A senior researcher and hospital Chief of General Pediatrics, testifies about his work with a California school district to prevent obesity by developing a middle school program to promote healthy eating and physical activity. A two-year study has found that students have limited access to drinking water, especially at meals. In the schools being…

Purpose is an internal compass that integrates engagement in activities that affect others, self-awareness of one's reasons, and the intention to continue these activities. We argue that purpose represents giftedness in intrapersonal intelligence, which processes information related to self, identity, self-regulation, and one's place in the world.…

The workplace research of Sylvia Scribner provides a model with which to study relationships between socially and institutionally organized practices and individual cognitive processes as well as to explore relationships between practices and processes in writing and the teaching of writing. Observations and conversations in one inner-city,…

The purpose of this ethnographic study is to examine how a commitment to socially just pedagogies influences the core practices and policies of a school. This article presents a comprehensive description and analysis of two public middle schools committed to teaching for social justice: Urban Promise Academy and San Francisco Community School.…

When asked to identify the greatest challenge he faces as the leader of the country's largest system of higher education, the author, a chancellor of California State University, states that the challenge is the urgent need to reach students from traditionally underserved populations--to prepare them and get them into college and then to make sure…

Describes the issues that effect availability of free-reading materials in Spanish in elementary and middle school libraries. Conclusions are drawn regarding the effectiveness of the school library in providing language-minority children with access to reading materials in their primary language and whether the needs of language-minority children…

With his 10th book, Improving Test Scores: A Practical Approach for Teachers and Administrators, Scott Mandel outlines steps educators can take to boost achievement on standardized exams while maintaining the integrity of their day-to-day teaching. Mandel, who holds a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from USC, teaches history and English at…

Described is the proposed implementation of Scope, Sequence and Coordination into California and Houston schools. The rationale behind this project is discussed. The curriculum, arranged developmentally, merges different scientific subjects via discipline-bridging themes. (KR)

It is crucial for students to believe that their home and community languages and cultures are acknowledged and valued (Faltis and Hudelson 1998). Furthermore, it is of equal importance that system-created contradictions between institutional literacy (school-based) and family-based literacy be blurred or eliminated (McCaleb 1997). It is this…

If the notion of public and private spheres seems somehow quaint or old-fashioned, the distinction between public and private corporations will be that much more obscure. Yet Channel One broadcasts in a public school classroom are indisputably the result of a contract between a private corporation (Alloy Media + Marketing) and a public corporation…

Contends that learning skills taught in science classes are of equal value for social studies. Discusses a two-step formula for establishing principles, hypotheses, and theories and then validating them. Presents and discusses eight skills used in science instruction that are applicable to social studies. (CFR)

Seven recommendations are made by the California Art Education Association (CAEA) for a high quality middle school visual arts program for all students in California's middle schools. The seven recommendations are: (1) a sequential middle school visual arts curriculum should be developed by art educators and focus on art as a discipline requiring…

When the author became the principal of Citrus Middle School in 1998, it was the lowest performing school in the district. Students from Citrus were viewed as largely under-prepared, often read below grade level, had high drop-out rates, and were responsible for a significant amount of the gang activity on the school campus. She was also told that…

A recent California task force report on middle grade education, "Caught in the Middle," recommends that the master schedule provide for extended time blocks for core curriculum courses. Several goals of middle school education will be fulfilled by the program which is often called "core block" or "block time." The…

Maintains that educational reformers need to examine the past to understand why middle schools have not succeeded with Mexican Americans, and argues that current school reform does not depart radically from early 20th-century logic and practice. Presents current research and policy in a historical perspective. Describes Project Theme, a…