Are 5th graders ready for middle school?

Fifth graders in Oklahoma City Public Schools will be joining older peers in middle schools across the district under a proposal unveiled this week.

The fifth-through-eighth-grade middle school model isn’t very common, especially in large districts. There were just 23 in Oklahoma in 2017, and all but two were in small, rural communities.

Much more common is the sixth-through-eighth-grade model, used by 185 middle schools across the state, according to data from the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability.

The plan, announced by Superintendent Sean McDaniel on Tuesday, is part of a maj...