The 12 papers presented at the Research Symposium of the National Middle School Association's 1980 Annual Conference are reproduced in this document. Topics covered are teachers', principals', and national leaders' perceptions of the middle school; priorities of needs, competencies, and training of middle grade teachers; a case study of the transition of a seventh grade center to a middle school; middle and junior high school students' attitudes toward family influences and generational differences; an observational study of core and departmentalized eighth grade classrooms; problem-solving strategies of transitional early adolescents; development of a scale for measuring teacher time use; development of instrumentation for determining teachers' disciplinary styles; relationships between teacher behavior and student participation in ninth grade algebra classes and middle grade science classes; effects of differentiation of instruction on academic achievement and particularly on reading skill retention; and abuse of drugs and related substances. (PGD)