Recognizing the relationship between homework completion and academic achievement, this action research project targeted eighth graders in all subject areas who failed to complete homework assignments and provided them with creative strategies to improve homework completion. Participating in the project were eighth graders from a small, suburban,…

A program was developed to improve students' transfer of concepts and skills among content areas and to the world outside of the classroom. The targeted population was sixth and eighth graders at a private middle school of 250 students in a stable middle-class community in a suburb of Chicago (Illinois). Study of the school site and a literature…

This action research project evaluated a program to reduce inappropriate behavior and maximize prosocial skills. The program involved development and implementation of cooperative learning, weekly prosocial lessons, a conflict resolution program, and a community service project. The target population consisted of 240 seventh and eighth grade…

This paper describes a program designed to increase student awareness and appreciation of their own culture and the cultures of others. The study was conducted in a northern Illinois junior high among 30 eighth grade language arts students. Data were gathered through teacher observation, teacher-student interviews, student surveys and student…

This report describes a program for improving moral character to increase academic achievement. Targeted population consisted of middle school students in a growing middle class community in a northern suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The problem, an absence of proper moral character, was documented through data collected from discipline referrals to…

This action research project sought to develop students' critical thinking skills by implementing a variety of instructional strategies. Targeted for this study were students in one early childhood special education program, one kindergarten class, and one eighth grade science class. The deficit in critical thinking and problem-solving skills was…

A program designed to support English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students' achievement when mainstreamed into eighth grade literature and composition classes is described. The approach was implemented in a suburban school, in which some ESL students lacked the skills to achieve at grade level in regular composition and literature classes. A high…

This action research project implemented and evaluated an intervention for increasing student engagement in learning to improve academic success. The targeted population consisted of students in four separate schools: pre-kindergarten and eighth graders in a large metropolitan area and fifth and eighth graders in a rural community. The lack of…

This report describes a program which utilized cooperative learning activities to help eighth grade students in physical education classes at one urban Illinois school develop their interpersonal skills and reduce the frequency of inappropriate behavioral choices. The problem of inappropriate behavioral choices in the physical education classroom…

In response to the changes in curriculum as a result of educational reform and the introduction of information technologies into school library media centers, media specialists need to ensure that all students acquire the skills needed to manage information. This study sought to determine what assistance methods eighth-grade students would use to…

This action research study examined the problem of the loss of commitment to schoolwork by middle level students as evidenced by missing assignments; late work, incomplete work, or both; and an attitude of indifference on the part of the students. The study also reviewed a variety of strategies to improve student learning and students' view of…