The development of a middle school
type: CreativeWork
description: One of the effects of the 1989 Education Act in New Zealand was to allow schools to broaden their client base. This had the most significant impact in the area of schooling where there was the greatest possibility for change, particularly for the classes either side of the transition between primary and secondary schooling; the middle years. Under the Act, primary schools had the option of recapitating to retain their older pupils. Secondary schools were now able to extend downwards and offer a junior high school structure. So, the greatest potential for school restructuring was associated with the intermediate schools. Traditionally, intermediate schools had provided a two-year transition at Years 7 and 8 between primary and secondary education. The 1989 Education Act allowed them to extend this to include Years 9 and 10 and the development of three or four-year middle schools. In their traditional role of providing a transitional stage between primary and secondary education, the intermediate schools were characterised by aspects of both institutions. While programmes were largely home-room based and under the care of one teacher, some subject specialisation was also characteristic of intermediate schools. That this structure could be extended into the lower secondary classes offered a new perspective on the role of middle schooling. It was the extension of a Year 7 and 8 intermediate school into a four-year middle school and thereby encroaching on the traditional preserve of secondary schools, that became the focus of this study. It monitored the expansion of a two-year school as Years 9 and 10 classes were added and the transition of the first Year 10 class into Year 11 at secondary schools. From this focus, the study hypothesised three main concerns relating to change: that the development of a two-year institution into a four year one would offer significant challenges to both the school organisation and the delivery of the curriculum, whether the students who…
abstract: One of the effects of the 1989 Education Act in New Zealand was to allow schools to broaden their client base. This had the most significant impact in the area of schooling where there was the greatest possibility for change, particularly for the classes either side of the transition between primary and secondary schooling; the middle years. Under the Act, primary schools had the option of recapitating to retain their older pupils. Secondary schools were now able to extend downwards and offer a junior high school structure. So, the greatest potential for school restructuring was associated with the intermediate schools. Traditionally, intermediate schools had provided a two-year transition at Years 7 and 8 between primary and secondary education. The 1989 Education Act allowed them to extend this to include Years 9 and 10 and the development of three or four-year middle schools. In their traditional role of providing a transitional stage between primary and secondary education, the intermediate schools were characterised by aspects of both institutions. While programmes were largely home-room based and under the care of one teacher, some subject specialisation was also characteristic of intermediate schools. That this structure could be extended into the lower secondary classes offered a new perspective on the role of middle schooling. It was the extension of a Year 7 and 8 intermediate school into a four-year middle school and thereby encroaching on the traditional preserve of secondary schools, that became the focus of this study. It monitored the expansion of a two-year school as Years 9 and 10 classes were added and the transition of the first Year 10 class into Year 11 at secondary schools. From this focus, the study hypothesised three main concerns relating to change: that the development of a two-year institution into a four year one would offer significant challenges to both the school organisation and the delivery of the curriculum, whether the students who…
author: Ward, Richard
license: https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstreams/69e92ea3-0cda-4dfc-94ff-c344dd5976f8/download
date published: 2001
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:57:15Z
provider: University Waikato
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Waikato