One of the critical issues facing middle level educators is making sure we have the types of support in place for providing equitable learning environments for all students and helping them to feel that they belong in school. Literature suggests that a gender gap exists within middle level education today with respect to achievement scores and the…

Teacher leaders represent change agents within a school and they have formal and informal roles to improve teaching and learning. This study focuses on one of the formal roles of teacher leadership which is instructional coaching. There is a thin body of research which focuses on instructional coaching; therefore, this study will contribute to an…

This technical appendix provides additional information about the sample, data, and estimation strategy used for a series of American Educator Panels (AEP) Data Notes published by the RAND Corporation in 2019. The Data Note series is intended to provide brief but incisive analyses of teacher and school leader survey results that may be of…

With the ever changing and global economy, the demand for effective teachers is steadily increasing. Regrettably, the problem of attracting and retaining those effective teachers presents a formidable challenge, especially for those districts that serve students of color, high-needs and from poverty. Quality teachers are essential for the…

Adolescents present a unique collection of characteristics and challenges which middle school interdisciplinary teams were designed to address. This article describes a research study which explored parental involvement strategies employed by interdisciplinary teaching teams from three very different middle schools: an affluent suburban school, a…

Schoolwide support for higher achievement is essential. Students need a nurturing environment where they feel secure about learning, where the goal is success for every student and where students are confident they will receive mentoring and encouragement to prepare for their futures. Many schools are reinventing themselves to motivate students to…

Every step in a student's life is important for future success. Schools are building stronger frameworks of curricula, instruction and assessments to prepare students to move from one learning environment to another with maximum results as they journey toward adulthood. This issue of "High Schools That Work" contains examples of…

Describes the teaching styles and approaches of two different social studies teachers working in urban schools in Alabama. Aims at providing examples of wise teaching practice in social studies by examining what these teachers see as essential to becoming effective teachers in a challenging context. (CMK)

The "International Society for the Social Studies Annual Conference Proceedings" is a peer-reviewed professional publication published once a year following the annual conference. It contains the following papers: (1) Teacher Perceptions of Authentic Pedagogy: A Case Study of Professional Development in an African American High School's…