This article delineates the success of a leadership plan that one middle school in Center Point, Alabama implemented as a response to a Comprehensive School Improvement (CSI) designation due to performing in the bottom 5% of all middle schools across the state. School leadership, in partnership with coaching from Studer Education, worked…

Numerous studies have contributed to the theoretical, empirical, and practical understanding of teacher empathy, but few have captured the voices of middle school students to understand their lived experiences; no studies have explored the topic in Christian academies. Grounded in Rogers' theory of self and subsequent theories about…

Limited research had been conducted on the role extracurricular activities had on school culture. Even less was dedicated to how middle school educators perceived how extracurricular activities influenced school culture. Due to the lack of overall research, further research was necessary to develop a better understanding of the influence of…

The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory to determine if the affective domain, supported by affective leadership, was prevalent within Alabama's effective middle schools. The objective was to determine if a connection exists between the schools' knowledge, characteristics, and practices relative to the affective domain and…

One of the critical issues facing middle level educators is making sure we have the types of support in place for providing equitable learning environments for all students and helping them to feel that they belong in school. Literature suggests that a gender gap exists within middle level education today with respect to achievement scores and the…

The Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) aims to increase the number of students with disabilities who achieve positive post-school outcomes and engage in higher education or competitive employment opportunities. Through their State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) and State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG), Alabama is focusing on…

This descriptive qualitative study explored the lived perceptions and views of middle school teachers, school counselors, and Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs) within central Alabama's middle school system. The problem explored is adolescent substance abuse students whose academic attainment may be affected by their drug abuse.…

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of technology implementation of middle school teachers in one of the largest school districts in Alabama. This study examined if the use of technology had a positive influence on students' academic performance (reading and mathematics). Although several other studies are equivalent to this…

The purpose of this case study was to understand non-mastery for students in the mBolden Academic Model at Piedmont City Middle School (PCMS). The following research questions guided this study: How does the mBolden Academic Model influence student success at Piedmont City Middle School? Furthermore, this study has answered the following…

Principals are increasingly held accountable for school achievement. This paper reports the results of a mixed methods sequential Quan --> Qual research study to explore how middle school principals created a culture of academic optimism (AO) that promoted high student achievement (SA). Based on the analysis of AO scores from 26 schools, mostly…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) provides professional development to teachers in the instructional strategies of the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and the Mathematics Design Collaborative (MDC). This professional development provides time for teachers to receive out-of-class guided instruction in planning assignments that engage…

In randomized control trials, such as the one the authors conducted in Alabama, moderators are potentially an important source of variation in treatment effects. Whether moderators used in the RCT's analysis are pre-existing characteristics of students, their teachers, or the school or other organizational context, they can point toward…

This study accessed the relationship between race, socioeconomic status, age and the race implicit bias held by middle and high school science teachers in Mobile and Baldwin County Public School Systems. Seventy-nine participants were administered the race Implicit Association Test (race IAT), created by Greenwald, A. G., Nosek, B. A., &…

Entering middle school can cause apprehension for young adolescents who face many cognitive, physical, social, and emotional changes. A quantitative, descriptive study was designed to identify and explain the concerns of rising sixth graders (n = 225) regarding their transition to the middle grades. Survey data were analyzed with regard to gender,…

Effectively meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse population of students presents challenges for educators across the United States, including the Texas and Southeast Comprehensive Center regions. Increasingly rigorous achievement expectations must be supported with flexible, accessible curricula, offering multiple pathways to success in…