Students' motivation was studied within specific academic content areas using a goal theory framework. The relationships between motivational orientation and cognitive processes within and across content areas are also considered. Six-hundred sixth and seventh graders, approximately 90% white, from two suburban middle schools participated.…

In fall 1993, administrators and faculty at the Crabappple Middle School in Roswell, Georgia, implemented the Multi-Age Team (MAT) program, creating multi-age teams of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students. The projects' main goal was to enhance self-esteem. Additional goals included implementation of interdisciplinary, thematic instruction;…

The Skills Reinforcement Project was designed to increase basic mathematics and language arts skills of disadvantaged and minority youth. Forty-five minority and economically disadvantaged sixth graders who participated in a 110-hour program made statistically greater gains in mathematics than 45 comparison sixth graders and nonsignificant gains…

Substantial research and theory suggests that smoking initiation is socially mediated, with both peers and parents playing important roles. To learn more about how parenting behaviors influence smoking initiation, students (n = 1002) from four middle schools were surveyed at the beginning of the sixth grade (T1), and the end of the sixth (T2) and…

To analyze a student's conceptual changes, analyzing transcriptions of writing and verbal statements may not provide enough information. In a study of 25 sixth graders learning about matter and molecules, concept mapping of students' stated ideas was used to analyze the kinds of organizational changes the students made to use new science…

"Becoming Successful Problem Solvers" is a 12-episode video series designed for use with middle school students. The materials are intended to create new assessment tools for teachers, to develop instructional devices that are useful in promoting problem solving in middle school classrooms, and to promote classroom discourse about…

The situations in which young adolescents identify anger and the strategies they use in response to anger were studied with students from a midwestern urban middle school health class. The sample included 53 sixth graders, 41 seventh graders, and 41 eighth graders. Responses to a one-page survey indicated that students reported more anger…

This practicum was designed to address the problem of middle school students reacting to and handling conflict situations with violent behavior in an urban environment. These responses affected the well-being and safety of all middle school students at the school. The major goal was for middle school students to increase their awareness of…

Problems in students completing homework may be related to lack of parental involvement and support, student attitudes and priorities, and the assigning of inappropriate and irrelevant homework. This action research project implemented and examined the effectiveness of increased communication with parents regarding homework, cooperative learning…

A Madison School District (Phoenix, Arizona) program in which parent volunteers teach Spanish to fifth and sixth graders is described. The program originated with the author, who as a parent volunteer had been teaching Spanish to her child's class. First, a brief account is given of the history of foreign languages in the elementary school (FLES)…

Potential gender-related differences in the process of mathematical word problem solving were investigated. Sixth and eighth graders (n=302) solved 2-step mathematical word problems using a 9-step problem solving plan. The nine steps were: (1) identify the facts; (2) identify the question; (3) draw a diagram; (4) choose the operations; (5) write…

This study reports on CHAMPS, a youth tobacco and prevention program intervention that focused on peer-led educational activities. Nineteen schools implemented a CHAMPS tobacco prevention program in grades 5, 6, and 7. Six schools served as nonintervention comparison sites. Baseline and follow-up questionnaires were completed by 1,412 students.…

The Technology Immersion Pilot (TIP) sets forth a vision for technology immersion in Texas public schools. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) directed nearly $14 million in federal Title II, Part D monies toward funding a wireless learning environment for high-need middle schools through a competitive grant process. A concurrent research project…

This follow-up study examined the role of affective variables in predicting academic achievement among middle school students. In a previous study, C. A. Sink, J. E. Barnett, and J. E. Hixon (1991) found moderate to strong correlations among self-perceived competence scores, teachers' ratings of student competence, and Grade 6 achievement. To…

The North Carolina Project for Reform in Science Education, which is part of the National Science Teachers Association's Scope, Sequence, and Coordination Project, and the importance of student test scores as an evaluation tool were evaluated. Seven North Carolina schools participated in the project's first year (1991-92), with 21 teachers, and…