Standardized literacy assessments that place emphasis on testing and attainment of results have caused many students, particularly in middle years schooling to be disenfranchised by literacy teaching and learning practices. This study employed an action research methodology to investigate whether an outdoor learning experience in a Year 7/8…

The researchers used Gorski's continuum of five approaches to multicultural education--which extends from conservative to liberal and then critical--to analyze 40 syllabi from required or elective courses for candidates seeking licensure to teach in the middle grades (grades 4-9). While the researchers found evidence of all five approaches within…

Researchers attempting to show that music has positive effects on children need to understand and control for preexisting differences between those who do and do not select into musical participation in the first place. Within a large-scale, communitywide, prospective, longitudinal study of predominantly low-income, ethnically diverse students (N…

This Framework is built upon the foundation of the 2003 and 1997 "Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Frameworks." Based in research on effective practice, it represents the contributions of members of the History and Social Science Curriculum Framework Review Panel, scholars who served as Content Advisors, and the more…

In the fall of 2001, a local middle school decided to implement a new elective course. This course was designed to assist struggling middle school readers in acquiring the reading proficiency that would be required to succeed in higher level course work. Students remained in their regular English classes, but devoted the elective period that their…

In Parcells Middle School social studies students in grades seven and eight select a six-weeks course of study from the slate of classes available out of the forty developed around the areas of geography and United States history. Development of these units is based on the following principles: an open-ended, self renewing curriculum; the rights…

Types and techniques of propaganda and its effects on American Life are discussed in this elective social studies course for 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students. Since young people today are bombarded with conflicting ideas disseminated through mass media, it becomes imperative that students become more knowledgeable about propaganda and its impact…

Two studies evaluated the Computer- and Team-Assisted Mathematics Acceleration course (CATAMA) in Talent Development Middle Schools. The first study compared growth in math achievement for 96 seventh-graders (48 of whom participated in CATAMA and 48 of whom did not); the second study gathered data from interviews with, and observations of, CATAMA…

Seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students examine the many ethnic groups that make up Dade County in this elective social studies course. It focuses on the Cuban, Black, Jewish and White Anglo Saxon groups and their interaction. Following the course it is hoped that the students will be more able to empathize with others through greater…

The elective (7-9) course in world religions outlined in this guide is designed to fit the quinmester organization of schools. The course is described as a study of world religions, focusing on religion as an institution in society. It includes effects of religion on people, governments, and internal relations. The guide is divided according to:…