Two groups of middle school students were taught U.S. colonial history during a 5-week period using 2 different instructional strategies. In the experimental group, concepts and problem-solving strategies were explicitly taught; in the control group, content was presented using lectures and reading. All students took a pretest and several…

Students making the transition into middle or high school face challenges that may derail their school careers. Schools can do a better job of preparing students for the challenges ahead. In this article, the authors review the developmental needs and challenges of young adolescents and the concerns that they and their parents have about moving…

Evolution of the "old page", or written hardcopy texts, to the "new" (Kress, 2003), or electronic page, means that today's learners have experience with reading a variety of texts. Image, music, and electronic inscription (font, style, flash, and so on) are features of multimodal texts that many learners prefer to read and create. With the screen…

This textbook aims to (1) train the pupil in that part of arithmetic used in everyday business which he can understand; (2) develop his skill in rapid calculation by short cuts and time tests; (3) show the necessity for checking, and develop the habit of checking; (4) develop the habit of thrift by planning budgets, keeping accounts, and becoming…

The briefs in the NES Evaluation Briefs series provide updates on evaluation results relevant to the design, implementation, and impact of the NES program. This Brief highlights how the program was implemented in Year 1. The Brief provides contextual information about participating schools, organizational approaches to participation, strategic…

The main goal of the study was to document and describe the beginnings of the implementation of the Strategic Instructional Model at five (5) middle schools in the EPISD. The study also examined Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) data from those students that participated in the program. Methodology: Implementation information was…

This report summarizes results of AISD's Technology Applications Readiness Grants for Empowering Texas (TARGET) program activities for the 2003-2004 school year.

This article reflects on her experiences as a middle school counselor in Kentucky. It relates that counselors have been called upon to address problems of middle school students, including substance abuse. It offers an overview of the advantages of the American School Counselor Association's National Standards, such as its provision of legitimacy…

Although teachers' knowledge of student emotion is not typically integrated into studies of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, this study uses the philosophy of emotion, recent teacher knowledge research, and a case study of one middle-school physical education teacher to illustrate the point that how teachers understand student emotion is…

The following article gives a brief account of some empirical research done in the 1980s in the UK by the present author with his colleague, Ibrahim Abdel-Ghany of Minia University, Egypt. At the time both researchers were working at the University of East Anglia at Norwich, England. This work is partly based on empirical arguments, and on…

In this manuscript, the author explores the question, What does research suggest for middle level readers? To answer it, she conducts a synthesis of empirical studies published between 1990 and 2001 that appeared in journals linked to the author's professional membership (i.e., "Research in Middle Level Education" ("RMLE"), "Reading Research…

The authors conduct an evaluation of a middle school-based treatment program for youth with ADHD during early stages of treatment development. The studies focus on interpreting outcome trends in preliminary data and identifying assessment issues that will be important to consider when conducting a clinical trial. Parent reports indicate that the…

Passive students staring blankly at computer screens has been a worrisome image for many educators. Often they fear that technology can remove students from contact with the real world. Two technologies that have been in general use for many years, but are more recently appearing in the educational sector, provide the opportunity to reap the…

Writing achievement among young adolescents has become a significant concern. According to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) (2000), writing achievement has not changed appreciably in the last 15 years. However, NAEP data suggest that teachers have increased the amount of time students spend writing. In other words,…

This report highlights the importance of addressing the unique set of needs of middle-level students. The struggle over structuring and content of middle-level education--the K-8 versus middle-school/junior-high argument--mirrors to a considerable extent the broader recurring battle of traditionalism versus progressivism. There are few empirical…