Critical thinking is an essential skill for learners and teachers alike. Therefore, it is essential that educators be given practical strategies for improving their critical thinking skills as well as methods to effectively provide critical thinking skills to their students. The "Handbook of Research on Critical Thinking and Teacher Education…

In 2009, the National Science Foundation funded the "Dynabook: A Digital Resource and Preservice Model for Developing TPCK" project through its Discovery Research K-12 program. Dynabook project leaders and the National Science Foundation (NSF) recognized that digital textbooks would soon be a primary instructional resource, and seized…

The Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time (ELT) initiative is designed to improve academic outcomes by increasing the amount of learning time for students. Schools are expected to provide opportunities to teachers for collaborative planning and professional development as well as add time to the school day or year for instructional and enrichment…

At the heart of the effort to enact and scale up successful school reforms is the need for more robust links between research and practice. One promising approach is design development, a methodology widely used in other fields and only recently adapted to education, which offers a disciplined process for identifying practical problems, assessing…

This playbook draws from the findings of "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades," the largest empirical study of this grade level conducted to date. The "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades" study was designed to find out what higher-performing schools do differently. The result is a compelling set of specific, actionable…

"Leading for Literacy" provides tools and real-life examples to expand the benefits of a literacy approach that sparks students' engaged reading and thinking across disciplines, from middle school through community college. A companion to the landmark "Reading for Understanding," this book guides teachers, leaders, and…

Assessing individuals' social and emotional (SE) knowledge, attitudes, and skills is a complex task. It requires careful consideration of the assessment purpose, rigor, practicality, burden, and ethics. Once you have considered these factors and have determined that you are, in fact, "Ready to Assess," you are ready to act and choose an…

Schools implementing Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) are often confronted with concerns from a variety of educational stakeholders about school climate, teaching behavioral expectations, the role of reinforcement, and labeling students. Administrators should be prepared to respond to these concerns with theoretical and…

"RTI in Middle School Classrooms" provides practical, research-based instructional techniques and interventions--geared especially to middle school teachers and administrators--that target and address specific needs of individual students. Response to intervention allows educators to assess and meet the needs of struggling students…

Everyone acknowledges the importance of leadership in good schools, but sometimes a leader's influence extends into unexpected areas. Getting admitted to and succeeding in college is certainly the result of hard work on the part of individual students and their families, but for many kids, particularly those from impoverished backgrounds or from…

Understanding and meeting the needs of gifted students in middle school offer unique challenges. This newly revised and expanded second edition of "Educating Gifted Students in Middle School" updates the practical information about meeting these needs offered in the award-winning 2004 edition. A new chapter on the STEM (science,…

In this paper, we examine the NCLB definition of a "highly qualified" teacher, the combined nature of federal and state highly qualified mandates, and how science teachers and their principals in one large, urban district have responded. In particular, we report on the kinds of licenses that teachers of science hold; the relationship…

Having data about student academic performance motivates school leaders to perform better as educators, and tells them where they need to concentrate their efforts to improve. As principal of Ernie Pyle Middle School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this author finds that the constant use of relevant data helps him stay focused on his instructional…

Early career science teachers are often assigned to classrooms with high numbers of English language learners (ELLs). For the underprepared early career science teacher, these circumstances are challenging. This study examines the changes in beliefs and practices of an early career science teacher who taught high numbers of ELLs in an urban…

This article presents an interview with Cathy Carnahan, the 2011 MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year. Carnahan makes adult learning a priority to support student achievement at Duniway Middle School in McMinnville, Oregon. She describes her school as a community of learners that is a safe setting for teachers to lead and…