The middle level classroom presents unique challenges to educators who strive to provide opportunities that acknowledge learner diversity in terms of social, cognitive, physical, and emotional development. This is confounded even further within inclusive middle-school classrooms where the responsibility to differentiate instruction is even more…

In 2011, the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) and the City Council's Middle School Taskforce launched the Middle School Quality Initiative (MSQI) as an instructional intervention for improving literacy levels in the lowest performing middle schools in New York City. The initiative grew rapidly and now serves over 100 schools and…

This article examines school-level responses to subgroup accountability pressure through an ethnographic case study of a school cited for failing to make adequate yearly progress for student subgroups. Concerns about the calculations and measures used to derive the citation and reservations about acting on accountability data delegitimized the…

Portugal, like many other countries, faces obstacles regarding school-based sexuality education. This paper explores Portuguese schools' approaches to implementing sexuality education at a local level, and provides a critical analysis of potential strengths and weaknesses. Documents related to sexuality education in a convenience sample of 89…

Reports on one-to-one (1:1) technology initiatives emphasize overall favorable results; however, comprehensive multiyear studies looked at understate the progressive experiences of teachers and students. A small body of research suggested the second year of 1:1 technology programs manifested difficulties and struggles which significantly…

Math in Common® (MiC) is a five-year initiative that supports a formal network of 10 California school districts as they implement the Common Core State Standards in mathematics (CCSS-M) across grades K-8. As the MiC initiative moves into its second year, one of the central activities that each of the districts is undergoing to support CCSS…

This study investigated a professional development model designed to improve teachers' inquiry teaching efficacy as well as the quality of their inquiry instruction through engaging teachers in practice-teaching and reflection sessions. The programme began with a two-week summer Institute focused on both inquiry pedagogy and science content and…

This study investigated whether a senior teacher with many years of teaching experience, despite lacking adequate technology skills or contending with other barriers, can sufficiently implement technology integration in the classroom. The research was conducted between October 2013 and January 2014 and was focused on a junior high school biology…

This study investigated one school district's transition from a junior model to a middle school philosophy. Numerous documents were examined and individual interviews and focus group discussions were analyzed to reconstruct the process and strategies used to facilitate the institutionalization of this complex change effort. Participant voices…