Urban middle school students should be challenged by high-content assignments that force them to reformulate their knowledge. This article recounts one San Diego teacher's experience with the Writing-to-Learn program. Using learning logs, editing exercises, and scoring guides, students are discovering their writing selves by writing creatively,…

Introduces five articles on teachers' role in curricular change, stressing commonalities and research needs. The foremost commonality is giving voice to teachers, middle schoolers, university students, and researchers. Other common threads are the social construction of knowledge, examination of questions related to our intellectual heritage, the…

It is vital to young adolescents' well-being that immediate attention be given to recognizing the psychosocial importance of counselors and counseling services; reclaiming at-risk youngsters through vigilant, effective counseling services; redefining counselor roles to meet young adolescents' needs; and rededicating counselors to serving students.…

Teachers who recognize the value of working together can put their belief into practice through the use of collaboration and cooperative learning methods. Lists 19 characteristics of a well-functioning and collaborative team. (MLF)

Discusses collaboration between a teacher and an education professor in developing and implementing a new reading/language-arts program in a fifth-grade classroom. The move from a traditional basal reading and language-arts textbook approach to one using novels and process writing meant many changes for both teacher and students. An Author's…

Describes how teachers can transform self-regulated learning theory and research into classroom practice. Defines the concept and discusses the costs of encouraging student dependency, the benefits of nurturing student self-regulation, and implementation recommendations. Teachers should model self-regulatory attitudes and behaviors, incorporate…

Unlike traditional objective testing methods, alternative assessments encourage student involvement in real-life problems and challenges. The teacher's role is to help students determine and identify assessment tasks and criteria, participate in ongoing assessment of work in progress, and propose alternative ways to meet criteria. This article…

There is an emerging curriculum vision that transcends the subject-centered and multidisciplinary approaches characterizing most junior high schools and middle schools. This article addresses practical issues (course content, teacher identities, planning, classroom life, and larger purpose) that have arisen around the integrative curriculum…

Recommends that teachers prompt intellectual preparation of adolescents by asking intriguing questions, presenting captivating tasks, opening compelling investigations, or assigning appealing roles. Discusses discipline-based inquiry by young students in science, mathematics, social studies, English, and the fine arts. Challenges teachers to…

Rethinking the middle-level schooling process means reevaluating curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices; addressing organizational structure and attendant issues (grade configuration, grouping patterns, and the master schedule); and examining staffing issues, particularly the teacher's role. The proof of the process lies in student…