In spring 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic collided with a national reckoning on racial injustice and ruptured our country's core. The effects of this collision necessitated something other than business as usual in school leadership: it called for the kind of courageous leadership rooted in equity and justice we describe in this paper. In this…

The disruption of in-person delivery of a sexual health education curriculum to students in 19 urban middle schools in the Midwestern United States was one of many complications in education due the COVID-19 pandemic. Given time constraints and need for program delivery, community partners collaborated to convert the curriculum for virtual…

This article describes the development of an innovative clinically rich STEM middle school residency program, one with emphasis in middle grades mathematics program and another in middle grades science aimed to cultivate responsive middle School STEM teachers who are prepared to teach and reach the next generation of young adolescent learners. In…

LaRocque, Kleiman, and Darling (2011) characterized parental involvement as the "missing link" in school achievement. For this reason, especially, middle grades teachers and teacher leaders want very much to reach out to newcomer Latino families--and they do. Although Google Translate™ has emerged as a go-to tool for many teachers and…

Providing authentic college experiences for students in the middle grades through a partnership with a local college can improve college readiness skills and leave students with a positive view of post-secondary possibilities and opportunities. This article describes a college immersion program--a weeklong college experience provided to all…

How can middle-level educators improve reading achievement when digitized texts and tests manage their instruction? Experienced Osage Middle School reading teachers and school administrators addressed this question as they examined their Istation reading curriculum, and higher education faculty partners were invited to portray this work. Teaching…

We must prepare young adolescents for a bright future by examining all of our educational practices in terms of their current and future relevance. The education we provide our students must prepare them to address enormously complex issues involving demographics and international relations, environmental and human health, and the development and…

This article explores how a laboratory middle school (LMS) serving students from low-performing elementary schools and students with academic or social-emotional challenges is developing as a trauma-responsive school. The authors explore the literature, school/community context, student cases, and the ways in which classroom and school-wide…

School bullying reaches across all ages and grades, and is associated with serious mental health issues such as suicide, homicide, and other acts of violence. There are several different types of bullying that are classified as physical, verbal, relational, and cyber bullying. Physical bullying may involve hitting, punching, threatening acts, and…

Middle level students classified as at-risk may benefit from a mentoring relationship to help them during this transitionary period of adolescence. Prior research findings highlight the benefits of mentoring programs for both mentors and mentees. This article provides a review of literature in mentoring programs and discusses a specific example of…

One of the 16 core beliefs of middle level thinking is that schools and families must work together on behalf of every young adolescent (National Middle School Association, 2010). However, in classrooms and on curriculum nights, communication emerges as a critical issue. This is especially true when it comes to teachers' interacting with Latino…

This article illustrates how action research can be used as a model for professional development with middle grades educators in rapidly changing and technology-intensive schools. Drawing upon ten years of using this model, the authors present three examples of educator action research to highlight five characteristics of effective projects: (1)…

The goal of the intervention peer-tutoring program described in this paper was to help pre-algebra students (tutees) deepen their knowledge of mathematical concepts by providing them an opportunity to collaborate with their peers--accelerated algebra students (tutors). Over the duration of the program, the tutees and tutors gained a mutual respect…