Characteristics of the American middle school

If we look back on the history of education in the United States, we find many patterns of school organization. Prior to the establishment of middle schools, the middle level of schooling was commonly known as junior high school. According to Van Til, et al., (1967), the first junior high school was established at Columbus, Ohio in 1909. Since then, both the 8-4 plan and 8-5 plan, the standard organizational patterns used for public schooling in the United States after the Civil War, have been gradually changed to the newer form--the 6-3-3 plan. The first prompting to establish a junior high school came in a report of a subcommittee of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies