Separate Licensing Requirements Urged for Middle Grades

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo

A group pushing for improvement in middle-grades education is calling on states to set separate licensing requirements for middle-level teachers.

"Lack of specialized teacher preparation for middle-grades teachers amounts to malpractice," asserted Ken McEwin, a professor of curriculum and instruction at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., and a member of the policy committee of the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. "If we believe that young children need teachers with special training in early- childhood education, why would we not think young adolescents need and deserve teachers trained to teach this special age group?"

While there are credentials specific to teaching elementary and high school students, the Boston-based group notes in the policy statement it put forth this month, most states do not require any special training for teachers...