This playbook draws from the findings of "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades," the largest empirical study of this grade level conducted to date. The "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades" study was designed to find out what higher-performing schools do differently. The result is a compelling set of specific, actionable…

This paper presents Rowland's Ways of Knowing and Decision-making Model for curriculum development and how it can be applied to environmental education curricula. The model uses a problem solving approach based on steps of: (1) coming to know the problem through the ways of knowing of the disciplines and personal knowledge; (2) proposing solutions…

This document, which is intended for parents of Ohio students in grade 8, explains the purpose and content of the Individual Career Plan (ICP) and provides activities through which parents can help their children begin to think about career choice. The document begins with an overview of the ICP, which is a scrapbook-like document that Ohio…

This document is designed to help Wisconsin eighth grade students, their parents, and their teachers plan an individualized course of study in high school that will help these students research their post-high school goals. The document begins by describing the process of lifework planning, which is intended to equip students with the research…