Evidence suggests that a middle school organizational design has some administrative advantages over the traditional junior high school program because of the more unified social and academic atmosphere. (LH)

Summarizes research findings from a longitudinal study related to measuring effective classroom practices, the aspects of interdisciplinary teaming that affect practices at the classroom level, and how classroom practices relate to student achievement. (JPB)

This report discusses relevant theories and principles of curriculum, pedagogy, and social organization of middle schools in order to serve as a focus for further research and development in teacher education. The first section of the three-part report concentrates on teachers' work with middle school students, and the challenges they face in…

Forming teams is the logical first step in the transition to middle school from junior high school. Offers 10 questions that middle-level educators should ask as they embark upon this new venture of interdisciplinary teaming. (13 references) (MLF)

Sixteen documents (13 studies and 3 large-scale reviews) were reviewed to assess the effectiveness of interdisciplinary team teaching in enhancing student achievement. Nine documents focused on or included the intermediate grades, and seven dealt with students at other age/grade levels, chiefly junior high. With one exception, all documents…

Explores how teacher teams influence middle-school teachers' work characteristics and other work-related variables. Participating teachers whose jobs had a work-group emphasis (interdisciplinary teaming) reported significantly higher skill variety, knowledge of students, satisfaction, professional commitment, motivation, and team helpfulness and…

Discusses the outcomes of research on best practices in middle school education. Explores middle school grade configuration, interdisciplinary teaming, curricular standards, and teacher preparation and certification. (WRM)

This article explores the efficiency of team teaching, curriculum development, and reflection as frameworks for promoting the successful integration of general education and special education in middle school environments. The effectiveness of a model involving collaboration among general education teachers, special educators, graduate students,…

This study identified teacher leadership traits and investigated why those leadership traits are important for educators and students at the middle school level. Characteristics of the middle school and the middle school student were explored as well as opportunities for development and enhancement of teacher leadership skills by middle school…

This paper explores the concept of combining collaborative action research, used in examining teacher behaviors, with group dynamics, used to facilitate new ideas and increase motivation. Specifically, the study examines the effort by one team of middle school teachers to conduct teacher team collaborative research. After reviewing the literature…

Despite increases in the number of middle school using interdisciplinary team teaching, many are struggling to articulate a clear defense of their teaming work in light of confounding and conflicting public demands. This compilation examines teaming in middle schools--its characteristics, knowledge base, current concerns and future adaptations.…

Reviews research in the area of interdisciplinary team work at the middle school level. Suggests that the benefits of interdisciplinary teaming are clear--evidence abounds suggesting that teaming results in higher achievement in math, reading and language arts skills. Furthermore, these skills are developed more effectively across a wide range of…

This volume provides recent research findings on important topics related to the still-expanding middle school movement. They are divided into seven parts, addressing teaching/learning, curriculum, teacher education, social context, organization, leaderships, and issues and future directions. Following an introduction to middle level education…