Discusses results of a study examining self-perceptions of students moving from middle level to high schools. Kids reported a significant drop in perceived physical appearance, job competence, romantic appeal, conduct, and global self-worth. A transition team can help eighth graders develop an understanding of the academic rigors and cocurricular…

This paper describes a practicum that incorporated semantic mapping, "rich" context clue instruction, and teacher modeling into a 12-week instructional program for 18 Chapter 1 fourth-grade students in rural Georgia who had shown deficiency in vocabulary knowledge with standardized test scores below the 50th percentile in the second and…

This study investigated friendship preferences among black and white students in Georgia public schools in an effort to determine the status of racial barriers among students in current desegregated schools. A measure of social distance was developed for the study based on work by L. Thurstone (1929), E. Bogardus (1965) and others. The extent to…

An important component of sound middle school education is a commitment to providing coordinated advising and counseling services in the school setting. This handbook describes how middle school professionals can develop small group advisory support for each student. Known variously as home-base, advisor-advisee, or teacher advisory (TA) programs,…