Chapter 4: Building the Plane as We Fly it: Essential Elements for a Successful Middle School Program and Partnership

This chapter tells the story of Towson University’s grassroots efforts to simultaneously construct a middle school major and establish a school-university partnership in response to the development of middle level teacher certification in the state of Maryland. The chapter details how the College of Education constructed the major and built an effective partnership with a local urban middle school. The authors outline the unique and beneficial features of the program and its partnership, the challenges the college encountered in the process, and how the program and partnerships are currently growing to continually meet the needs of the young adolescent student.