Cooperative learning, as it was constructed in three seventh-grade classrooms in a multi-ethnic middle school, was examined as part of a dissertation study that focused on cooperative learning as embedded in its sociocultural context. Data were gathered using ethnographic methods, including participant and nonparticipant observations, document…

This study was conducted to ascertain whether future teachers, particularly students of color. can be identified at the 7th and 8th grade levels, and to determine whether their interest or noninterest in teaching is related to how they feel and think about school. Participants were 7th and 8th grade students (N=646) from eight California schools.…

Designed for music educators instructing grades 4 through 8 in string instruments, this Mesa (Arizona) public schools guide presents information on the string curriculum, orchestras, and practicing. The goals and objectives for string instruments delineate grade levels and how student skills will be verified. Following 17 curriculum goal tests,…

The Teachers Achieving Success with Kids (TASK) mentorship program was designed to improve the attendance, discipline, academic achievement and attitudes of at-risk students attending an urban middle school. In order to develop positive relationships, 25 teacher-student pairs met each day away from the classroom setting and engaged in one hour…

Designed for 7th- and 8th-grade students, five lessons using a block of houses in an urban neighborhood help students learn about the history of a neighborhood, the owners of the houses, and the style and architectural features of the homes. Although this unit has been developed for a specific neighborhood, a similar block study could be conducted…

Changes from the expected life course can arise from at least three different reasons in longitudinal work: developmental novelty, errors in diagnosis, and errors in expectation. This longitudinal study examined the social development of 220 fourth graders and 475 seventh graders over a period of 10 years with over 98 percent of the original…

The junior high school, typically grades 7-8 or 7-9, offers a program that is "not-quite-yet-but-trying-to-be" a high school. The organization of the middle school (commonly the grades 6-8), however, is based on a philosophy of education that was specifically designed to meet the special needs of a preadolescent learner; middle schools incorporate…

The broad objectives of this curriculum are to: (1) develop skills that lead to effective decision making, problem solving, and management in the home, school, community, and workplace; (2) develop concepts and skills basic to home and family responsibilities; and (3) develop personal skills that will enhance employment potential. The syllabus…

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) was developed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), in response to Texas House Bill 72 (1984), which mandated a new basic skills assessment program for mathematics, reading, and writing at grades 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. This is one in a series of Instructional Strategies Guides designed to…

Inspired by the Broadway musical "Cats" and by T. S. Eliot's collection of poems, "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," this language arts teaching unit for seventh grade includes a variety of activities using the poems and musical as focal points. Activity types include the following: (1) reading, listening, and singing…

The assessment reported in this paper represents the first attempt by British Columbia to use the Canadian Ministry of Education's assessment program model with special programs; in this case, the French immersion program was chosen. Objectives of the assessment were as follows: (1) examination of the extent to which students are achieving…

Intended for teachers of seventh graders, this communication skills program has two main objectives: (1) to develop in students a heightened awareness of the role communication plays in the totality of their lives; and (2) to begin to develop in students an awareness of their responsibility for their own communication. The program is the first in…

The Manitoba Department of Education's curriculum guide to German instruction in grades 7 through 9 presents the approved curriculum, makes recommendations for its implementation, and provides information about sets of teaching materials from which teachers can make appropriate selections. The guide outlines the rationale for the curriculur and…

This unit, one of a series designed to develop and foster an understanding of the marine environment, presents marine science activities for students in grades 7 and 8. The unit, focusing on life in the sea and the physical factors which influence that life, is divided into sections dealing with: (1) the theory of plate tectonics; (2) ocean floor…

This study investigated whether Chapter 1 middle school students showed more achievement gain when delivery of the pull-out supplementary reading or mathematics instruction was "massed" in time blocks or "distributed" weekly across the school year. All students in one Middle School Chapter 1 Learning Center program participated…