This case-study examines how first-year educators renegotiated their teacher identities as they transitioned from pre-service teachers (PSTs) to professionals. Both participants graduated from the same Teacher Education Program (TEP) and conducted their student internship in the same school as their first year of teaching. The results of this…

This study addresses teacher retention in Title 1 urban middle schools, focusing on why veteran teachers remain despite the challenges. Anchored in self-determination theory, the study explores how fulfilling the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness impacts teachers' decisions to stay. Employing a qualitative descriptive…

This report describes initial findings from a study of middle school science curriculum materials that were designed to promote learning as called for by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). WestEd led an independent randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of the NGSS-designed Amplify Science Middle School (ASMS) curriculum.…

Differentiated instruction, an inclusive teaching strategy incorporating essential skills while individualizing curriculum at current instructional levels, has little inquiry into its effect on standards-based grading system within the middle grades setting. This qualitative study was designed to better understand teacher perceptions of…

Youth suicide is a critical public health issue. School-based suicide prevention programs are one strategy to address youth suicide. This research study explores students' (N = 2,806) perspectives on the SOS Signs of Suicide program, a school-based suicide prevention program for youth in grades six through twelve that includes education and…

The purpose of this study was to understand the implementation and impact of the New Teacher Center's (NTC) strategies for scaling its validated induction model to 301 schools in five school districts serving high proportions of students of color and students from low-income households. SRI's evaluation of the implementation and impact of NTC's i3…

In middle-grades settings, students are cultivating critical consciousness to apply general knowledge of equity to their local context(s) (Nojan, 2020). As educators work to foster environments that allow middle-grade students to cultivate critical consciousness, expectations have shifted in the area of leading for equity. We have outlined a…

This post-critical ethnographic study explored the curriculum of being/becoming a middle school teacher that 5 emergency-certified new-to-teaching teachers experienced through the quotidian interactions of their first fully-in-person school year. The curriculum of being/becoming teachers is increasingly important as the percentage of teachers…

Sustained inquiry between school administrators and mental health professionals around critical incidents, school policy, and problems of practice is required to mitigate inequities so prominently illuminated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Collaboration between school stakeholders with different role identities and positionalities gainfully blurs…

Background: School mental health literacy programs, delivered at the universal level, are key to promoting positive behavioral health for all youth. Successfully implementing these programs requires adaptation to ensure the programs are aligned with contextual demands of the schools in which they are implemented. Yet, little is known about how to…

Mental health challenges are on the rise among today's youth. Recent reports have noted an acute and significant need for school-based mental health education and supportive interventions for children and adolescents. Among these approaches, a growing focus has centered on improving students' mental health literacy (MHL) as a foundational…

School psychology professionals rely on professional literature to access information on scientifically supported practices. Counseling is certainly one of those practices. The purpose of this review was to determine how many articles published in prominent peer-reviewed school psychology journals have addressed providing effective counseling…

This study analyzes the impact attendance rates of middle school teachers have on academic achievement of students in South Carolina. The factors included are teacher attendance and student performance. The research will give an in-depth look into the affect's teacher absenteeism has on middle school students. And determined whether increased…

Middle schools often struggle to provide students with the necessary academic rigor to promote academic growth. Many students experience academic stagnation when schools fail to provide appropriate academic services. Dani Tinkel's article examines how the limited priorities of middle school inadvertently promote disengagement and underachievement…

This convergent mixed methods study sought to explore the effects of engineering design challenges (EDCs) on middle school students' achievement. Data was collected from four middle schools from an urban school district in Maryland. Two of these, Group A, included teachers with experience with EDC design and implementation; the other two schools,…