CREATING MIDDLE SCHOOLS - TECHNICAL, NORMATIVE, AND POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS

A new generation of state and local middle school reformers is attempt ing to reconceptualize their mission to avoid past failures. Against t he background of earlier thinking and failed reforms, we explore in th is article the content of the new reforms, paying particular attention to how they diverge from conventional school practices, school norms, and school politics. We argue that to achieve fundamental change it w ill not be enough to reform existing technical practices; rather, norm s of community and integration will need to replace many of the compet itive, individualistic, and bureaucratic norms embedded in current pra ctice, and existing political relations will need to be restructured t o ensure that the reform process reflects a fair and democratic distri bution of authority. These normative and political considerations fill out the usual technical reform picture-portraying the new middle scho ol reforms as inherently complex, value laden, and politically loaded. We conclude with the implications of our analysis for the implementat ion of this ambitious and complex set of reforms.