Three components of excellent middle grades teacher preparation programs include foundations (a broad liberal education and the knowledge base upon which the teaching profession rests), teaching fields (depth beyond the basics in some areas of academic inquiry), and middle grades specialization (experiences specific to learning to function…

A study compared the performance of 21 sixth graders receiving Title I services, 13 with learning disabilities, 9 gifted students, and 58 others on a legal knowledge test after a 3-week course in a mainstream setting. The groups differed significantly on declarative knowledge tasks, but not on procedural and conditional knowledge tasks. Results…

Examined whether training teachers in cooperative learning provided them with greater capacity to meet needs of at-risk students. Found that cooperative learning training enhanced professional development and reaffirmed the need to ensure student academic achievement. (SD)

Examines changes in knowledge structures and beliefs related to class management experienced by middle school preservice teachers (n=23). The study charts changes in concerns, skills, and attitudes through the initial, middle, and concluding student teaching stages. A framework of change for class management concepts is reported and influences…

Focuses on the impact of weak labor force attachment on grade retention by the ninth grade among urban black children. Suggests that higher risks of grade retention are associated with welfare dependency only when income is obtained from welfare alone and receipt of welfare is persistent. (MJP)

Recalls the problems encountered and the solutions offered when a school district put 1100 middle school students on a year-round schedule. Discovered an enormous benefit in class size reduction accompanied by daunting challenges involving scheduling and logistics. Includes a chart illustrating the rotational schedule of the orchestra. (MJP)

Presents a lesson plan designed to help students think about the qualities, types, and components of leadership and how these relate to the responsibilities of the US President. Includes sets of discussion questions, preceded by informational handouts, concerning, general qualities of leadership, specific leaders, and leadership in everyday life.…

Provides a brief overview of the current arguments concerning campaign finance reform and congressional term limits. Discusses limits on spending, special interest contributions, "soft money," the power of incumbents, and the role of Political Action Committees. Includes a brief historical synopsis of campaign finance reform movements.…

Discusses the National Standards use of Bloom's Taxonomy and how it relates to increasing levels of expectations for students. Includes several examples illustrating middle school level expectations, such as distinguishing between governments with a constitution and constitutional governments. Maintains that effective civics education can offset…

Describes the processes involved in redesigning and renovating Power Middle School (Michigan) for current and future educational technology, particularly for the media center. Topics discussed include planning; time management; wiring infrastructure; voice and video networks; teacher and student multimedia production rooms; and communications…

Reports on a study of instructional strategies and beliefs among 18 middle-school U.S. history teachers and 60 middle-school students. Finds the most widely used strategies involve active learning, group projects, and student participation. Includes a table of the 10 most used strategies and 4 recommendations for instructional design. (CFR)

Provides direction for developing appropriate and meaningful social studies instruction for the development of responsible citizenship in adolescents. Suggests that curriculum design should have some relationship to physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development. Identifies concerns with the self, right and wrong, others, and the world…

Reports on a study of the effects of single-sex and mixed-sex schooling on personality characteristics among 2095 Belgian sixth-grade students. Finds that it is not the student gender composition but the gender composition of the teaching staff that exerts influence. (CFR)

Characteristics related to help-seeking (perceived competence, motivational orientation, attitudes and beliefs, and age) were examined for 177 children in grades 3, 5, and 7. By grade seven, positive and negative attitudes were influential. Developmental and individual difference factors are discussed in connection with help-seeking and academic…

The school lives of culturally diverse young adolescents identified as potential dropouts were studied ethnographically. Data collected across two years indicated that teachers who students considered most successful in helping them learn used practices based on knowledge about students' home cultures and knowledge about the impact of students'…