The purpose of this quantitative study was to provide school district leaders and policymakers information of the impact grade configuration had on academic performance using math and ELA ILEARN scores over a three-year period. The study included data from 585 schools that were classified into four groups: Elementary Setting, Intermediate Setting,…

Learning outcomes and reading behaviors of 171 sixth-graders were investigated while they read expository text and answered adjunct questions. The 2,400-word text was divided into four lessons, and students answered text explicit-, text implicit-, or no questions (a control group) as they read silently and were videotaped. In addition, the…

A study examined an assumption commonly held by many smoking prevention programs that social skills can affect the onset of tobacco smoking. Data from 129 sixth graders were used to predict smoking behavior 15 months later. Five skill variables emerged as the best predictors of future smoking. (Author/CB)

Describes a reading program for gifted middle school readers designed to increase critical reading ability and student appreciation of literary technique and broaden understanding of sophisticated vocabulary. (MLF)

Sixth and seventh graders (N=239) responded to questionnaires examining sleep behavior and test anxiety on day of major examination in school and day with no major examination. Subjects also completed vigilance task on both days. Partial sleep loss did not adversely influence subjects' performance on task or examination; test anxiety was…

Investigated multidimensional models of self-concept. Administered Self-Description Questionnaire-I and Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale to 43 fifth and sixth graders; Self-Description Questionnaire-II and Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale to 38 eighth graders. Total scale scores were significantly correlated, reflecting similarity in…

Investigated relationship between anxiety and self-esteem of a group of middle school children, many of whom were Black. Findings from 53 sixth and seventh graders support hypothesis that there would be significant inverse relationship between measures of anxiety (state and trait) and measures of self-esteem of preadolescent students. (NB)

Study assessed factors associated with teachers' implementation of health curricula. School representatives implemented one of three smoking prevention curricula in sixth or seventh grades. Experimental teachers received extensive curriculum training. Training significantly related to whether teachers implemented curricula. Variables outside…

The two volumes included here, one for grade 6 and one for grade 7, contain series of brief math exercises, generally consisting of three to six numerical problems and one word problem. The grade 7 exercises are somewhat longer than the grade 6 exercises. Designed for use in a middle school French immersion program, the materials are entirely in…

This document is a conference presentation on the use of portfolios as an evaluation tool for middle school music students. All of the pages are suitable for use with an overhead projector. Areas covered include reasons for teaching the arts as both an intellectual discipline and vocational education; Illinois state goals for musical learning for…

Examined relationship between components of vigilance and differences in verbal intelligence in children (N=63) in grades 5-7. Found a number of significant correlations between measures of vigilance and intelligence, as well as achievement. (Author/ABL)

Investigates students' sensitivity to compare/contrast, description, enumeration, and sequence text structures using an error-detection paradigm. Finds that task (oral recall and recognition), text structure, and grade level differentially affect students' sensitivity to the four text structures. (RS)

Conducted 4-month participant/observation and 52 interviews with sixth and seventh graders. Identified six categories that students viewed as being their responsibilities for learning: doing work, obeying rules, paying attention, learning or studying, trying/making effort, and responsibility as something given or taken. (Author/NB)

This study investigated whether the van Hiele model accurately describes the geometric thinking of gifted students in the 6th through 8th grades prior to a formal course in geometry and made comparisons with what has been found with other populations. The results from 120 students who completed a 25-item multiple choice paper-and-pencil test,…

Pupils may well enjoy studying and writing poetry if quality methods of teaching are used. A student teacher taught a unit of study on the writing of poetry to a class of sixth grade pupils who had previously shown no interest in poetry. Active involvement by learners was stressed throughout the unit. Student interest was piqued with a bulletin…