Using data from a large southwestern school district, Bui, Craig, and Imberman investigated the effects of gifted and talented programming on middle school students' achievement and behavior (attendance and discipline) through two avenues. Using a regression discontinuity design for the first set of analyses, the authors took advantage of a…

This article describes how the teachers in a sixth grade mathematics inclusion class used differentiated instruction to better meet the needs of all learners in the classroom. In an inclusion class with students of mixed abilities, differentiated instruction allows the teacher to meet the needs of every learner by providing students with multiple…

This article presents an interview with Sheila Kahrs, principal of Haymon-Morris Middle School in Winder, Georgia, and the 2010 MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year. Haymon-Morris Middle School has 815 in enrollment, 50 teachers, and 33 staff members. She talks about her leadership philosophy with her teachers and assistant…

This article presents the authors' response to Sharon Vaughn and colleagues' article "Response to Intervention for Middle School Students With Reading Difficulties: Effects of a Primary and Secondary Intervention." In Vaughn et al. article, a study in which they provided professional development to content area teachers, with the goal of…

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 authors adopt the stance that, even though strategy use should be taught to help learners monitor their comprehension, such instruction is not sufficient to insure transfer or ownership. Further, such instruction often emphasizes only literal recall, limiting students' understanding. Therefore, the author argues that teachers should consider…

Drawing on data collected during the second year of a longitudinal qualitative study that followed over 10 Latino/a bilingual students, this article foregrounds the experiences of participants during their sixth-grade year. The principle data sources included structured and unstructured interviews with teachers and students, school observations,…

In this article, the author talks about Motif Notation, a means of creating, recording, and reflecting on dance experience, and dance making as educational partners in an urban middle school. The author shares partial tales of middle school-aged children engaging in dance making and Motif Notation which illustrate the fact that teens need to…

Comments on the nature of the reading enterprise for middle school students with reading-related learning disabilities as perceived by a cohort of sixth-grade students with reading disabilities. Reflects upon intervention programs in place for struggling middles school readers. Considers how to teach young adolescents with reading disabilities.…

Offers a brief look at a graduate student's on-line correspondence with three sixth-grade pen pals. Offers advice about adult-student pen pal relationships. (SR)

Describes the computer as a hammer, a tool with unique qualities that allows people to perceive, manipulate, and express language in ways quite different from traditional media. Explores the tool of the multimedia presentation, a common use of technology in classrooms today. Describes a simple project with sixth graders that incorporates reading,…

Ruben Perez, former assistant principal at Horace Mann Middle School in North Denver, achieved folk-hero status when he suspended 97 disruptive students on a single day. The school board reprimanded Perez for deviating from district discipline policy and transferred him to another middle school. Supported by disgruntled teachers, Perez is suing…

In this essay, the author argues for a democratized way of developing a consciousness of differences by describing two abbreviated creative writing classroom experiences with urban sixth grade middle school students during the 2002-2003 academic year. She draws on Tony Medina's (2001) claim that poetry and writing weave people and worlds together…

Describes a HyperCard program designed to teach middle school students about AIDS in a cooperative learning setting. Cooperative learning techniques are discussed, including positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face interaction, and social skills; and results of field trials with fifth and sixth grade students are…

Discusses outdoor education to improve student participation and learning in skill and subject areas. Relates outdoor education to constructivism, flexible scheduling, hands-on experiences, performance-based standards, multiple intelligences, cooperative learning, and interdisciplinary curriculum. Lists Web sites related to outdoor education. (DLH)