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Abstract

What is the state of the American middle school? In Focus on the Wonder Years: Challenges Facing the American Middle School, RAND researchers identified middle schools' major concerns and recommended ways to improve students' academic achievement, communicate with parents, and support teachers and principals. Middle schools are not in the state of crisis described in some media accounts, and credible reform efforts are under way. However, significant issues remain.

Today in the United States, nearly nine million students attend public "middle schools" — schools that serve as an intermediary phase between elementary school and high school, typically consisting of grades 6–8. The middle school years represent a critical time for young teens. Middle schools have been blamed for the increase in student behavior problems and cited as the cause of teens' alienation, disengagement from school, and low achievement.