For decades, school districts have sorted students into neat grade groupings: K鈥�5, 6鈥�8, 9鈥�12. But those lines have blurred.
Some districts are reviving stand-alone middle schools. Others are phasing them out. In between, students and their teachers are caught in models that don鈥檛 always meet their needs.
Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that traditional K-5 elementary schools and 9-12 high schools remain the most common grade configurations. But K-8 schools have grown in popularity鈥攋umping from 2,500 nationwide in 1994 to about 7,000 in 2024.
鈥淭here are some states where the predominant model is a K-8 elementary school, even served under a separate district,鈥� said Katie Powell, the director for middle-level programs at the Association for Middle Level Education, an international education association with over 30,000 members around the U.S. and other countries. 鈥淭here are other states where the predominant model is a 7th-8th grade junior high building. There are states where there is no consistent model whatsoever.鈥�
By the , most buildings split students between grades 8 and 9, according to researchers from the Columbia Business School. But in the 1920s, the concept of 鈥渏unior high schools鈥� serving 7th and 8th graders took off, and the 1970s brought 鈥渕iddle schools鈥� covering grades 6 to 8.
The middle school model: Space for early adolescents
Advocates of the middle school model say that it enables early adolescents to receive specialized support. A 2005 survey cited by the Middle School Journal鈥攚hich mailed questionnaires to 304 random K-8 schools in the U.S., with 33% returned surveys鈥攆ound that over 80% of K-8 .
In Cincinnati, the district formerly operated primarily K-8 and 9-12 schools, Superintendent Shauna Murphy said. Based on teacher licensure and certification standards, the district partially transitioned to a 7-12 model in the early 2010s, Murphy added. But last year, Cincinnati began implementing middle schools.
鈥淭he middle grades tend to underperform compared to their elementary or high school counterparts,鈥� Powell said. 鈥淭his is such a nuanced and complicated stage of development that the needs of kids in middle grades and of the 糖心动漫vlog serving middle-grade students are more complex.鈥�
When the Cincinnati public schools followed a K-8 model, Murphy said they would end up with 12-year-old and 5-year-old students on the same yellow school buses. 鈥淚t just didn鈥檛 fit very well,鈥� she added. The 7-12 model created a reverse problem: Early adolescents were lumped in with young adults.
Research from the University of Virginia suggests that 6th and 7th grade students have when housed in elementary schools rather than middle schools. Switching from a traditional elementary and middle school model to a K-8 system is linked to a , or "$10,000 lifetime earnings gain per student,鈥� according to research by The Hamilton Project.
But in Cincinnati, Murphy says they鈥檝e seen the opposite. After opening last year, the city enjoyed 鈥渁 huge increase in student state test scores for both 7th and 8th grade.鈥� A spokesperson for the district wrote in an email to Education Week that preliminary state data indicate growth in four out of five tested achievement areas. Specific data will be released in mid-September.
In fiscal 2026, Murphy said they will open five new middle and junior high schools.
Navigating the transition to a new building
According to a Princeton University study, achievement tends to, which could explain part of the dip when students enter middle school. Still, data reported by Education Partnerships, an organization that consults with 糖心动漫vlog on school management issues, stated that grade configuration was .
鈥淭he idea of the transition being a negative thing鈥攊t could be. But we know how to make it a positive thing,鈥� said Mary Beth Schaefer, an associate professor of adolescent education at St. John鈥檚 University in Queens, N.Y., whose research focuses on the middle grades. Implementing best practices to support students undergoing changes can help.
Schaefer recommended instituting bridge programs that introduce younger students to the middle school environment, buddy systems that pair students across grade levels, and advisory periods where students meet with adult mentors to talk about their socio-emotional needs.
鈥淚f a student is not seen and acknowledged, if people don鈥檛 know that student鈥檚 name鈥攖hat鈥檚 when a lot of problems happen,鈥� Schaefer said. 鈥淭he middle school model works when it鈥檚 implemented robustly and correctly because it 鈥� strives to help every single student be seen and heard.鈥�
鈥� Buddy systems: partnering older and younger students can ease the transition to middle school.
鈥� Teaching teams: grouping teachers across subject areas into small teams can help create a sense of belonging for middle schoolers.
鈥� Advisory periods: socioemotional-focused advisory blocks can support students undergoing transitions and change.
鈥� Bridge programs: introducing students to the physical environment they will face when entering middle or high school increases preparedness.
Student experience also differs depending on the grade-configuration model. According to Hanover Research, K-8 schools tend to be than middle schools, but students report higher self-esteem in K-8 schools.
In 7-12 schools, students tend to have more , but teachers tend to be responsible for teaching a much broader range of material.
鈥淚f you have a 12th grade teacher who needs another class, the 12th grade teacher is going to teach one section of 7th grade English鈥攜ou could see it happening, because it would make fiscal sense,鈥� said Schaefer.
What leads districts to reconfigure grade spans?
Research from the University of Central Florida indicates that factors like are primary drivers of reconfiguration.
Schaefer says she fears that 鈥渢he unique needs of these students [will] be subsumed under the fiscal needs of the school and school district鈥� and that middle-grade-specific training will decline.
In Cincinnati, Murphy said that by balancing out enrollment levels across schools and changing transportation systems, the district has actually managed to save $4 million from the introduction of middle schools and their broader redesign plan.
For some districts, the decision to switch configurations is based primarily on enrollment shifts, said Powell of the Association for Middle Level Education. 鈥淭he distribution of bodies across buildings seems to be a driving factor,鈥� she added. If a district is seeing a decline in middle-grade enrollment, it might choose to merge middle schools into underenrolled high school or elementary school buildings.
鈥淭he way that could work is by creating these teams of teachers who are dedicated to the middle school,鈥� Schaefer said. 鈥淚t would be really important to have a school counselor who is steeped in middle school.鈥�
In another example, Powell referenced, as Indianapolis鈥� neighborhood demographics shifted, neighborhood K-8 schools wound up unintentionally segregated. Indianapolis public schools restructured to implement consistent grade banding to enable a districtwide school choice program where families can choose to send their students to K-5 and 6-8 schools anywhere within a dedicated zone.
The middle grades restructuring was part of a larger reorganization plan called 鈥淩ebuilding Stronger.鈥� In a blog, as making 鈥渙ur system more equitable by dividing our district into four zones, each of them roughly reflecting our district鈥檚 diversity by race and income.鈥�
IPS did not respond to a request for comment.
As districts transition models, middle-grade students, teachers, and administrators are shuffled between buildings鈥攐ften navigating changing school schedules, forms of transportation, and spatial resources.
Difficult as all that is, it鈥檚 even more so, Murphy said, without the support of families.
鈥淏e fully aware of the landscape of your community,鈥� she said. 鈥淔amilies love their schools, they love their teachers, they love their principals. And engaging the community takes a lot of work, and it鈥檚 not a one-and-done.鈥�
