Directions for New Research: Middle-Level Teacher Development

• In Event: Contributions and Connections: Establishing a Comprehensive Agenda for Middle-Level Education Research

Abstract

Purpose
This literature review summarized recent research (2015 to present) related to middle level teacher development in order to contribute to a future research agenda on middle level teacher education, including preparation, professional learning/development, teaching, learning, policy, and student experiences.

Perspectives
For the purposes of this review, we defined middle level teacher development broadly to include preservice teacher preparation and professional learning/development for practicing teachers (Jackson & Davis, 2000). This is a systematic review of the literature guided by the Successful Middle School framework (Bishop & Harrison, 2021), which notes that “educators are specifically prepared to teach young adolescents and possess a depth of understanding in the content areas they teach” (p. 25) and that “professional learning for all staff is relevant, long term, and job embedded” (p. 49). This review is also guided by the Association for Middle Level Education’s Teacher Preparation Standards (AMLE, 2022). These standards provide programmatic recommendations for education preparation programs that lead to middle grades teacher certification.

Methods & Data Sources
The overarching category of Middle Level Teacher Development was divided into four major subtopics: (a) Middle Level Teacher Identity (b) Advocacy (c) Respect and Value Young Adolescents, and (d) Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. We identified search terms (Table 1) and searched for research, relevant teacher development strategies, systematic reviews of the literature, conceptual pieces, and practitioner perspectives in peer-reviewed journal articles in the following databases: EBSCOhost, JSTOR, Scopus, Google Scholar, ProQuest (Eric), A+ Education, Humanities & Social Sciences Collection, Australia and New Zealand Reference Centre, Index New Zealand, MasterFILE, and ScienceDirect. Table 2 provides a look at the themes, search terms, and number of articles that were identified.

Results
This updated review of literature about middle level teacher development illuminated the growing complexity around both preservice teacher preparation and professional learning/development for practicing teachers. Through this review, we identified several broad categories for continued inquiry; however, we discovered that the categories for inquiry are interdependent and in many ways fluid. We noted that the emerging recommendations for continued research about middle level teacher development are situated within a broader, shifting educational context that complexifies the field.

Scholarly Significance
This project adds new knowledge to an existing body of literature around middle level teacher development. The results of this project demonstrate both the value of diverse scholarly collaborations around trending issues and directions in the field and the need for ongoing critical revisions and additions to the existing literature given a fluid social and political context for educator preparation and professional learning.

Authors

• Kristie W. Smith, Kennesaw State University

• Gayle Andrews, University of Georgia

• Kerrijo Ellis, University of South Florida