Designing a developmentally supportive middle school environment: A small-scale mixed methods study

Traditional approaches to middle-grades education have failed to adequately meet the unique developmental needs of young adolescents. Schools can implement developmentally responsive practices that promote thriving by honoring young adolescents' enhanced desires for autonomy, relatedness, and respect. However, translating research-based strategies to real-life settings is a complex process that requires special attention to the unique needs of distinct school contexts. This one-year, small-scale study examined the potential of an innovative research-practice partnership - the Remaking Middle School (RMS) Design Lab - aimed at improving middle grades (e.g., 6th-8th) education by harnessing design thinking and developmental science to promote school structures that both align with students' developmental needs and build on their assets to promote thriving. Using a program development and evaluation mixed methods study design, we explored participant reactions to, as well as preliminary outcomes associated with, the 2021-2022 implementation of the RMS initiative. Implementation results revealed that participants (i.e., teachers, administrators, and support staff; N = 24) perceived the Design Lab to be acceptable, feasible, and appropriate for their school context. Preliminary outcome results demonstrated that the Design Lab facilitated positive changes across systems, including improvements in educators' perspectives of school-wide collaboration, teaching practices and mindsets, student-teacher interactions, and student voice initiatives. Findings provide preliminary evidence that the innovative Design Lab model - characterized by a developmentally responsive and equitable design thinking approach - can be used to create and implement culturally responsive school structures that facilitate positive developmental trajectories in the middle grades.