Deciding which instructional strategies to employ is a complex issue faced daily by middle school teachers. Although a wealth of literature on developmentally appropriate and responsive middle school instructional practices is available, the extent to which these strategies are employed is often unknown. Thus, the purpose of this study was to…

Research identifying relationships between principals' instructional leadership behavior and academic achievement is problematic because it fails to consider the perspectives of the "consumer" (i.e., students). Consequently, this study investigated what students perceive principals do to influence their academic achievement. Students identified…

This research was designed to examine the effects of the use of individualized, learning-style based homework prescriptions on the achievement and attitudes of middle level students. Sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students from an urban, parochial school in New York City were provided either learning-style-based homework prescriptions or…

This study describes the bullying behaviors reported by 198 students in grade 8 in two middle schools in the same southern city. Of the students, 92% reported observing some type of bullying at their school at least "sometimes." Nearly one half of the students did not tell anyone when they were bullied. Those who did report bullying were most…

This study investigates differences in eighth-grade mathematics students' engagement in standards-based curriculum and instruction practices between block and traditional-schedule schools. Survey data were gathered from 156 middle level mathematics teachers to access the use of standards-based curriculum and instruction practices in their…