A sample of 107 eighth graders from a large urban middle school in the Midwest was administered the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI) to determine its utility in predicting grades earned, attendance, and social competence. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that the MAPI coping patterns significantly…

This research brief describes a study of the readiness for high school of eighth-graders who participated in the Southern Regional Education Board's (SREB) Middle Grades Assessment in spring 2000. The assessment included testing in reading, math, and science, and surveys of students and teachers. Following the 2000-01 school year, SREB gathered…

A longitudinal study of 248 students followed from sixth to eighth grade was conducted to examine their perceptions of pedagogical caring in relation to their motivation to achieve positive social and academic outcomes. Perceived caring from teachers predicted motivational outcomes. Implications for understanding links between teacher behavior and…

Examined the impact of common planning time (CPT) on middle grade students' self-concepts and both teachers and students' perceptions of their school climate. Results indicated that students receiving instruction from teachers on interdisciplinary teams with CPT had higher self-concepts and both teachers and students had more positive perceptions…

To determine students' areas of concern while moving from middle- to high-school level, two college deans surveyed all eighth- and ninth-graders in four northwest Georgia school systems. Comprehensive transitional programs targeted concerns about curriculum, facilities, safety, discipline, staff, and general routines. A Wisconsin transition…

This article addresses some important issues in mathematics instruction at the middle and secondary levels, including the structuring of a district's mathematics program; the choice of textbooks and use of calculators in the classroom; the need for more rigorous lesson planning practices; and the dangers of teaching to standardized tests rather…

The voices of students, as they share their lived experiences in school, provide an often missing perspective in the preparation of new teachers. As part of a research study that examined students' views on their educational experiences, particularly on the types of teachers and pedagogical practices that they perceived to be most beneficial to…

This practicum was developed to involve Hispanic parents in a middle school where Hispanic parent involvement was nonexistent. Thirty at-risk Hispanic eighth graders in an urban middle school were identified by the eighth-grade guidance counselor as in danger of not being promoted to the ninth grade. The objectives of this practicum were that 30%…

The classroom environment that teachers provide for special needs students directly influences students' self-concept. To explore the scope of this relationship, students in homogeneous and heterogeneous classes, along with other environmental factors, were studied. Data was taken from special needs students in middle school, who either had been…

This paper presents Rowland's Ways of Knowing and Decision-making Model for curriculum development and how it can be applied to environmental education curricula. The model uses a problem solving approach based on steps of: (1) coming to know the problem through the ways of knowing of the disciplines and personal knowledge; (2) proposing solutions…

A practicum addressed the problem of low self-esteem of at-risk students by developing and implementing a 12-week dropout prevention program for 19 eighth-grade students in urban, middle class school. The program used five basic strategies for raising self-esteem: affective skills training (using role playing, mapping, and brainstorming to help…

Since motivation is an essential element in school success, it becomes critical that school psychologists understand how academic motivation influences middle school students' academic achievement. The behavior characteristics exhibited by academically motivated middle school students and some interventions for at-risk students are reported. The…

This study documented middle school students' perceptions of their educational experiences, tracking how their perceptions evolved over 3 years and corresponding to the Philadelphia School District's implementation of its Children Achieving reform agenda. Fifty 6th graders were chosen from each of six urban schools and interviewed in the spring of…

This investigation compared quantitative outcomes associated with class-wide peer tutoring using differentiated hands-on activities vs. teacher-directed instruction for students with mild disabilities in inclusive 8th-grade science classes. Thirteen classes of 213 students (109 males; 104 females), of whom 44 were classified with disabilities,…

Middle school prealgebra students (n=157) learned about functions in a 20-day unit that emphasized: (1) representing problems in multiple formats, (2) anchoring learning in a meaningful thematic context, and (3) discussing problem-solving processes in cooperative groups. They produced smaller pretest-to-posttest gains on symbol manipulation tasks,…