Before discussing the problems confronting middle schools, the author examines some characteristics of effective middle schools. Successful middle schools possess certain common elements in the areas of climate or learning atmosphere, instruction balance, teaching strategies, emphasis on achievement, guidance orientation, organization, teachers, and community relations. Challenges include meeting the uniqueness of learner characteristics and devising a program to meet these characteristics, attaining achievement levels signficantly higher than previous methods of organization, expanding the cadre of committed and dedicated teachers and principals, developing an appropriate system of evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the program, and developing effective programs of communication with the community. (Author/IRT)