This article focuses on the ways the authors incorporate a transformational resistance framework in their ninth-grade ethnic studies curriculum. While literature on transformational resistance often highlights external forms of resistance, there is a need to examine the internal transformation youth experience when engaging in resistance. The…

This article introduces a new middle grades research agenda recently developed by the Middle Level Educational Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). The importance of current research and its impact and influence on the local and national policy are discussed, followed by brief descriptions of the…

This qualitative dissertation aimed to understand if an after-school kinesiology service-learning program changed the relationship between a large Research I institution and a local public school. Eight 7th- and 8th-grade students, three classroom teachers, and one administrator participated. Data collection methods included semistructured…

Conceptual stances provide guidance to the mixed methods researcher as he or she makes decisions throughout the research process, including determining the dimensions of integration or levels at which mixing occurs. Only the dialectic conceptual stance specifically encourages mixing at the abstract paradigmatic level. This article outlines four…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many youth felt disconnected from on-the-ground engagement with their peers, their communities, and the wider society. School closures also impeded progress in some students' abilities to write, speak, and express themselves through various media. A team of interdisciplinary and intergenerational faculty and…

Human-made pollution is a large and complex problem that has harmful effects on communities and ecosystems. Understanding these impacts is essential, but it can be daunting when many types of chemical pollution are difficult to conceptualize, especially for elementary school students. Something every student can understand, however, is trash.…

In this Research and Practice article, the author explores the scholarship on women and the social studies published in the last decade and what can be learned from it in order to move forward with teaching students about women in history, government, and the other social sciences. In an effort to compile research recommendations most relevant for…

Action research is an evidence-based practice that is highly applicable to middle school teaching and learning. Middle school teachers can empower themselves and their students by participating in immersive, meaningful activities that are designed to improve educational outcomes. Action research is purposeful and beneficial for teachers, students,…

"Middle School Today" is clustered into major themes: adolescent development and identity, the adolescent learner, curriculum and instruction, and the contemporary middle school. The book describes the components related to adolescent development starting with simple principles from psychology regarding the physical, cognitive, and…

This article reports on a case study from a larger project exploring ways in which online citizen science projects can enhance students' learning in science and in digital technology. In this case, two teachers integrated the digital technology curriculum with the science capability "interpreting representations" using the engaging…

In U.S. music education, the elementary music program is the level most likely to include all students, before music becomes an elective choice in secondary schools. As students approach adolescence, however, their interest in general music may decline, particularly if they are not engaged in activities they find meaningful. Although past research…

In this article, Dana Haring and Tom Kelner describe how an NPR article motivated them to look at the issue of computer-based note-taking more closely. This topic piqued their interest because of work they were doing with the 7th graders in their English and social studies classes. One collaborative project their classes work on together…

As outlined by many of the social and political movements happening around us today, now more than ever, youth need to be critically conscious of their world in order to navigate it successfully. The Toronto District School Board, where Armen Shahnazarian teaches uses the hybrid model of culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy (CRRP), based on…

Drawing upon a long-term partnership between a university and a Title I middle school, we outline relational principles that guided our justiceoriented approach to collaborative research. We conceptualize relational principles as intentional strategies for equitable relationship cultivation and infrastructure development, grounded in the values…

In this essay, our purposes are to inspire particular avenues of future research addressing Transgender students, in middle school in particular, and to inform the professional development of teachers in support of these Transgender youth. In relation to the ways in which research can more authentically represent Transgender identity, we argue for…