Seventh- and 8th-grade students in a within-teacher randomized control study read from visual-syntactic formatted text for 44 min per week over the course of 1 year. On the annual state assessment, we found small statistically significant improvements on the overall English Language Arts scaled score (ES = 0.05, p < 0.05) and the writing…

Researchers engaged in a collaborative, yearlong study with a seventh-grade language arts teacher who integrated activities to enhance students' understanding of mindsets with content instruction. Lessons emphasized four aspects of mindsets: belief that learning abilities can grow with the investment of effort, willingness to address challenging…

The importance of adolescent literacy is well established, and the topic continues to be of both local and national interest. Practitioners need to know not only which programs and practices appear effective, but which have the scientific evidence to support that claim. To identify effective programs and practices for general education students in…

This study examines the interaction between the fidelity of implementation of a set of research-based strategies--Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR)--and outcomes for students with mild to moderate disabilities using data from two nonoverlapping studies in middle school language arts and reading classrooms (Study 1) and middle school social…

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has updated its 2009 intervention report for SuccessMaker®, a set of computer-based courses designed to supplement regular K-8 reading instruction. The program is designed to improve skills in areas such as concepts of print, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, and…

This study modeled the interrelationships of reading instruction, motivation, engagement, and achievement in two contexts, employing data from 1,159 seventh graders. In the traditional reading/language arts (R/LA) context, all students participated in traditional R/LA instruction. In the intervention R/LA context, 854 students from the full sample…

The goal of this article was to develop and validate a self-complexity scale for adolescents. Therefore, 4 empirical studies were developed. In Study 1, a content analysis of attributes used in school books was conducted. This analysis was complemented in Study 2 with an exploratory study of adolescent's self-descriptions in an open-ended…

This article argues that editing in the era of digital literacies is a complex, collaborative endeavor that requires a sophisticated awareness of audience and purpose and a knowledge of multiple conventions for conveying meaning and ensuring accuracy. It compares group editing of an article about the New York Yankees baseball team on Wikipedia,…

This research focuses on the interaction between students' domain-specific expectancies and values as a predictor of test anxiety. A subsample of adolescents from the MSALT dataset are used in the current study; students complete measures during the spring of sixth grade and again during the spring of seventh grade. Overall, findings provide…

The integration of nature studies within language arts instruction offers multiple possibilities for guiding students toward close readings of literature, their changing selves, natural phenomena, and the world around them. The authors document their own rediscovery of nature study and what happened when environmental observations were…

Describes a seventh grade language-arts unit on playwriting that provided an outlet for the drama, energy, and creativity inherent in all adolescents and proved to be a highly successful and enjoyable program of study. (MG)

This manual describes programs to educate seventh grade "differentiated" students in language arts and mathematics. Differentiated students are defined as those who are about two years behind their peers in a given subject; both academic performance and behavior characteristics are factors in students being encouraged to take the…

Studies suggest that the transition to middle school is associated with a decline in motivation and performance for a number of children. This longitudinal study examined changes in motivation in English and mathematics across and after the transition from elementary to middle school. Of particular interest were changes in personal goal…

This manual illustrates an interdisciplinary team approach to teaching four academic subjects for seventh grade students. Eight interdisciplinary units are presented that were developed by teachers around two or more of the following subject areas: language arts, social studies, science, and mathematics. An introduction to the Block Plan, as it…