Middle Grades Success Resources

Middle grades-focused classroom activities, student and family engagement guides, presentations, and more

Our collection of middle grades success resources includes guides, research briefs, and professional development activities that are curated or produced by the To&Through Middle Grades Network (MGN). The MGN is a group of schools dedicated to creating more equitable and supportive educational environments where middle grades students can thrive. The network seeks to build the capacity of practitioners to understand the developmental, social-emotional, and non-academic factors critical for student success and to make changes in practice that improve middle grades indicators for success in high school and beyond.

Change Idea Menu (NEW)

Need a strategy to strengthen relationships + improve outcomes? Check out the MGN Change Idea Menu for step by step guides on strategies you can implement in your school! Based on best practices developed and tested by our Cohort 1 + 2 schools, each guide contains an overview of the change idea, how and when to use it, the related research and classroom learning conditions, reflection questions, and additional resources that can be customized to meet your needs.

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Guides to Relationship Drivers

MGN's guides to relationship drivers delve into the importance of building authentic, supportive relationships in schools. The guides provide change ideas to foster positive peer connections, develop educator-student relationships, and strengthen school-family partnerships through an equity lens.

Download the guides (ZIP)

Interpreting Qualitative Data for Actionable Insights in Eight Steps

This guide is meant to provide general tips for educators interested in using qualitative data to guide their practice. It is based on the process of two qualitative researchers at the UChicago Consortium.

Download the guide (PDF)

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Leveraging Student Voice to Promote Stronger Developmental Relationships

This guide curates insights from educators at Florence Nightingale Elementary (Nightingale), who launched a Student Voice Committee (SVC) during the 2020-2021 school year. The guide aims to share what educators at Nightingale learned throughout the process.

Download the guide (PDF)

Middle Grades Network Research Pillars

MGN has identified five foundational texts that ground our beliefs and the work we do to help middle grades students thrive. The MGN Research Pillars highlight research from the UChicago Consortium on adolescent development, elementary on-track, noncognitive factors, and social emotional learning, as well as the Developmental Relationships Framework from The Search Institute. It also includes an scholarly article about the important role of classroom learning conditions in academic achievement as measured on the Elevate and Cultivate surveys.

Download the MGN Research Pillars

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Resources for Facilitating Professional Development

To incorporate the above resources into structured professional development (PD) sessions, use MGN's kick off presentation and note catcher. These PD resources tie together the student profiles activity, time to collectively set or review norms, key takeaways from middle grades research, and breakout sessions about collecting student and family experience data.

Download MGN's presentation and note catcher (ZIP)

Street Data

All partner schools begin their MGN journey by collecting Street Data about how their middle grades students currently experience school. Based on the framework from the book by Shane Shafir and Jamilla Duggan, we have created guides on how to conduct data circles, empathy interviews, focus groups, and student shadows in ways that practitioners can integrate into their regular practice and use to increase student voice.

Student Activities

The To&Through Middle Grades Network's student activities allow middle grades students to explore their identity, share their ideas, and reflect on their experiences, while giving educators a glimpse into the lives of their students and how to best support them during this crucial developmental stage. Activities include a pandemic reflection project, "perfect school" project, and belonging map.

See MGN's student activities (Google Doc)

What kind of middle grades student were you?

Student Profiles Activity

MGN's student profiles activity is a personal reflection, group discussion, and debrief protocol intended to help middle grades educators reimagine their daily practices through a student- and equity-focused lens. The student profiles activity helps educators build community and ground their mindsets and strategies in student perspective. This activity is adapted from the San Francisco Coalition of Essential Small Schools and Network for College Success at the University of Chicago.

Download the student profiles activity (ZIP)

Looking for more? Learn directly from To&Through Middle Grades Network (MGN) leaders about why it is crucial to work towards building strong relationships with middle schoolers. Some schools have implemented talking circles, others distribute getting-to-know-you questionnaires — learn about a new practice that could work best for your students by reading MGN schools’ problem of practice profiles!