For the past several years, leaders in middle grades education research have strengthened their call for more methodologically robust quantitative research to address important questions in the field. Recently, two important routes towards addressing this call have emerged: the Middle Grades Longitudinal Study from the National Center for…

This volume represents both recent research in pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), as well as emerging innovations in how PCK is applied in practice. The notion of "research to practice" is critical to validating how effectively PCK works within the clinic and how it can be used to…

The addition of the arts to STEM education, now known as STEAM, adds a new dimension to problem-solving within those fields, offering students tools such as imagination and resourcefulness to incorporate into their designs. However, the shift from STEM to STEAM has changed what it means for students to learn within and across these disciplines.…

This report is designed for use by those specializing in the preparation of elementary and middle school principals and by those whose focus is on the inservice aspects of professional development. The paper identifies the proficiencies for K-8 principals and groups them into four major categories. The report elaborates on these categories,…

This study developed a validation procedure for identifying oral vocabulary related to occupational awareness and produced a list of terms appropriate for curriculum development in career education for students with mild disabilities at the middle school level. The process used 33 teacher participants and involved sorting candidate words for…

Nine years after the National Science Education Standards' release, just how well do science teachers in grades 5 to 8 actually use them to plan content, define improved teaching, and assess real learning? Find out the answers to these key questions in this groundbreaking collection of 15 essays by teachers, researchers, and professors whose…

Claims millions of middle school graduates are unable to assist in meeting the nation's needs in economic development. States that educational and the economic sectors are not working together to solve the urgent task facing rural education. Provides plan for curriculum development with the stress on vocational education. (NL)

Implications of biophysicist Herman Epstein's research on brain growth periodization, which develop a neurobiological consideration of learning issues for middle school curricula, have created controversy among educators and stimulus for further research. This presentation (1) summarizes the writer's interpretations of these data and implications…

This paper examines theories of human development within the context of the models presented by the schools of cognitive learning, behavioralism, psychoanalysis, and humanistic views of growth. Stress is placed on the stages of human development that provides a means of better meeting the needs of students ages 10-14 in the middle school milieu.…

More than 1,600 middle school students, including an experimental group exposed to the Biological Science Curriculum Study (BSCS), were administered the Modified Nature of Scientific Knowledge Scale. Results indicate that the students utilizing the traditional science curriculum possessed a significantly better understanding of the testable nature…

The purpose of this report is to identify changes that need to be made in the Saskatchewan mathematics curriculum and to provide the curriculum writers and advisory committee with sufficient background information to develop a revised program and to evaluate teaching materials currently available. The purpose of Part 1 of the guide is to examine…

Summarizes interviews with British West Indies children concerning the production of art and the role of the artist. Demonstrates that children's perceptions undergo a shift from naive realism (pretty things make pretty pictures) to a more interpretive stance (the artist's efforts define the final product). (MJP)

Presents the results of a study where middle school students enrolled in conflict resolution training wrote essays explaining how they would respond to conflict situations. Students not receiving the training were the control group. Significant differences occurred between the training and control groups concerning knowledge of negotiation…

Reports on a research development model designed to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics in the Dominican Republic. The model drew heavily upon the Missouri Mathematics Project. Discusses innovations in curriculum development, classroom instruction, and inservice teacher training. Includes statistical tables on student achievement and…

This book contains the proceedings of a seminar that investigated the impact of cognitive and social development on the teaching of science in secondary schools, and the possible ways in which the science curriculum could be a context in which adolescents' development could be positively influenced. Six plenary papers were presented: (1) "Research…