Declining academic performance, along with a growing apathy of students toward the value of education, demonstrates that students in the United States public education system do not recognize the value of a positive experience in middle schools. A plethora of research and writing has been done on elementary schools and secondary schools, but…

Designed for the middle-school educator, this guide presents successful instructional and operational programs. All programs originated at the school level and were adapted or implemented by principals, teachers, or parents close to the problems the programs address. The programs come from four major sources: national and regional conferences, the…

A wave of the future in education is the inclusion of service activities in the school program with the accompanying expansion of school/community relationships. This book considers how to incorporate aspects of service into the ongoing academic program in middle school. The book contends that all middle school educators should become…

Middle-level education has become a fixture in our educational system. This collection of essays provides the opportunity for readers to examine current policies, programs, and practices in light of recent developments at the middle level. Nine essays include: (1) "Why Middle Schools?" (Donald Eichhorn); (2) "Organizing Middle Level Schools To…

Noting that reading instruction for young adolescents in Indiana's middle grades schools has been virtually eliminated, this booklet describes how important reading is in the middle grades and why it continues to deserve attention beyond the elementary years. The booklet proposes a series of actions that educators--teachers, administrators, school…

Two strategies were tried to address the need for a multicultural education program to increase cultural awareness and reduce prejudice among a target population of 1,500 students in a middle school setting that was 84 percent white. One strategy included human relations training of 50 students, who formed a Cultural Awareness Group within the…

Practical suggestions are offered for teaching mathematics in a block schedule, including ways to make some topics more compact, integrate mathematics with other materials, and design lesson plans to maximize instructional time. Chapters are: (1) "NCTM [National Council of Teachers of Mathematics] Standards and Teaching Mathematics in a Block…

This publication focuses on new standards for language arts (reading, writing, representing, viewing, speaking, and listening) designed to create opportunities for middle and high school students to develop skills and become more literate readers. The book presents 60 activities based on popular novels for young people, including complete…

The goal of this practicum was to increase the number of students enrolled in the middle school and high school chorus. A secondary goal was to introduce teachers to group process, as a method of writing curriculum. To meet both ends, the subject of recruitment was incorporated into the curriculum plan. The practicum was conducted in a public…

This document is one of three in the "Skills for Life: Library Information Literacy" series designed to cover the entire curriculum from kindergarten through grade 12. The looseleaf notebook format allows librarians or teachers to add material in connection with different topics. This volume is devoted to the middle school grades 6 through 8, a…

This study investigated attitudes of educators from both the middle school movement and gifted education, by means of a survey of 400 members of relevant professional organizations. The survey focused on six interest clusters: (1) grouping strategies, (2) identification issues, (3) curriculum modifications, (4) teacher preparation, (5) program…

Designed for those teaching an advisement program to middle school students, this book provides a year-long program with suggestions for many activities geared to middle school students. The text is divided into the traditional four-quarter school year but can be adapted to any school year configuration. The activities are designed so that the…

This guide provides information about how middle schools can promote the development and education of adolescents, especially about how they can focus students' attention on career opportunities and training. It also offers families some ideas about how they can encourage their children's career awareness, and it presents some criteria for parents…

This book is a guide to the development and use of performance tasks and rubrics in the middle school mathematics classroom. It contains a rationale for, and a discussion of strengths and limitations of, performance tasks to assess student achievement and progress in mathematics. A field-tested process is offered for developing performance tasks…

This guide is the third publication in a series designed to help school districts in North Carolina implement effective second language programs in the middle grades, building on existing elementary programs and connecting with established secondary school programs. The guide first explains the rationale for including second languages in the…