Nearly ten years ago, Park Street Intermediate School began the journey of instituting processes, policies, and programs intended to support the development of a learning environment based on trust, respect, optimism, caring, and intentionality as described in the literature of Invitational Education. The purpose of this case study is to trace the…

Middle-level instructional teams promote feelings of belonging and enhance student academic and social growth, teacher job satisfaction, mission clarity, and instructional program strength. A survey of Ohio middle-school teachers and principals disclosed four components promoting successful team development: including all participants in teamwork…

The Civic Achievement Award Program (CAAP) is a three-part citizenship education program for students in grades five through eight that teaches the skills needed to become active, informed citizens. The program increases student awareness of their democratic heritage and its everyday relevance through participation in various civic projects. (MLH)

This 6-week course for students at Ruffing Montessori Middle School provides instruction in communication skills, information on human development, and instruction on skills useful in working as a volunteer or tutor. It culminates with service given to first graders in the primary environment and lays the foundation for the extended community work…

Uses a "fictitious-annotated-titles" survey to determine reading preferences of fourth-grade girls and boys. Finds that both boys and girls prefer fiction over non-fiction; girls preferred fiction more strongly than boys; and boys preferred male main characters more strongly than the girls, and girls preferred female main characters more…

A health education curriculum guide designed for nonhandicapped students was used with special education students in Canton, Ohio. The activity-centered curriculum changed the health beliefs and behavior of some children with learning disabilities but was not effective with those whose Intelligence Quotient scores were below 80. (Author/PP)

Studied the reliability of The Survey of Reading Attitudes scores in predicting the reading attitudes of fifth and sixth graders in rural Ohio. Also investigated students' socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. The highest reliability was on Reading as Enjoyment, Expressed Reading Difficulty; Reading Group, and Reading as Direct Reinforcement.…

Surveys 315 fourth- and fifth-grade inner city and suburban children from Virginia and Ohio about their "most favorite" book, with titles categorized by literary genre. Finds little overlap with individual titles but emergence of some genre patterns--girls favoring realistic fiction and boys selecting fantasy; inner city children…

Reports on a study of the planned, written, and actual art curricula of 40 selected middle schools. Finds that, although design principles and art appreciation were identified as part of the curriculum, both the written and implemented curriculum was highly oriented toward art production. (CFR)

Studies the status of the mathematics reform effort in Ohio, specifically measuring the dissemination of the standards and teachers' opinions of Ohio's Competency-Based Mathematics Model to determine whether there were significant differences in knowledge of the standards and opinions of the Competency-Based Mathematics Model based on teacher…

Ninety gifted students from Warren County schools participated in a multifaceted summer institute program, focusing on water pollution. Writing and research skills were emphasized. This article describes the rationale, objectives, process, and evaluation design of this program and comments on the future of gifted education. (SJL)

Surveys parents, students, teachers, and administrators in one Ohio school district about Senate Bill 55, which prohibits promoting to fifth grade any fourth grade student who fails the fourth grade proficiency test. Argues that legislators determined what is best for students without educators' input, and that the public still has a lot to learn…

Studies gender differences in the U.S. achievement ideology for 48 gifted and 100 nongifted African-American fifth and sixth graders (59 males and 89 females) in an urban Ohio school district. Results indicate no differential determinants of underachievement by gender but show significant differences by gifted and nongifted academic programs. (SLD)

Describes the Dublin model, a program which uses thematic units or individualized reading assignments to focus on popular adolescent literature and includes projects that demonstrate students' comprehension of text. Discusses the formulation, implementation, and assessment of this program. (RS)