Asserts that the dilemma faced by educators is how to interpret their past experiences so that they can design learning environments for students who will live out their lives in a world very different from the one that has molded the educators. Introduces the issue's first three articles and discusses their relation to the theme of modern…

Highlights this journal issue's focus on teaching diverse learners, discusses teaching a common curriculum to students who learn in different ways, and notes that standardized instruction must give way to differentiated instruction. Dedicates issue to Donald Eichhorn, pioneer in middle school educational approaches. (DLH)

Highlights the topic of the interaction of students, teachers, and subject matter within structurally sound middle schools explored in this journal issue. Asserts that instruction can not be improved merely by raising standards and accountability without also providing developmentally appropriate learning activities within a supportive team…

Recounts interview with a retired middle school principal and administrator, discussing ways to promote a safe educational environment by building a school community, including advisory programs, early intervention, curriculum, extended school day, smaller schools, and achievement for all students. Includes a biography for Bourgeois. (JPB)

Discusses the value of middle school reform involving interdisciplinary teaming, advisory programs, and developmentally appropriate practices, noting that true middle schools improve academic achievement and standardized test scores. Argues against a pendulum swing away from middle school reform and toward standards-based curriculum. (JPB)

Discusses the effect of computers and the World Wide Web on literacy, noting the need for teachers and students to be more accountable for learning of verbal and quantitative literacy. (JPB)

Discusses three ways for teachers to affect standardized measures of student achievement: teach only students demographically predisposed to higher scores; cheat; or establish a challenging, integrative, and exploratory curriculum. (JPB)

Proposes a new role for middle school teachers in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This role involves reexamination of curriculum content in world cultures, geography, history, and comparative religions to give students a fuller idea of their place in the world and the concepts of justice and fairness as practiced in the…

Examines the relationship between a journey and a destination in terms of the educational experience, where learning is the journey but test scores have become the destination. Focuses on the loss of curriculum areas that are untested in favor of the destination of math and reading scores. Asserts that middle school students deserve both measured…