Increasing numbers of middle school educators believe that the education of young adolescents can be enhanced when teachers and students are members of classrooms and small team groups characterized by long-lasting relationships. This book describes how to offer students the benefits of smallness within increasingly larger schools by ensuring long-term teacher-student relationships. Three major ways of achieving such relationships are detailed: (1) multiage grouping; (2) looping; and (3) schools-within-a-school. Research on middle school organizational patterns is summarized. Also presented are the findings of a national survey on long-term teacher-student relationships that gathered the opinions of 105 educators, 586 parents, and 1,100 students from 33 schools. Guidelines for practitioners interested in implementing long-term teacher-student relationships to make big schools seem small conclude the book. (Contains 53 references.) (KB)