Current Issues in Middle Level Education - Vol 24 - Promoting This We Believe and the AMLE Standards with Teacher Candidates

Oct 15, 2026

Teaching at the middle level is strengthened in an introductory middle grades course where teacher candidates synthesize and apply major middle level documents. The work explains how “This We Believe” and the AMLE Standards are integrated into course design, aligned course and program objectives, and used to guide reflection and goal-setting. It describes course structure, practicum and observation components, and examples of assignments that embed the documents to develop knowledge, skills, and dispositions for middle level instruction.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Promoting This We Believe and the AMLE Standards with Teacher Candidates

The Course and Key Concepts from This We Believe and the AMLE Standards

Course Activities and Assignments

Reflection on Overall Integration

Current Issues in Middle Level Education | Volume 24 | Issue 1 | Article 7 | | --- | --- | | 2019
Promoting This We Believe and the AMLE Standards with Teacher Candidates
Amanda Wall
Georgia Southern University, [awall@georgiasouthern.edu](awall@georgiasouthern.edu)
Follow this and additional works at: [https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle](https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle)
Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, and the Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons | | Recommended Citation Wall, Amanda (2019) "Promoting This We Believe and the AMLE Standards with Teacher Candidates," Current Issues in Middle Level Education: Vol. 24 : Iss. 1 , Article 7. Available at: [https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle/vol24/iss1/7](https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle/vol24/iss1/7) This best practices is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Current Issues in Middle Level Education by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, [please contact](please contact digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu)[ digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu](please contact digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu). Wall: Promoting This We Believe Promoting This We Believe and the AMLE Standards with Teacher Candidates Amanda Wall Georgia Southern University In an introductory middle grades course, teacher candidates synthesize and apply the concepts from key middle level documents through their coursework. Along with a popular middle grades text (Brown & Knowles, 2014), teacher candidates read This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents (National Middle School Association, 2010) as well as the Association for Middle Level Education Middle Level Teacher Preparation Standards (AMLE Standards; AMLE, 2012) . As I have taught this course over several semesters, I have modified, updated, and otherwise adapted several aspects of the course in order to integrate these documents into the program more directly. These modifications and adaptations stem from my vision for teaching (cf. Duffy, 1998) as well as works including the Middle Level Educational Research Agenda (Mertens, Caskey, Bishop, Flowers, Strahan, Andrews, & Daniel, 2016) and a recent handbook on clinical partnerships at the middle level (Howell, Carpenter, & Jones, 2016) . Here, I share how I have incorporated This We Believe and the AMLE Standards into this course to enhance teacher candidates’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions for teaching at the middle level. First, I will describe the course and key concepts from the two documents that are integrated into the course. Next, I share examples of several course activities and assignments that incorporate the documents. Finally, I reflect on the overall integration of key middle level documents in the course. The Course and Key Concepts from This We Believe and the AMLE Standards Teacher candidates integrate many forms of knowledge, skills, and dispositions over a relatively short amount of time in the teacher preparation program. This We Believe and the AMLE Standards have been situated as anchor points for several course concepts and related assignments. The introductory middle grades course is required for undergraduate majors in middle grades education. For several semesters, the course has met on-site in a partner school (Wall & Draper, 2017) for several weeks and on-campus for the latter part of the semester. Teacher candidates in the course have a practicum requiring classroom hours in both a middle school classroom and an upper elementary classroom; there are two field placements since middle level certification in our state is grades 4-8. Course topics include young adolescent development as well as middle level philosophy and structures. Teacher candidates also engag

FAQs

What is the main purpose of incorporating “This We Believe” and AMLE Standards in the course?

To enhance teacher candidates’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions for teaching in the middle level by embedding the documents directly into course activities and objectives.

How are teacher candidates’ learning experiences structured in the course?

The course includes on-site placement in a partner school for part of the term and on-campus sessions, plus a practicum with classroom hours in both middle school and upper elementary settings.

What are the five AMLE Standards domains and how are they used?

The domains cover young adolescent development, middle level curriculum, philosophy and school organization, instruction and assessment, and professional roles. Each standard includes elements and a rubric to support critical reflections and goal-setting.

Oct 15, 2026

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