Magnify the Middle is focused on increasing awareness on middle school college and career indicators, improvement in academic outcomes/grades and developing a High School Readiness Indicator, or HSRI.

Research from Chicago Public Schools (2014) found that middle school grades--particularly in 8th grade--is the main predictor of college-going and college-success rates. It is imperative that we prepare our middle school students to enter high school academically prepared so they have access to college preparatory courses including UC/CSU A-G, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) and Dual Enrollment courses. As leaders analyzed college enrollment data and back tracked these students to their middle school grades, the trends were apparent that students who were passing their core content courses with a C or better were more likely to enroll and persist at a post-secondary institution. 

Middle School Transcript Analysis

Modeled after the UC/CSU a-g Transcript Analysis in high school, the middle school version of the transcript analysis is designed for administrators, school counselors and other site leaders to diagnose their current school in regards to identifying a high school readiness indicator. By analyzing cohort transcripts, participants are able to see the percent of middle school students who are “high school ready” in the core subjects (Math, ELA, Science, Social Science) and can disaggregate this by subject, gender, ethnicity and LCAP student group. School sites are encouraged to engage in critical thinking and self-reflection about why and how their current system produces its results. Next, employing an improvement science-based approach, they are challenged to develop problem statements to begin the process of addressing unique needs. This work consists of a full-day training and subsequent follow up, as needed. 

For more information, please email Dr. Yuridia Nava.