The newness of the middle school poses five major planning problems; (1) the unfamiliarity with or misunderstanding of the rationale behind the school in the middle, (2) the "bandwagon syndrome" faced when any new development in education achieves public attention, (3) the training of a school staff that is intellectually and emotionally equipped to make the middle school concept work, (4) the willingness of school boards and administrators to accept program experimentation and on-going program evolution, and (5) the dangers of promising too much too soon in an organizational context that is extremely promising but largely untried. A related document is EA 003 235. (Author)