Middle years' teachers in primary schools are increasingly required to teach curriculum-specific subjects at a depth requiring considerable content and pedagogical knowledge, as well as a detailed understanding of the particular literacy requirements specific to each subject. Science teaching, in the latter years of primary schooling, is…

Results from an ethnographic study reveal the meanings and social actions of teachers and administrators that were used to support a teachers' theory of empowerment. This practitioner's model offers a definition, principles, and behaviors that reflect teacher empowerment as it occurs in the school. Implications of this model for building…

Students with behavioral disorders (grades 4-9), regular education students, teachers, and parents (total n=383) completed the Adolescent Social Skills Survey. Students with behavioral disorders rated all items lower in importance than other groups, rated interpersonal skills higher than other skills on the survey, and rated compliance and…

Eleven fifth-grade teachers received Jigsaw training and conducted Jigsaw in their classes for one year. Process evaluation revealed the quality and frequency of Jigsaw implementation varied greatly. Jigsaw had no positive effect on the outcome variables (student attitudes, achievement, attendance, behavior), even in proficiently implemented…

The Urban Mathematics Collaborative (UMC) project has the goal of contributing to the improvement of mathematics education in the inner-city schools by identifying models to enhance the professional lives of teachers and encouraging the entry of high school mathematics teachers into a larger mathematics community including mathematicians from…

Examines one teacher's attempts to understand and enact a nonprescriptive, nonlinear project-based approach to science instruction. Details the challenges the teacher faced in enacting two projects and some of the dilemmas she faced as some of her previous beliefs about teaching and learning came into conflict with her emerging understanding of…

Four case studies demonstrate how middle grade teachers addressed the challenges and dilemmas of enacting project-based science in their classrooms. Notes that the teachers attempted to enact several common features of project-based science, including student collaboration and ownership and the use of technology. Also notes that teachers'…

Draws conclusions regarding how five teachers learned to enact project-based science, a method grounded in constructivist theory. Describes how the teacher-researcher collaborative activities unfolded, based on a model of teacher change that focused on cycles of collaboration, enactment, and reflection and how these activities contributed to a…

Examined the impact of a preservice program that modeled effective teaching practices for early adolescents and incorporated collaboration between school teachers, preservice teachers, and instructors. Participant surveys and interviews following their first teaching year revealed the relative ease of program implementation within an existing…

Recommendations for ameliorating homework-communication problems were obtained from 8 parents, 13 special education teachers, and 11 classroom teachers. Participants were parents or teachers of students with mild disabilities in grades 5 through 12. The students were being mainstreamed into academic classes in which homework was assigned. (SW)

Reports case studies of 10 partnerships in middle school level professional development schools that either moved apart or reconfigured their relationships over time. Written materials from, interviews with, and observations of partners indicated that though most succeeded, they needed better communication between partners to maximize their…

Outcomes of a teacher empowerment project implemented at a middle school are described in this paper, with a focus on the perspectives of a school administrator, a middle schools specialist, and a university faculty evaluator. The purpose of the project was to improve student achievement through establishing a school improvement team. From the…

In 1991, the Newark School District (New Jersey), through the partnership of the Newark Teachers' Union and Montclair State University, established the first professional development school (PDS) in the city. Used primarily as a center for retooling elementary grade teachers in grades 6, 7, and 8, the school has come to play a pivotal role in the…

Nine focus groups were conducted with a total of 14 special education teachers of students with mild disabilities (grades 5 through 12), 15 parents of such students, and 14 classroom teachers. Participants identified six major homework-communication problems. These involved initiation, frequency, timing, consistency, follow-through, and clarity…

This paper discusses the importance of parent involvement in middle schools, focusing on the increasing need for such involvement in today's society. It examines the development of the parent-student and teacher-student relationship, and considers the importance of the parent-teacher relationship in relation to the student's development and…