Op-Ed: Leveled Out

I used to believe in academic leveling but my outlook changed last year when I experienced what it was like to have two children in eighth grade on different levels, or tracks, at Maplewood Middle School. This is what I learned:

When leveling placement begins in eighth grade the demands and the rigor in the lower levels diminish. Less is expected or demanded of children. I noticed this in both the amount and the difficulty of the homework given to my  child in Level 3 classes compared to my  child in Level 4, the highest level, classes. Instead of building up children to achieve, the curriculum in the lower levels was slowed down. This approach makes it all but impossible to level up and results in widening the gap in student performance.

Eighth grade seems to be the start of grading on a curve by level, a practice that continues throughout high school. To me this is probably the most heinous effect of leveling. Children in the lower levels graduate from high school only to learn that their “A” work is considered sub par in the real world.

A little-known fact is how much clout teachers have on level placement. This is a power that I’m sure many teachers don’t want, but I’m also not convinced they all understand how much their decisions can impact a child’s life. I have heard all kinds of reasons why a child is placed in Level 3 instead of 4. Perceived “motivation” was one of the main characteristics teachers give that tips the balance towards Level 4. To that I say, thank goodness Einstein didn’t go to MMS. As a youngster, he was slow learner and his teacher thought he would not succeed in any career!

Leveling also creates an environment in which self, peer and teacher perceptions can be skewed by a child’s placement, thus creating the potential for children to be viewed through the scrim of their level. 

There are other ways that leveling impacts children at MMS. For example, children with learning disabilities who want to include Resource Room in their eighth grade schedules, are shut out of Level 4. The reasoning:  “scheduling issues.” “Scheduling” is also the reason given for requiring eighth graders to take all core classes in the same level, even if the child excels in one of these subjects but not in others. 

Differing approaches to instruction by level is also a risk in a leveled school environment. Even the best teachers are not immune. My children had the same teacher for the same subject in different levels and the teaching tactics in each class were completely different. Active and engaged in my Level 5 child’s class, my Level 3 child complained that the teacher didn’t “teach anything” and spent most of her time at her desk while the children did worksheets.

As expected all but one of my Level 3 child’s eighth grade teachers recommended he remain in Level 3 in ninth grade. I had other plans though and my child now attends a private school.

I’ve worked in education for most of my adult life and I know that schools can only do so much to impact a child’s desire to learn. Family values or other influences can trump a school’s best intentions. Still, thrusting a leveling determination on young adolescents is unfair. Especially when study after study shows that low performing students achieve at higher levels when placed in classes with high performing students and that mixing students of varying performance does not affect overall learning.

 It’s time to give children in our district another chance to succeed after middle school. We need to let high school students decide for themselves, as they mature, whether they want to work hard to pursue excellence. High school honors and advanced placement classes will always be here for high achievers but it’s time to stop consigning our middle school students to levels that are hard to move out of. Levels that, in their young minds, might as well be called “Not That Smart, A Little Smarter” and “Smartest.” 

Catherine Stratton Chiarello has lived in Maplewood for 13 years with her husband, Mark, and their 15-year-old children.  She has worked as an educator for most of her professional life but is now following her dream of becoming a filmmaker. She can be reached at cathstratton@gmail.com.