Collaborative "research partnerships" between university researchers and classroom science teachers have been encouraged by recent efforts of both the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). Key teachers in the Search for Excellence in Science Education (SESE) Exemplary Middle/Junior High Programs examined their students in three domains of science education: knowledge; attitudes; and applications/connections, using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) items. Results indicate that for exemplary middle/junior high science programs: (1) teachers are highly experienced (average 18.5 years teaching); (2) students score far above the national norms on a standardized test of science knowledge (87% percentile rank); (3) students have strong positive attitudes toward science in most areas (science is the first or second favorite course for 48% compared to 29% for students generally); (4) students generally do not perform higher in the applications domain than students in general; and (5) boys show slightly higher scores than girls in most areas. (Author/TW)