, schools receive a comprehensive report that includes analysis, recommendations, and actionable next steps.

AMLE Schools of Distinction

The AMLE Schools of Distinction Program

A recognition and continuous improvement program that is open to any school, anywhere in the world, that educates students aged 10-15. Schools are be supported with AMLE resources and celebrated for their commitment to middle grades best practices.

Explore the Middle School Model

Based on forty years of research on educating young adolescents, the following five essential attributes characterize the successful middle school.

Responsive
Using the distinctive nature and identities of young adolescents as the foundation upon which all decisions about school are made.
Challenging
Cultivating high expectations and advancing learning for every member of the school community.
Empowering
Facilitating environments in which students take responsibility for their own learning and contribute positively to the world around them.
Equitable
Providing socially just learning opportunities and environments for every student.
Engaging
Fostering a learning atmosphere that is relevant, participatory, and motivating for all learners.

Successful middle schools exhibit these essential attributes through a series of 18 Characteristics that are interdependent and grouped by three overarching categories:

Curriculum Instruction and Assessment
“The goal of the middle school should be to stimulate in the child a love for learning, an attitude of inquiry, a passion for truth and beauty, a questioning mind. The learning of right answers is not enough…beyond answers alone, we must help children ask the right questions, and discover their answers through creative thinking, reasoning, judging, and understanding.” – Dr. William Alexander
Leadership and Organization
“If we are to build the real middle level school, the school that is developmentally responsive and intellectually vigorous, it will take convictions and the courage to carry them out.” – Dr. John H. Lounsbury
Culture and Community
“Middle school educators purposefully foster a culture that sustains the dignity of all members within the school community. This includes students, their families, local community members, and the staff who work within the school. Affirming classroom communities, whether physical or virtual, are formed when students’ identities are valued and respected.” – Dr. Penny Bishop and Dr. Lisa Harrison

The Successful Middle School Program Over the Years

Now in its fifth edition, AMLE’s landmark position paper, The Successful Middle School: This We Believe is recognized as the best articulation of the middle school model. Since it was first published in 1982, middle school educators have relied on the text to build high-performing school communities using the 5 Essential Attributes and 18 Characteristics.

1972
AMLE Founded

AMLE is founded as the National Middle School Association by leading luminaries of the middle school movement

1974
First AMLE Annual Conference

AMLE’s first annual conference is held in Columbus, Ohio to share middle level education best practices

1982
First Edition of This We Believe

This We Believe, AMLE’s landmark position paper, is first published and its 10 characteristics of successful middle grades schools quickly becomes recognized as the best articulation of the middle school model

1995
This We Believe: Developmentally Responsive Middle Level Schools Published

1995: Publication of the 2nd edition, This We Believe: Developmentally Responsive Middle Level Schools, includes 12 characteristics

2003
This We Believe: Successful Schools for Young Adolescents Published

Publication of the 3rd edition, This We Believe: Successful Schools for Young Adolescents, includes 16 characteristics

2010
Fourth Edition of This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents Published

Publication of the 4th edition, This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents, includes 16 characteristics

2020
The Successful Middle School: This We Believe Published

Publication of the 5th edition: The Successful Middle School: This We Believe, includes 18 characteristics and for the first time integrates both the contextual research and contributions from middle grades students

2021
The Successful Middle School Online Course Series

The Successful Middle School Online Course Series launches as a benefit to AMLE members

2021
The Successful Middle School Assessment

The Successful Middle School Assessment launches, providing schools with a 360-degree evaluative tool to baseline implementation of the 18 characteristics and provide an international data set on the middle school model in action

2022
AMLE Schools of Distinction Program

AMLE Schools of Distinction program launches, recognizing and providing a continuous improvement roadmap for schools committed to middle grades best practice

Learn More

Want more information about the middle school model or how to use the Successful Middle School Program in your school? Contact Katie Powell, AMLE Director for Middle Level Programs at kpowell@amle.org.