It get’s even weirder in the TV universe. “In Boy Meets World” The grades must go like this.
6th - Junior High
7th -10th High School
Either that or Cory’s entire class was so smart they bumped them all up two grades
Actually, I thought that was the reason for the change: to keep the kids with the raging hormones and identity crises from interfering with the education of the younger kids and (marginally) more composed high school kids.
(Are there ant professional educators in the house?)
My town is having problems with space so this is how our schools go:
K-4: Elementary school (5, maybe 6, “neighborhood” school)
5-6: Upper Elementary school (one school for the whole town)
7-8: Middle school (same as above)
9-12: regional high school (my town plus two others)
As for the OP, I don’t think its “un-PC.” I think calling 7-8 grade middle school just makes sense and shows the change from 7-9 to 7-8. We’ll probably see a little more of it as the last of the baby boomer’s brood squezes its’ way into school systems strapped for space.
Retired professional educator here! The change from junior high to middle school took place on my watch. You are pretty much on target. It has to do with brain development and developmental psychology.
Some middle schools even included fifth grade, but not for long.
Growing up, I went through elementary school, junior high and senior high all in the same building.
Tried to post this last night and the hamsters were acting up. Glad to see Zoe agrees with me this morning…
I think the philosophy has to do with the developmental needs of the age group. Recent research on brain development appears to back up the idea that particular approaches to education at this time have biological as well as observed bases for effectiveness. The prefrontal cortex goes through major changes during puberty, with a growth spurt followed by “pruning” in the number and complexity of synapses involving memory, organization, planning and mood modulation. The circuits that are most stimulated during those years are the ones that remain. The kind of brain you end up with when you’re 18 depends heavily on the kind of stimulation you get between 10 and 14.
The National Middle School Association has research info on their website.
Where I went to school in Ontario, it was divided up like this:
Elementary School: K-8 (all one building, too)
Highschool: 9 - 13 (now 9 - 12)
Here in Alberta in 1981 when I graduated, it was:
Elementary: Gr 1-6.
Junior High: 7-9
High School: 10-12
Now I notice that schools are all over the map. There are 9-12’s, 10-12’s, K-7, K-3, etc.
I think shifting grade 9 to high school makes some sense. While 7-9 may be seen as the puberty stage, it always seemed to me that by grade 9 most kids were already fully sexually developed. Whereas grade 7 kids were still pretty innocent, and grade 8 marked the real transition. So yeah, get those horny Grade 9’ers out of there!