Importance of Middle Grade Licensure

“Why is it important to be licensed specifically to teach “middle school”, grades 4-9, and young adolescents aged 10-15?”

 

“It was amazing to me that you could have an age group that everybody knew was important but nobody was willing to pay attention to.” - Joan Lipsitz from the video Introduction to the Legacy Project (AMLE, 2013).

              The quote above really stood out to me as to why the middle school movement was so important in the 1960’s when it was initially introduced. As educators in training today, we learn about differentiating, meeting students where they are, teaching in the zone of proximal development – And yet, before middle childhood programs they expected all students enrolled in education programs to learn about the K-8 child like they are all the same?  I thought Ken McEwin’s quote from the video, Specialized Middle Level Professional Preparation and Development, was great - “Just loving a kid is not enough” (AMLE, 2013)

 

In the AMLE article, “Professional Preparation and Credentialing of Middle Level Teachers” it really stood out to me when Neal wrote, “The middle years are the second largest time of cognitive, physical and behavioral development outside of infancy for the human body.” (Neal, 2023). As someone who now has an eleven-year-old son, I can attest to that. This is a transitional and transformational time in these young adolescence lives and we as educators can be more effective from the onset if we are trained to understand this period in their lives.

 

In addition to this, I also truly believe in Standard 3 from the AMLE - 2022 Revised Middle Level Teacher Preparation Standards. We must, as middle level educators, have a different depth of knowledge and understanding in our content areas to develop a richer and more engaging content experience for our students. (AMLE, 2022) I have yet to have a middle school field experience being only placed in the elementary school to this point, but I am so excited to dig-in in the fall to experience the curriculum development that a middle school teacher experiences in the fields of science and math. When I’ve subbed in a middle school classroom, however; I’ve been able to appreciate the diversification that a teacher can bring to her students when he or she is teaching blocks of common core and accelerated class in math, for example.

The above standards from AMLE have been utilized and revised for countless years for a reason – They are a true guiding resource for this profession, so I chose a statement from the supporting documentation to emphasize why I believe this licensure band is so important.

 

Standard 1 - Middle Level Philosophy and School Organization: “It is critical that middle level teacher candidates consider how to make
learning and the classroom community responsive to the whole child, including their physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and identity needs through a cultural lens (Harrison et al., 2019).” (AMLE, 2022)

Standard 2  - Young Adolescent Development: “Foundational knowledge of young adolescent development and its diversities provides middle level teacher candidates with a substantial basis upon which to build an understanding of the implications of young adolescent development for teaching and learning (Association for Middle Level Education, 2012; Brown & Knowles, 2014; Caskey & Anfara, 2014; McEwin & Dickinson, 2012)” (AMLE, 2022)

Standard 3 – Middle Level Curriculum: “Effective middle level teacher candidates “possess a depth of understanding in the content areas they teach” (Bishop & Harrison, 2021, p. 25)” (AMLE, 2022)

Standard 5 – Middle Level Professional Roles: “Middle level teacher candidates engage in ongoing professional development and use the knowledge gained to improve their effectiveness. They simultaneously advocate for the young adolescents they teach and for equitable, culturally responsive, and anti-racist practices (See Standard 4)” (AMLE, 2022)

 

Based on this first module, what is concerning to me is this regression from both the state in removing a licensure in Middle Childhood education and simultaneously the federal demand that we stop focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. This was an emphasis in AMLE’s article Professional Preparation and Credentialing of Middle Level Teachers and states, “Thus, in revising the AMLE standards, the main focus was to better emphasize the need for candidates and educators to not only understand the areas of diversity, but to understand their own positionality and beliefs with diversity in preparing diverse spaces and learning for young adolescent learners.” (Neal, 2023) We seem to be doing a disservice to our young people by removing the focus from two very important components of a young person’s education. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to gain this licensure in a pivotal and important segment of our education system. 

References

AMLE. (2013, November 6). 1. Introduction to the Legacy Project. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV1mJK8iHng&t=456s. Retrieved June 19, 2025.

AMLE. (2013, November 6). Specialized Middle Level Professional Preparation and Development . www.youtube.com. Retrieved June 19, 2025.

AMLE. (2022). 2022 REVISED MIDDLE LEVEL TEACHER PREPARATION STANDARDS.

Neal, D. (2023, March 23). Professional Preparation and Credentialing of Middle Level Teachers. AMLE. https://www.amle.org/professional-preparation-and-credentialing-of-middle-level-teachers/