The study presents the frequencies of students' conceptions of growth and cell division before and after one hour of instruction. The investigation supplements qualitative results by directing attention to those conceptions which might occur most frequently to students: teachers can then concentrate their preparation on practical requirements. A…

To examine cumulative impact of anti-smoking messages, 300+ sixth, seventh, and eighth graders at three southern, private schools completed the Youth Tobacco Survey during both fall and spring, 2001-2002. One school had tobacco lessons plus health-promotion teams, the other tobacco lessons, and the third classes as usual. In attitudes and…

This study examined reciprocal associations among adolescents' negative feedback-seeking, depressive symptoms, perceptions of friendship quality, and peer-reported social preference over an 11-month period. A total of 478 adolescents in grades 6-8 completed measures of negative feedback-seeking, depressive symptoms, friendship quality,…

As part of compliance with with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, this document presents the State Report Card of Arizona for 2009-2010. The report card provides tables relating to percentage of students who passed AIMS in Arizona by subject and grade. The tables shown in this document include: (1) Mathematics Grade 3; (2) Reading Grade 3; (3)…

There are two purposes in this study. One is to compare how 7th and 8th graders reason on linear and quadratic geometric number patterns when they have not learned this kind of tasks in school. The other is to explore the hierarchical relations among the four components of reasoning on geometric number patterns: understanding, generalizing,…

Middle school data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) are analyzed in this article to compare achievement difference between seventh and eighth grades. The statistical computing involves a selective subtraction of item scores in more than 40 countries. The research findings indicate that not all TIMSS items have…

As our schools and classroom continue to become increasingly diverse, the task of teaching ALL students within inclusive settings continues to challenge educators. Developing a classroom that respects the diversity of ALL students and facilitates their success is critical, especially at the middle and high school levels. This article describes one…

This study examined the correlates and predictors of conflict resolution styles in a sample of urban seventh and eighth graders. Girls were found to rely on verbal assertion more frequently and aggressiveness less frequently than boys in the sample. Self-efficacy and self-control were found to be significant predictors of conflict resolution…

This article describes a viable alternative to hiring full-time certified teachers or to using lay volunteers to provide children at risk of failing in school with academic coaches (tutors). The Academic Coaching Program described herein recruited and trained students enrolled in a university's school of education programs to serve as academic…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of gender and grade level on students' logical thinking abilities. A total of 174 sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade students participated in the study. Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT) was administered to determine students' reasoning abilities. A two-way multivariate analysis of variance…

Judgments about the quality of students' experience of school generally focus on their academic performance and indeed this is an important indicator but closer attention needs to be paid to equally important, more broadly based outcomes that include social/emotional adjustment as they also are shown to impact on students' lives at, and beyond…

Commitment and attachment to school and perception of school norms were examined in a sample of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders to determine whether bullies, victims, bully victims, and students who reported no or low levels of bullying and victimization differed in their level of bonding to school and their perceptions of standards and…

If strong school library media centers (SLMCs) positively impact middle school student reading achievement, as measured on standardized tests, are they also beneficial for middle school science achievement? To answer this question, the researcher built upon the statistical analyses used in previous school library impact studies with qualitative…

This study investigated the interactive effects between students' opportunity to learn (OTL) in the classroom, two language-related testing accommodations, and English language learner (ELL) students and other students of varying language proficiency, and how these variables impact mathematics performance. Hierarchical linear modeling was employed…

The annual event dropout rate describes the proportion of students who leave school each year without completing a high school program. The event dropout rates for the school year 2004-2005 of 1.68% for grades 7 through 12th and 2.40% for grades 9 through 12th are at the lowest levels in the past ten years. The event completion/graduation rate…