In 1909, the Columbus schools opened the nation's first junior high. Educators thought it would reduce the number of students who dropped out before ninth grade.

Seventy years later, junior high schools were squashed. Middle schools opened, and ninth-graders were moved to high schools in hopes of reducing discipline problems.

Now Columbus school officials say middle schools aren't working, either.

Superintendent Gene Harris announced last week that she wants to eliminate intermediate schools altogether. Sixth-graders would attend elementary schools while seventh- and eighth-graders would move to high schools.

Columbus, like other school districts nationwide, has long debated where to place 11- to 14-year-olds, who are thought to be the most difficult students to teach.

Schools have experimented with numerous grade groupings, but none has proven to improve student learning.

The debate

After a century of debate, educators still disagree about how to teach students in the middle years.

Some education experts say young teens, when housed in high schools, are exposed to sex and drugs sooner. Others say a high-school environment better prepares early adolescents for advanced coursework.

Although some research suggests that bullying and violence fester in schools that isolate sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders from others, some experts say middle-schoolers get the special attention they need only when they have their own building.

Ultimately, many experts agree that what grades are housed together is trivial.

"People think if you just change the grade configuration, good things will happen," said Eric Anderman, an Ohio State University professor of educational psychology. "Changing the grade configuration does nothing if you don't change the practices in the classroom."

The model: Rochester

That was the lesson educators learned in Rochester, N.Y., where district leaders eliminated middle schools in 2003 and moved seventh- and eighth-graders to high schools. Superintendent Harris is using Rochester as evidence that the model works.

But Rochester school-board members say the results are complex. There's no evidence that students are learning more or that more of them are graduating, they say.

Board member Willa Powell said the change has been costly. Instead of closing middle-school buildings, the district turned them into little high schools. Large high schools were divided into mini-academies.

"We have more administrators," Powell said. "It's a heavier financial burden because we have this small-school policy."

Columbus officials have said middle-school buildings could be vacated, used to expand high schools or sold. High schools could be divided into smaller academies, similar to Rochester schools.

While Rochester hasn't seen a significant positive effect, the change hasn't been detrimental, board members said.

Some Rochester parents worried that students would be overwhelmed by the transition directly from elementary school to high school and that older high-schoolers would be bad influences.

But students in the lower and upper grades rarely interact, Powell said. Though they ride the same buses, they have different schedules and take classes in different parts of the school.

Columbus administrators have said they would use similar tactics.

Malik Evans, vice president of the Rochester school board, said the model is too new to provide proof that it's working, but he believes in it.

"It provides continuity for the students," he said. "The teachers know them. If you have a problem in seventh grade, they'll know about it in ninth grade."

Still, a good academic and social program is more important than the grade configuration, he said.

"I wouldn't say this is a panacea," Evans said. "You have to make sure you create schools that kids will want to stay in; otherwise you will have the same issues you had before."

The local evidence

Columbus officials say they have their own evidence that housing older and younger students together can work.

The Columbus Africentric school serves kindergarten through 12th grades.

Stan Embry, principal for kindergarten through fifth grade, said the program better prepares young students for state tests and college.

Older students tutor younger ones. Fifth- and sixth-grade students have worked together to prepare for state tests.

But both the elementary and secondary divisions of Africentric are in "academic watch," the equivalent of a D, on their state report cards.

In Ohio, seventh- and eighth-graders who attended schools with older students performed slightly worse than their middle-school peers on most state tests last year. (Students in kindergarten through eighth-grade schools scored much worse.)

Sherri Wallington, president of Africentric's Parent Teacher Association, said Africentric has a better social atmosphere than traditional schools.

Her four children, from sixth to 12th grade, attend Africentric. She said her daughter was taunted by older students at her previous elementary, an issue she doesn't see at Africentric.

"I feel comfortable knowing they are all there together and can look out for each other," she said. "I haven't had a problem ever with an older kid causing a problem for my younger kids."

The Columbus plan

Columbus officials want to test the proposal to eliminate middle schools in the Linden neighborhood, starting next school year. Linden's four elementary schools would expand to sixth grade in the fall. The next year, Linden-McKinley High School would open to seventh- and eighth-graders.

Details about the pilot program will be developed over the next month, Columbus officials say.

Details on the districtwide plan are months away.

ssebastian@dispatch.com

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