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…

Project-based curricula have the potential to engage students' interests. But how do students become interested in the goals of a project? This article documents how a group of 8th-grade students participated in an architectural design project called the Antarctica Project. The project is based on the imaginary premise that students need to design…

This article describes an investigation making connections between the time on an analog clock and the angle between the minute hand and the hour hand. It was posed by a middle school mathematics teacher. (Contains 8 tables and 6 figures.)

A diagnostic methodology for large-scale assessment was employed to compare performance on a national test in mathematics of representative samples of Jewish and Arab 8th graders in Israel in order to shed light on a previously identified large achievement gap between these 2 populations. The results revealed significant differences between the 2…

Using children's picture books, Deborah Dean provided frameworks for student research papers that avoided the pitfalls leading to voiceless an encyclopedic writing. Research guide sheets; class analysis of text organization, sentence variety, stylistic choices; and peer review all contribute to interesting final papers. (Contains 2 figures.)

When proficient middle school readers enter high school, it is generally expected that they can successfully comprehend high school text. If any literacy instruction is provided in high school, it is generally limited to students with a history of struggling with reading. Is it a reasonable expectation that successful middle school readers will be…

The belief that schools can play a powerful role in preventing tobacco use among adolescents has led to the implementation of various tobacco-related polices and practices. This study examines the association between school policies regarding monitoring student behavior, severity of action taken for infraction of policies, and tobacco use by…

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…

Although researchers report that motivational variables, such as interest and self-efficacy, positively relate to forms of achievement (e.g., standardized test scores, grades, number of problems solved correctly), other studies indicate that motivation's contribution to achievement is not consistent. Fewer studies, however, have examined these…

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…

Eight hundred and ninety-nine (431 male, 467 female and one missing value) Grade 8 and 9 (n = 184 and 713, respectively, with two missing values) learners from secondary schools in Mpumalanga completed a science and mathematics questionnaire. Student's t tests showed that male and female, as well as language groups' scores, differed significantly.…

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…

This paper explores auto-photography as a form of research practice in the area of identity and self-esteem research. It allows researchers to capture and articulate the ways identity guides human action and thought. It involves the generation and examination of the static images that participants themselves believe best represent them.…