Formal collaborative structures for teacher teams as professional learning communities (PLC) have long been a supported practice aimed at changing instructional practice and increasing student outcomes in a cycle of continuous improvement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of PLC teams at the middle school level in a…

Adolescents experience challenges navigating psychological, physiological, and emotional transformations. This article contributes to research into how middle school and high school environments can reinforce the needs of students through the transition from middle school to high school. In this grounded theory study, we interviewed 11…

We learn by doing. This simple philosophy is at the heart of project-based learning in the 21st-century classroom. It is grounded in the belief that the stand and lecture approach to teaching, worksheets and rote memorization are not enough to move students down a path to the deep learning necessary for success in college and careers. Essential…

Being an educational leader isn't getting any easier, but it has never been more exciting, especially when one has the opportunity to change the face of education and move it into the 21st century. For some people, this change is fun and invigorating, but for others, it can be downright frightening and painful. So how can teachers and school…

Utilizing critical and sociocultural approaches to teaching and learning, this article presents data from seven middle grade students at a Title I school regarding their experiences in a student-constructed learning group. Findings reveal students' desires and abilities to constructively participate in work with others that runs contrary to common…

The Schools to Watch: School Transformation Network Project is a whole school reform model designed to improve the educational practices, experiences, and outcomes of low-performing middle-grades schools. Developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, the four-year project was funded in 2010 by a U.S. Department of Education…

Black students, in general, are underserved academically (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Townsend, 2002) and overrepresented in special education (Donovan & Cross, 2002). Black students with disabilities are further overrepresented in more restrictive educational environments (Skiba, Poloni-Staudinger, Gallini, Simmons & Feggins-Azziz, 2006).…

This newsletter of best practices in implementing the High Schools That Work (HSTW), Making Middle Grades Work (MMGW) and Technology Centers That Work (TCTW) school improvement models is based on presentations at the 27th Annual HSTW Staff Development Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the summer of 2013. The newsletter is divided up into…