Studied the stability of accountability scores and gains for schools using fourth-grade reading results for schools (samples from 757 to 802 schools) in Colorado for 4 years of administration of the Colorado Student Assessment Program. Year-to-year changes were found to be quite unstable, resulting in a near zero correlation of the school gains…

Motivated by peer pressure and the principle of least effort, middle schoolers often make poor choices--not to work, listen, or hand in assignments--that can lead to failure or underachievement. To avoid "social promotion," a Colorado middle school has initiated transition classes that give students a second chance to learn last…

Using Total Quality Education principles, a Colorado middle school formed an action team to research discipline situation and develop a new system. Consequences for infractions now range from Saturday school to visiting local prisons and performing community service (to replace suspension). Program success is based on consistency, learning…

Assesses the concerns raised by a group of middle-level teachers when developing and implementing interdisciplinary curriculum, teaming, and teaching. Participants progressed through various stages, including information, personal, management, and collaboration. Concerns at each level had to be resolved before teachers could reach the final…

Before designing an interdisciplinary portfolio project, educators at a Colorado middle school surveyed seventh- and eighth-grade students about their most memorable work. Students' most memorable work in school included hands-on science, independent research projects, speech making, research on foreign cultures, field trips, and art projects.…

A student-initiated nature center project began six years ago when the original participants were in fifth grade. The students did the research, planning, construction, grant writing, and accounting and tied it all to Colorado state standards. Student engagement and self-confidence grew from a sense of responsibility and from knowing that the…

A Colorado school district collaborated with local university personnel to plan, implement, and evaluate a staff development program addressing instructional improvement. The project trained upper elementary and junior high teachers in content area reading instruction and provided follow-up coaching as they implemented the new strategies. (SM)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between gender, grade level, teachers, and the selection of mathematics software as measured by the type of mathematics software chosen, and time-on-task. Research data were collected from 202 third, fourth, and fifth grade students in a single elementary school located in northeastern…

Common instructional practices in the teaching of language minority students are described. The case study of a fourth grade classroom in Longmont (Colorado) illustrates how a teacher's enthusiasm for literacy instruction creates an environment where all students, including the Hispanic language minority, can be active participants. (SLD)