"It's impossible to tackle the entire subject of middle schools in these pages.  And over the years, a series of Carnegie Foundation reports has done just that, thoroughly and admirably.  Let me just say that I think the invention of the junior high was one of the biggest mistakes ever made in American education.  The idea of putting hundreds of hormonally supercharged children together in one large building has never seemed wise.  I support the return to schools with a K-8 configuration, because it helps middle school students to be able to see where they have come from, developmentally speaking.  It is good for them to run into their first- and fourth-grade teachers in the hall and be recognized.  In an elementary school they have the opportunity to be the leaders of younger children, which they surely can be, if we give them the chance."