Maintains that the No Child Left Behind initiative is a morally neutral force that can be used to ensure that all students learn to their fullest capacities or to reinforce educational inequalities by limiting the curriculum of some students. Expresses fear that middle school curricula in failing schools will be limited to getting students ready…

Urges renewal and revitalization to sustain middle school reform. Discusses the nature of middle school reform as an ongoing process of refining middle school concepts, practices, or programs to make them better for students. Highlights articles in this issue. (JPB)

Discusses criticism of the middle school reform movement and points out efforts to rekindle reform. (JPB)

Points out the following problems with standardized testing and reforms at the middle school level: (1) misalignment of test-based reforms and standards-based reforms; (2) geographic disadvantages; and (3) disadvantages for learning disabled. Presents example of two students' standardized test scores as illustrations of the non-alignment problem.…

Addresses the issue of how educators can begin to improve poorly performing urban middle level schools. Suggests poor infrastructures, school size, and the lack of qualified professionals as reasons why many school underperform. Contends that solutions need to come from those who control the resources, specifically politicians and government…

Responds to M. S. Tucker and J. B. Codding's criticism of the middle school concept in their 1999 article "Education and the Demands of Democracy in the Next Millennium." Notes that the authors apparently approve of middle school reform but over-generalize the term "middle school" to mean a building rather than a curriculum or…

Introduces this issue of Middle School Journal. Highlights articles presenting theories concerning how male and female adolescents face the development of self-concept, the dilemma of ensuring gender equity, as well as divergent perspectives on helping both genders develop positive self images about themselves as learners. (SD)

Discusses the importance of joining the middle school concept to organizational health and briefly introduces this journal issue's articles on the subject. (EV)

Describes the difficulty in determining what core values should govern how middle level students are educated. Argues that doing what is best has to be grounded in something profound despite the difficulty in defining educational philosophy; concludes this is critical as educational agendas change and middle level education comes under fire. (SD)

Discusses the differences between applications of interdisciplinary philosophy to school organization and to curriculum. Details organizational and curricular arrangements, notes that the two organizational arrangements can support any of the curricular arrangements, but that the term "interdisciplinary" means one thing when it modifies school…

Maintains that commercial pressures for profitability threaten best practice in fields such as broadcast journalism and history publishing. Asserts that similar pressures for improved student standardized achievement test scores force educational quality to be sacrificed to the demands of the marketplace. Contends that it is time to reflect on…

Asserts that middle grades curriculum is in need of more conceptual clarity and more scholarly criticism. Addresses the issue of confusion among middle level professionals and the scholarly disagreements on the meanings of important curricular terms, such as interdisciplinary, integrated, and integrative. Encourages understanding and…

Discusses a model for the interactions between the elements of a safe school environment. Elements are curriculum, climate, and instruction leading to a safe setting, resulting in positive student outcomes. (JPB)

Discusses the role of the middle school concept for creating small communities for learning that ensure success for all students as a key step in reducing alienation, despair, and violence among adolescents. (JPB)

Discusses ways to assess how well team organizations are functioning and contributing to the total operation of the middle schools that use team structures. Considers whether teaching teams determine course content, and school support for teams; also considers teacher training in team operations and the level of understanding and commitment…