"RTI in Middle School Classrooms" provides practical, research-based instructional techniques and interventions--geared especially to middle school teachers and administrators--that target and address specific needs of individual students. Response to intervention allows educators to assess and meet the needs of struggling students…

Researchers have found that middle school students undergo developmental changes that require unique educational structures and support. As a result, experts have suggested a number of specific strategies for organizing middle schools in order to best meet students' needs. This Information Capsule summarizes middle school redesign initiatives that…

One way to meet the unique challenges in diverse classrooms is co-teaching. Friend and Cook (2010) described co-teaching as an approach that provides specialized services to individual students in a general education classroom. Specifically, co-teaching involves two or more educators working collaboratively to deliver instruction to a…

Describes use of portfolios with middle school students, highlighting assessment purpose, structure, evidence, implementation, grading, validity, and cost considerations. Portfolios have the potential to revise schools' roles in preparing students for the future. Convincing parents and the public that portfolio completion is a demanding task will…

This questionnaire attempts to assess teacher opinion about the middle school program. Teachers are to respond anonymously to the thirteen questions by marking the response which they feel is correct, and by writing in their own responses where appropriate. See also TM 000 934 and 935 respectively for a detailed description of the Middle School…

A middle school team of teachers addressed the needs of six high risk students through a three-phase educational action research project. The three phases (listening to students, listening to the environment, and reflecting on practices) were overlapping and simultaneous processes. Photovoice and open-ended interviews were used to listen to…

Describes teachers' efforts at a New Jersey middle school to learn alternative assessment strategies and implement a portfolio system. As they became more student-centered and interdisciplinary colleagues, these teachers realized they needed new student assessment tools. Portfolio neophytes are advised to start small and simple, using a limited…

This research investigation focused on a middle school interdisciplinary team of teachers in an attempt to understand how such an arrangement, as an aspect of school organization, has the potential to influence teacher interactions and the classroom practices of teachers. Major sources of data were the interactions among participant teachers as…

A Javits grant implemented statewide in Kentucky used innovative curriculum and team teaching to identify and serve middle school gifted students. Project components included interdisciplinary curriculum development, staff development, expanded provision of services, alternative methods for identifying middle school gifted students, and parent…

A teaching team from Fall Creek Valley Middle School in Indianapolis, Indiana sought to improve their students' writing skills by collecting writing samples in portfolios in each of their subject areas. This approach allowed the eighth-grade students to assess their progress as writers, see connections between the disciplines, and understand the…

This textbook explores ways in which to teach young adolescents successfully and is based on the premise that curriculum and teaching methods should be designed to create a challenging environment. A developmental view of the young adolescent is presented and is connected to middle level curriculum development; information on content rationales is…

The Practitioner Center, an innovation which provides a vehicle for a transactional approach to teacher growth and professional development, incorporates the concept of peer leadership with "teachers teaching teachers" and teachers acting as coaches. The organizers of the practitioner center decided on a 5-part format which is covered in…

Noting that young adolescents have unique needs and interests that require understanding to better serve adolescents both academically and personally, this book is a professional's guide to working with middle school students. The first chapter lays the foundation for the book by describing who the middle school student is and the nature of young…

These three 1995 newsletter issues explore concepts and problems relevant to middle-level education. The cover story for the spring issue examines new trends in educational assessment. Additional briefs in this issue discuss team teaching, school reform as a community-wide effort, and home-school collaboration. The cover article for the Fall issue…

Noting that many middle schools do not pay sufficient attention to the emotional, physical, and social development of their students, this booklet presents characteristics of successful middle school programs, as recognized by scholars in the middle school movement. Each characteristic is accompanied by an explanation of the "what and…