The CORE Districts, a nonprofit formed by large urban districts in California, received a Networks for School Improvement grant from the Gates Foundation to launch a network focused on improving ninth-grade on-track rates. CORE based its approach on the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Breakthrough Collaborative model, where a hub identifies…

Background: For years, physical activity settings had portrayed a discourse that does not allow to add new and different elements in its practice. This discourse established a status quo that has affected in many ways the structure, the pedagogy and practice of physical activity settings. This is the case of out-school programs. Purpose: The…

The effects of transitions impact students across academic levels in many ways. The transition to high school can be a vulnerable time; moreover, it may be an optimal time for preventive interventions. As students matriculate and transition from middle to high school, a concentrated effort must be made to improve the practices to best support…

Sonia Kovalevsky Days (SK Days) are nationally-held outreach events that are commonly organized by local chapters of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) to encourage young women to continue their study of mathematics. The AWM Student Chapter at Worcester Polytechnic Institute hosted virtual renditions of SK Day for middle school girls…

Recognising young women's authorship as a powerful force for civic change, we developed a creative framework for applied theatre that cultivates a space for young women to co-author "little words, BIG ISSUES": a diversity and inclusion workshop facilitated in cooperation with U.S middle school students. Activating girl-led activism…

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether the districts that received ongoing training and coaching to use the Active Implementation Frameworks improved mathematics outcomes. The Active Implementation Frameworks represent five essential approaches for effective implementation of any evidence-based program or practice. One of the…

Many adolescent readers experience difficulties comprehending informational text, which may result from underlying difficulties with foundational skills (e.g., word recognition and fluency), knowledge demands (e.g., background, text structure, and vocabulary), and/or reading motivation. Supplemental interventions for adolescents targeting only…

This case study examines the motivations of, and processes used by teacher leaders to establish a peace program at their middle school. These teacher leaders creatively engaged students in transforming school culture using empowering strategies to build positive peace among students, administrators, and teachers. Theories of peace education are…

In this paper, we explore how tutoring could become a permanent feature of the U.S. public education system. We outline a blueprint for taking tutoring to scale nationally and estimate its costs, while highlighting a range of design and implementation challenges. Our blueprint is centered on ten core principles and a federal architecture to…

Despite the link between school-lunch participation and student health, only half of adolescents with the program in their schools participate on a given day. A multi-pronged school lunch promotion intervention was implemented in middle and high schools in an urban, low-income school district to improve school lunch participation and reduce food…

This systematic review examines the social and emotional learning (SEL) intervention literature to address questions of whether and how students with disabilities are considered in studies of universal SEL interventions in middle and high schools. From the articles identified for initial review (n = 4,355), 166 met the inclusionary criteria. Among…

The opportunity gap between Black and Brown students and their White counterparts in math performance is present in our middle school math classrooms. This opportunity gap creates an urgent need for educators to prepare middle school math teachers with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to build the math content and math identity of…

This article describes the development of an innovative clinically rich STEM middle school residency program, one with emphasis in middle grades mathematics program and another in middle grades science aimed to cultivate responsive middle School STEM teachers who are prepared to teach and reach the next generation of young adolescent learners. In…

Recent studies have identified that engaging middle school students (grades 6-8) in STEM activities increases their chances of choosing STEM-related disciplines when entering college; however, very few university-sponsored opportunities are available for these students. This paper describes an outreach day for middle school students consisting of…

The middle grades have become the agreed upon starting point for high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) programs, as this represents a critical time for students making important decisions that may have a lasting impact on their careers. However, there lacks a common view among state and local leaders on what makes up a high-quality middle…