This document provides the direction for the development of middle grades (5-8) programs in all Vermont schools. A mission statement identifies the means through which the purpose of young-adolescent education can be achieved. Goals for students and a scenario depicting a responsive middle school follow. The next section outlines the conceptual…

A middle-school teacher humorously observes seven other intelligences of students: random thinking; virtual memory void (erasing entire sections of personal memory); antigravity (balancing on two chair legs); intravacancy (achieving perfect, effortless aplomb); inter-Origami (intricate note-folding); stealth-kinesthetic (peashooting spitballs…

The current state of middle grade schools in Vermont and New Hampshire was examined by a questionnaire survey of sixteen middle grade schools in Vermont and 33 in New Hampshire. Middle grade schools were defined as those serving between three and five grade levels, including grades six and seven. Information gathered from each school included:…

This workbook provides guidance for the implementation of teacher advisory programs in middle-level schools. Teacher advisory programs are designed to change impersonal school climates, provide a supportive framework for student risk-taking, and promote the healthy development of adolescents. Two program models are described, one initiated in…

Curriculum infusion makes a new topic an integral part of an existing curriculum, integrating it into subject areas throughout the curriculum over time. In a tobacco, alcohol, and other drug infusion curriculum, examples might include: discussing alcohol-related themes as they arise in literature, evaluating tobacco statistics in math, studying…