Operation Minerva is a science conference which originated in Calgary (Alberta, Canada) to provide young girls with positive experiences in math, the sciences, and technology. The program was adopted by a group of Rocky View teachers and parents who revised the program to meet the needs of their rural students. The program involved 40 eighth grade…

This study investigates how informed New York State middle school teachers (N=190) in public schools are about school law and case law which impacts on them in their professional roles. The study focuses on four areas: teacher rights and responsibilities, student rights, instruction, and health and safety. In addition to assessing subjects'…

A set of self-evaluation procedures using videotape was developed to provide teachers with a means for observing their teaching and then reflecting on what occurred. The self-evaluation model consists of two components: (1) a transition observation instrument (TOI) which was designed based on classroom management variables known to influence…

This paper discusses the characteristics of middle school students and teachers, and provides suggestions for the development of cultural awareness at the middle school level. Between the ages of 10 and 14 years, adolescents experience rapid physical growth, changes in social relationships and in emotions, and changes in intellectual development…

Science process skills are described as a set of broadly transferable abilities, appropriate to all of the science disciplines and reflective of the true behavior of scientists. While science process skills have gained wide acceptance as an integral part of the science curricula, the development of valid and reliable instruments to assess those…

Nonresponse issues are investigated for the base year (1988) survey of the United States Department of Education's National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), a national probability sample of middle schools and eighth-grade students in the spring of 1988. The total eighth-grade enrollment for the NELS:88 sample of schools was 203,002;…

In the United States, women accounted for 44 percent of the workforce but only 15 percent of the science and engineering jobs during the 1980s. Traditional socialization from a number of different sources educates girls and women to believe that these non-traditional careers are not available to them. Several previous researchers have shown that…

A survey was conducted of 125 parents of elementary and middle school children who participated in a parent involvement program in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. These parents were involved in the MAP (Monitoring Achievement in Pittsburgh)-AT-HOME Program, which focuses on helping parents to reinforce student acquisition of mathematics, reading,…

A study examined multiple outcomes of relaxation training simultaneously in seventh grade classrooms. "Project Relaxation" measured cognitive (achievement) and affective (discipline, attendance, tardiness, and self-concept) changes with a program of relaxation training for 532 seventh grade students in 10 private and public middle schools in South…

This paper presents the results of an Achievement Directed Leadership (ADL) field test conducted at eight elementary schools and a middle school in an urban school district in New Jersey during the 1981-82 school year. The stated purpose of the field test was only secondarily to assess student outcomes; its major objective was to help principals…

In order to investigate the nature of students' prior knowledge of current electricity and how they applied their knowledge to different problems, 5 middle school science teachers and 11 elementary school teachers were given a written test that required them to: (1) predict what happens to the brightness of a bulb if a change is made to the…

This study was designed to compare (on locus of control and several achievement variables) middle school students who have been instructed for two semesters in a cooperative learning study skills class with those who have been instructed for two semesters in a competitive study skills class. Seventy-six eighth graders were given a semester of…

Operation SMART (Science, Math and Relevant Technology) is a project of the Girls Clubs of America, a national organization serving mostly low-income girls in local club centers. Girls clubs provide out-of-school programming that pays special attention to the needs of girls and helps them take charge of their futures. Operation SMART's hands-on…

Results of an evaluation of a governance model for inservice science teacher education by a committee of five classroom teachers, three scientists, and a science teacher educator are summarized. The model was designed to guide the implementation and evaluation of the goals and activities of a National Science Foundation-sponsored Academic Year…

This paper contains descriptions of activities that have proven successful in one middle school's reading program. Each description contains a commentary on the activity, its objective, the skills it reinforces or teaches, and the materials needed. Among the activities presented are a method of teaching vowel sounds; a creative writing activity…