This collection of essays provides extensive background information and varied views on the history, philosophy, and curriculum of the middle school as a movement or as an educational design for pre- and early adolescents. After a brief prologue by editor John H. Lounsbury, 14 essays by separate authors are presented: "The Junior High School:…

Interdisciplinary education has been considered a key element of middle level education since the 1960s. Interdisciplinary teaching teams and multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary units of study have been frequently found in middle level schools since then. Although changes have been incorporated to support it, actual implementation of…

This sixth collection of research on middle schools is divided into three sections. Section I comprises five research articles, each with a practitioner's reaction discussing the article's implications for practice and suggesting further research. The articles include "Perceptual Styles of Pupils in Grades 5 through 8," by Grover…

This issue of "Civic Partners" is a call to action on behalf of American's cities. The issue opens with John W. Gardner's discussion of the "responsibles" whose vision and energy sustain communities. He stresses that all of us are "responsibles." Among the many tasks that face those responsible for urban improvement is the teaching of conflict…

This guide presents lesson plans, with handouts, biographical sketches, and teaching guides, which show ways of integrating African American role models into mathematics and science lessons in kindergarten through grade 6. The guide is divided into mathematics and science sections, which each are subdivided into groupings: kindergarten through…

The nine studies contained in this volume represent efforts to better understand and develop improved programs for middle school students. Research briefs deal with such topics as the attitudes of students, teachers, and principals; middle school characteristics; the degree of middle school program implementation; a guidance program model;…

This volume theorizes, describes, and explains practices and some specific programs designed to help meet the needs and demands of a diverse student population. The central point of this volume is that curriculum, instruction, and assessment in middle-level education is a dynamic, interrelated system undergoing change. The book contains the…

This book is a collection of essays by full-time classroom teachers who describe their efforts to implement the vision of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards documents and to empower their students in mathematics. Chapter 1, "Students' Conceptions of Mathematics and the Challenge of the Standards" (Dorothy Buerk),…

These five commissioned papers explore the relationship between educational reform and parent and community involvement for middle-grade education. The papers are: (1) "Comprehensive Districtwide Reforms in Parent and Community Involvement Programs" (Nancy Feyl Chavkin), on the resources and skills that school districts already have and…

This report summarizes the work of the Connecticut Task Force on the Education of Early Adolescents, which convened to make recommendations for reform policies in middle grade education. Prompted by a report issued by the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, this report is the result of efforts to define the specific tasks that needed to be…

This ERIC/RCS Special Collection contains 10 or more Digests (brief syntheses of the research on a specific topic in contemporary education) and FAST Bibs (Focused Access to Selected Topics--annotated bibliographies with selected entries from the ERIC database), providing up-to-date information in an accessible format. The collection focuses on…

This comprehensive teacher's guide and 20 laminated art reproductions are part of an instructional resource designed to assist teachers in incorporating Native American studies into the elementary art program and general curriculum. It highlights visual art which is actively being innovated by aboriginal artists throughout North America and…

This volume contains personal reflections by four teachers in Texas on their year-long Trinity University intern teaching experience at Mark Twain Middle School, an urban professional development school in San Antonio. Part 1 by Corinne McKamey, "To understand teaching you have to be there, engrossed in the human interactions," is a…

Using reading and writing to learn, inquire, construct, and examine ideas across the curriculum is central to an integrated curriculum. Too many middle school students do not view writing as a communication process that permeates the curriculum, nor reading as an active, constructivist process whereby various perspectives can be examined and…

The book provides 13 model interdisciplinary teaching units for use with academically gifted students in grades four through nine. Each unit contains an introduction; objectives; introductory developmental culminating and evaluation activities; materials; and a bibliography. Topics of the teaching units include cemeteries, famous women, coastal…