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Middle school educators throughout New England are working to raise students’ test scores but experts warn there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Student performance in math and English remains below pre-pandemic levels although some more affluent districts have seen improvement.

Katie Powell, director of middle level programs for the Association for Middle Level Education, said standardized test results arrive after students have already moved on to the next grade. She explained conducting benchmark assessments throughout the year lowers the pressure and gives teachers real-time, actionable data to better help individual students learn.

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"While we still have students and have something we can do with them, we can react to the data we’re getting," Powell emphasized. "We can respond to it and make thoughtful decisions."

Educators said students can benefit from the added familiarity with the test and see how questions are generally presented before a final end-of-year exam. Still, Powell noted it is important districts audit how often assessments are given and whether they are developmentally appropriate for the middle school mind, which is still undergoing rapid development.

Some districts have adopted new English and math curricula in recent years and are already seeing improvements in test scores. Some schools have chosen to increase the amount of time students spend on the subjects and are also seeing positive results.

Powell pointed to Woodstock Union Middle School in Vermont as one school getting it right, ensuring teachers get the professional development they need to learn new material and meet students where they are.

"They gave time for their staff to study those practices, to talk together about what it would look like to implement more developmentally responsive practices in those areas, and then implement it," Powell outlined.

Schools are also working to ensure students show up to school enough to help close performance gaps. Rhode Island has begun recognizing schools, like Gaudet Learning Academy in Middletown, which has both reduced chronic absenteeism and improved test scores by percentage points.

Powell stressed the middle grades are an optimum time for learning but schools need agency to find the solutions which work best for their own communities.

This story is based on original reporting by Samantha Camire for Chalkbeat.