Background

The Middle Grades Matter Campaign (MGM) was created by the Philadelphia Education Fund in 2003 with initial support from GlaxoSmithKline and program dollars from the School District of Philadelphia. The campaign is working to improve middle level education in Philadelphia as a way to boost district-wide success.

Core Components

- MGM's Coordinating Committee meets monthly to craft recommendations for middle years supports, which have included the Transition Support Tutors, Middle Grades Acceleration Program [M-GAP], Principals Without Borders and cross-city Parent Forums.
- Citywide Middle Grades Conference for principals, parents and teachers each spring. This annual conference draws more than 400 attendees including several nationally recognized educators.
- Supports for K-8 Conversion Schools.
- Research on middle grades students in Philadelphia, including a 2005 report on Dropout Prevention and a 2003 study on the benefits of K-8 schools over traditional middle schools.
- Quarterly MGM Newsletter for parents and teachers.
- Matching Reading Strategies to Gender Differences, William McBride.

- Keeping Students on Track to Graduation(Neild and Herzog) Middle Grades Matter
Conference, May 2007

Contact Information

Paul Adorno - Bio
Director - Middle Grades Matter
Philadelphia Education Fund
Seven Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Suite 700
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 665-1400, ext. 3302
padorno@philaedfund.org

HIGHLIGHTS
- In the last three years, through the MGM Program, the Ed Fund has created the Transition Support Tutors (TST) Program and provided training for over 135 TSTs
- The fund also created the Middle Grades Acceleration Program [M-GAP], designed to work with overage students and piloted in three Middle and two K-8 Schools.
- Professional development opportunities for schools adding middle grades as the convert to K-8 structures are also offered through MGM.
- A National Symposium on Middle Grades Education was hosted in 2004 with hundreds of representatives from New York to Alaska.