Investigated were the essential characteristics of curriculum content and instructional patterns which contributed to effective programs of mathematics for seventh and eighth grade junior high school students in California. The purpose of the study was to provide guidelines which would assist educators in developing mathematics programs for these…

A PROGRAM DEMONSTRATING THE VALUES TO BE GAINED BY 60 RURAL PUPILS ENGAGED IN A 5-WEEK SUMMER SESSION WAS PRESENTED. THE BOYS AND GIRLS SEPARATELY PARTICIPATED IN A 10-DAY TRIP TO CAREFULLY SELECTED AREAS OF ARTISTIC, SCIENTIFIC, OR HISTORIC INTEREST IN CALIFORNIA. THE PURPOSES WERE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE INTELLECTUAL, EMOTIONAL, AND SOCIAL…

Proposes a practical approach for implementing the seventh grade curriculum of California's History-Social Science Framework (1988). States that the emphasis placed on each of the 11 units can be framed in the context of the individual classroom. Advocates building a context (including content and thinking processes) which makes information…

RESEARCH WITH STUDENTS IN GRADES 6, 7, AND 8 DEMONSTRATED THAT CHILDREN CAN BE TAUGHT TO SPELL IF--(1) EACH CHILD USES A SPELLING PROGRAM GEARED TO HIS OWN LEARNING LEVEL, DEVELOPS HIS OWN SYSTEM OF LEARNING TO SPELL, WORKS ON WORDS NOT YET MASTERED, AND REALIZES CONTINUING SUCCESS, AND (2) THE TEACHING METHOD DEVELOPS THE PUPIL'S LISTENING…

Cognitive coaching, a process allowing teachers to explore the thinking behind their practice, can reveal incompletely developed areas of individuals' cognitive mapping. Cognitive coaching uses a three-phase cycle (preconference, observation, and postconference) to help teachers improve instructional effectiveness by becoming more reflective about…

The purpose of this working paper is to review current literature on literacy programs for parents of English language learners (ELLs). The paper includes a summary of five literacy programs for ELL parents throughout the United States of America. Four of these were system-wide interventions affecting more than one school or classroom. Each…

This study examined non-traditional methods in teaching spelling and vocabulary using music and rhythm in instruction. Subjects were 4 at-risk students in a class of 29 students in a seventh-grade classroom at a middle school in Marin County, California. A musical component was added to instruction as part of the seventh-grade students' processing…

Using logistic and multiple regression, we examined the association between hostility, level of depressive symptoms, and smoking in a sample of 1699 ethnically diverse students in California. Self-reports were collected twice from each student, at the beginning of the 6th and 7th grade years. Among 6th graders who had not smoked, depressive…

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.…

California State Standard 7.3 is delineated in the following manner: "Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structure of the civilizations of China in the middle ages." Seventh-grade students focus on the reunification of China under the Tang Dynasty and reasons for the spread of Buddhism;…

California State Standard 7.8 is delineated in the following manner: "Students analyze the origins, accomplishments, and diffusion of the Renaissance," in terms of the way in which the revival of classical learning and the arts affected a new interest in humanism; the importance of Florence in the early stages of the Renaissance and the…

The main goal of this report is to present evidence on the predictive validity of an English language arts (ELA) performance assessment (PA) administered in Grades 2-9 in a large urban school district. To account for the hierarchical structure of the data (students are nested within schools), we employed hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to…

This paper presents the research and methodology and analyses used for the "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades" research. This appendix contains the following sections: (1) Overview; (2) Constructing the Survey Data File; (3) Constructing Composite Independent Variables (Subdomains); (4) Constructing Longitudinal Outcome Variables; (5)…

This seventh grade activity asks students to gather data that will help them understand and appreciate the Islamic way of life and to learn to feel comfortable living with a Muslim family in Syria during the second semester of the school year. The activity states each student will be interviewed by a Fulbright official, expected to keep a…

Reports a study that examined acculturation and its association with smoking and other correlates of smoking for Latino seventh graders. Students completed surveys on demographics, smoking prevalence, parent attitudes, and acculturation. Results indicated that as young Latinos became more acculturated, psychosocial influences on smoking changed…