The long-term promise of cooperative learning may quickly dissolve unless there is careful examination of issues related to successful practices. The article defines a context for cooperative learning and links its current popularity to middle school theory and philosophy, young adolescent characteristics, research claims, and simple application.…

Provides some time-saving and purposeful evaluation strategies that can be used with various writing projects and reports. Explains 10 hints directed toward what to do while the student is still writing and 5 hints for grading writing. (11 references) (MLF)

Student plagiarism is partly the result of a faulty behaviorist model of the research process and unwitting encouragement by teachers. Middle-school teachers can improve the situation by assigning meaningful research topics, building background knowledge, keeping topic selection open, providing easy source texts, suggesting data-organization tips,…

"Teaching Ten to Fourteen Year Olds," by Chris Stevenson, describes the author's odyssey as a teacher. Although scholarly and well researched, the book is filled with stories and anecdotes. Many of the teaching strategies are explained in detail. (MLF)

Comparative grading persists because society continues to value its selective function--allocation of scarce educational and economic resources to the most educable students. There is an unspoken consensus that grades are necessary to motivate students to learn. Educators should tap middle schoolers' internal and inherent motivators instead.…

Summarizes results of a survey of 224 middle-school teachers and counselors in 3 eastern states. When asked whether their school needed a teacher advisory program, how they felt about being advisors, their biggest reservations, and what help they needed, 64% felt positive about being advisors, 12% felt negative, and 24% were unsure. Adequate…

Research findings show that mathematics is better learned by students experiencing it through manipulatives. However, interviews with 30 teachers of fourth through eighth grades reveal that many teachers were uncertain of how to use the manipulatives and felt manipulative instruction to be inappropriate for students above the fourth grade. (eight…

Results of a recent study indicate that, when students write about relevant, personal experiences prior to reading a literary text, their understanding and engagement in the text are significantly improved. Recommends autobiographical writing before a reading assignment. (22 references) (MLF)

An advisory program at Wantagh Middle School in New York includes volunteers and almost every member of the staff. The goal is to provide an adult advocate for each child who will not only see each advisee each morning but will monitor progress and be the first line of communication between home and school. (MLF)

Challenges middle school teachers to broaden their definitions of both families and the roles that families can play in enhancing middle school effectiveness. Outlines six steps, supported by research from education and business, for recruiting families for middle schools. (15 references) (MLF)

Middle-level instructional teams promote feelings of belonging and enhance student academic and social growth, teacher job satisfaction, mission clarity, and instructional program strength. A survey of Ohio middle-school teachers and principals disclosed four components promoting successful team development: including all participants in teamwork…

Today's students face more stressors than ever before with fewer resources to handle them. Curriculum designers and teachers can help counselors and parents alleviate psychological stressors for middle schoolers by offering creative coursework alternatives for exemplary behavior, special units on assorted topics, experiential communication…

Dime novels, a form of American/Canadian subliterature that gained popularity from 1840 to 1910, entertained with fast-paced action, high adventure, and ethically uplifting stories emphasizing the triumph of good over evil. Students can approach North American history creatively and practically by locating, collecting, and organizing information…

Describes Donald H. Eichorn's leadership, commitment, and scholarship, highlighting his role in establishing the nation's first (nongraded) middle school, in the early 1960s. He founded middle school practices and programs on learner characteristics, developmentally appropriate tasks, and advisory groups at a time when little information about…

Teachers at a laboratory middle school in Evanston, Illinois, reconceptualized and revitalized an ailing student council according to some meaningful goals: empowering and involving all students, creating an atmosphere for cooperative action, and offering opportunities for service. There are three main arms to this action council (service,…