Examines four somewhat arbitrary and overlapping themes from the literature in adult and teacher development: life span development, stage development, career development, and teacher development. (HOD)

Echoes the recommendation in "An Agenda for Excellence at the Middle Level" that junior high schools and middle schools recognize and accommodate their socially, physically, and mentally diverse populations. (SRT)

Argues that building respect for the core value of diversity should be a prime motivation and consideration in determining the instructional programs as well as the governance of the classroom and activities of the middle level school. (SRT)

Discusses some of the factors that parents and laypersons need to consider about the needs of children in the years between elementary and high school. (SRT)

Describes case study groups, a method to help teachers and other school personnel see what developmental and adjustment issues students face. Describes how case study group members collect information from a range of sources, code the information into behavioral anecdotes, spot gaps in information, and select new experiences that might help…

Discusses the "Philosophy for Children" program developed by Matthew Lipman and Ann Margaret Sharp of the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children at Montclair State College in New Jersey. Explains how the teaching of philosophy can also be incorporated into the teacher education curriculum. (FL)

Because Piaget's developmental stage theory indicates that many junior high students may still be functioning at the "concrete operations" level, the author suggests that middle-school teaching be changed to include more concrete, "hands on" activities. (SJL)

Discusses the needs of adolescents and how teachers should accommodate these needs in order to encourage learning and to make their job easier. (SRT)

Synthesizes research on reasoning development and studies of teaching in order to present an approach to teaching guided thinking. (SRT)

The essence of this article is that those students whose cognitive abilities have been developed by classroom activities and testing procedures are those students who have been taught to think critically. (Author)

Links thinking to intellectual, moral, and emotional responsibility and invites school administrators, teachers, students, and parents to think about thinking beyond academic tasks in order to eradicate nonthinking "I thought" processes that cause irresponsible acts. (JK)

The author presents a rationale for kindergarten English instruction for the five-year-old Spanish-dominant child. To support his view, he cites research on cognitive development and language acquisiton during early childhood and discusses the appropriateness of the kindergarten environment for language learning. (SJL)