Mission Statement
The mission of the Utah Middle Level Association (UMLA), a partnership of parents and educators, is to address the unique needs of the early adolescent by providing leadership and support to educators and families, and to promote effective programs to improve middle level education.
History
In 1979, Cherie Major-Foster, a doctoral student at Utah State University, attended NMSA and went to the regional meetings. While there, she met a principal from Sandy, Marlin Fairbourn, and they began the process of creating a Utah Middle Level Association, inviting principals from the SLC area and drafting a constitution. UMLA was formed and became an NMSA affiliate soon after. Cherie was the secretary and newsletter editor for the first two years. Glayde Hill served as president in the 1980's, as did Sid Beveridge, Bruce Garrison, and Roger Miner.
In 1989 the Utah Office of Education received a Carnegie Foundation Grant of $120,000 to study middle level education in Utah. The Carnegie Foundation made recommendations for middle level education in its report, "Turning Points," and suggested a task force be set up in every state to look at the status of middle level education. Dr. Peg Roland, assistant principal at Dixon Middle School in Provo, directed the two-year project, 1990-1992.
A mission statement for UMLA was written, and then-president Diana Messick organized three task forces to develop action plans in the areas of training, communication, and collaboration. UMLA held a conference for administrators in the spring of 1991 and another for teachers and parents that September. During this period of recognition of middle level concepts, NMSA held two Western Regional Conferences in Salt Lake City, and in 1994, UMLA held its first spring conference, featuring John Lounsbury and Judith Baenen. From that year on, a state conference has been held every year.
Attendance at UMLA conferences has ranged from 130 in 1996 to 300 during 1998-2003, 350 in 2005, and 600 or more since 2005. We have been able to attract outstanding keynote speakers but think the quality of the local presenters and the sharing of classroom philosophies and techniques merit the increase in attendance.
Thank you to those of you who have presented your classroom ideas and philosophies in the past. We hope you will consider offering a presentation in March 2011.
The UMLA’s membership includes teachers, administrators, parents, state education agency personnel, college and university professors, collegiate students, and others interested in promoting middle grades education. We hope to provide our members with the following:
- A quarterly newsletter featuring news in Utah’s middle level schools, grades 5-9
- Fall workshops in outlying areas of the state
- An annual late-winter conference with nationally known speakers and local middle level professionals
- Current articles and resources on middle level research and programming
- Advocacy and support for middle level schools, educators, and parents
- A group of like-minded professionals committed to middle level education in the state of Utah
Please join us in creating middle level learning opportunities which are academically challenging, developmentally appropriate, and socially equitable.