This article provides an evaluation of Steen et al.'s (2023) systematic review of group counseling interventions with Black male students. The article highlights strengths of the review including the effort to center the specific and unique needs of Black male students, the avoidance of comparative frameworks, and the use of critical race theory…

Often unrecognized for their accomplishments, women of color in educational leadership positions are change agents whose practices must be analyzed in order to transform education at all levels. Dr. Nadia Lopez is the founding principal of Mott Hall Bridges Academy (MHBA) Middle School in Brownsville, New York City--one of the poorest…

Visualising positive and negative numbers on a number line is helpful for exploring problems involving operations with positive and negative numbers. This is because number lines lend themselves to exploring problems involving continuous linear contexts such as travelling distances and temperature. Teachers in a professional development program…

This paper provides evidence on the effect of local prescription opioid use on academic achievement of 3rd-8th graders between 2009 and 2018. Using county fixed effects models, I find that when counties have higher levels of prescription opioid use, students score lower on standardized assessments two to three years later, with variation by…

The purpose of this article is to describe and explain a mentoring initiative for supporting and retaining middle school teachers. First, we examine the persistent problem of teacher retention in U.S. schools, particularly in middle schools. Then, we describe a mentoring initiative--a community practice mentoring model that is well-suited for…

The newly released enrollment data from the National Center on Education Statistics for the 2022-23 school year point to moderate enrollment gains for traditional public schools. The recent enrollment gains though are smaller than the cumulative enrollment losses since 2019-20 and are not uniform. This paper takes stock of enrollment losses today…

Middle schools are increasingly diverse places where students see and interact with peers different from themselves. However, students with and without intellectual disability (ID) have few opportunities to interact--they are together infrequently within extracurricular settings and the classroom. As such, students with ID are on the margins of…

This thought piece explored the scholarship that expands and disrupts ideas of citizenship. In U.S. civic education classrooms, citizenship is viewed through the lens of a legal model that does not accurately reflect mixed-status classrooms in U.S.-Mexico border schools. We argue for a cathartic pedagogy that normalizes the discussion of…

The politicization of history education relating to colonialism in former major colonial powers, like Britain and France, and former colonies has for obvious reasons received ample scholarly attention. But how is colonial history represented in educational materials aimed at primary school students in countries with a less evident connection to…

Effectively learning to evaluate sources, especially when conducting online research, is an essential skill for middle-grade students. This article argues that supporting students in learning to evaluate sources must involve using critical consciousness skills to do so, or the evaluation is incomplete. In the article, the authors expand the…

Researchers and practitioners in fields such as psychology and social work increasingly recognize the significant need for schools, in general, to be sites for delivery of trauma-informed practices. Given the extent and nature of trauma exposure in our schools, we believe it is critical that the primary individual supporting trauma-informed…

A learning experience designed for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) should integrate the Science & Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs) with science content. Such "three-dimensional learning" engages students in the epistemic components of the scientific process. Whether the Practices and CCCs are used…

In this article, we describe the positive outcomes emerging from a three-year implementation of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) in the first Italian implementation of the model. Both students and teachers benefitted from the positive experience of the SEM educational approaches to talent development which provides an educational experience…

Using rich Texas administrative data, we estimate the impact of middle school principals on post-secondary schooling, employment, and criminal justice outcomes. The results highlight the importance of school leadership, though striking differences emerge in the relative importance of different skill dimensions to different outcomes. The estimates…

In middle grades education, advisory programs are structured, intentional, and supportive environments that assign 10 to 20 students to an adult advisor (most often a teacher) who serves as a mentor, advocate, and guide throughout their middle school years. Advisory programs promote community and personalized support in middle schools. In addition…