Jennifer's first years as a middle school principal occurred during a time of transformation initiated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act and further intensified by demographic changes within her Midwest suburban district of 25,000 students. In the context of national educational reform during this time period, Tom Erb asked, "Who will…

These comments on open education, team teaching, focus on skills, individualized learning; and, felxible and community electives are part of a report written for the Ford Foundation by the former director of the Curriculum Laboratory of Goldsmith's College, University of London. (JM)

Interdisciplinary teams of middle school faculty are fulfilling roles which serve academic, social, and emotional needs of students. The team coordinates procedures and shares information about teaching and about students. Evidence shows this style of team teaching may be appropriate in high schools if traditional departmental barriers can be…

High school educators can learn much from the middle school reform movement and apply its strategies to change interdisciplinary teaming and student advocacy programs. Many high schools today still operate with an outdated, impersonal, departmentalized, and factory-model approach to schooling, in which students do not develop a sense of belonging…

Describes a model used for implementing middle grade reform in California public schools. Ten regional networks of 8 to 12 schools in geographic proximity were formed. Results of an evaluation indicated that, when supported by colleagues in their regional network, educators working in interdisciplinary teams implemented reforms in curriculum,…

This bibliography contains 110 entries on middle schools, 48 entries on related innovations, and 32 entries (some of which are annotated) on middle school and junior high school organization. (HW)

Intended as a guidebook for middle level educators as they seek to institute educational experiences appropriate to the adolescents in their programs, this book discusses the issues and assets of middle school education in rural settings. Chapter 1 of the book is an introduction, discussing the concept of middle school as applied to small rural…