This fourth book in the Marzano Academies series focuses on secondary school leadership for competency-based education. The beauty of the framework, however, is that any leader seeking guidance on innovative, equitable, and effective practices can use this book as a blueprint for positive change. This is your blueprint for how you, as a secondary…

The issue of quality education is a critical topic of discussion, for South Africa facing the challenge of implementation amid a plethora of progressive policies. The purpose of the research reported here is to describe the procedures undertaken to explore the feasibility of implementing a monitoring system in the South African context. The…

This comprehensive, top-selling text presents theories, assessments, planning tools, resources, and technologies relevant to modern career development in a practical approach that shows theory and research in action. With four chapters devoted to career development in educational settings, it analyzes the various aspects of career development…

If there is one thing that describes the trajectory of American education, it is this: more high-stakes testing. In the United States, the debates surrounding this trajectory can be so fierce that it feels like we are in uncharted waters. As Christopher Bjork reminds us in this study, however, we are not the first to make testing so central to…

At the heart of the effort to enact and scale up successful school reforms is the need for more robust links between research and practice. One promising approach is design development, a methodology widely used in other fields and only recently adapted to education, which offers a disciplined process for identifying practical problems, assessing…

In today's world, getting the attention of educators, parents, and policymakers can be difficult, and without buy-in from everyone involved, successfully implementing the middle school concept can seem impossible. This resource shows you not only that it can be done, but also demonstrates exactly how to do it in your school! Read and watch as…

"RTI in Middle School Classrooms" provides practical, research-based instructional techniques and interventions--geared especially to middle school teachers and administrators--that target and address specific needs of individual students. Response to intervention allows educators to assess and meet the needs of struggling students…

"The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded", by Jim Burke, provides schools, districts, and departments with a common language or set of reference points for effective school-wide implementation of the Common Core State Standards. The book--available in middle and high school editions--clarifies what each standard says, what each…

This book takes readers through the steps that school personnel encounter in planning and developing a middle school. Chapter 1 outlines the rationale, origin, advantages, functions, and tasks of a middle school, along with setting parameters for its unique identity. Chapter 2 identifies the target population, emerging adolescents, and their…

This book presents findings of the second phase of a study conducted by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). Specifically, the study sought to identify the educational programs and leadership practices that were used in successfully restructuring middle schools. Of 46 principals at middle schools that met the NASSP's…

NMSA/AMLE's position paper "This We Believe" has come to be recognized as the best articulation of the middle school concept, the accepted standard. But inevitably, a position paper speaks in visionary generalizations; to move these ideals into actual practice is a very demanding task, but one that has to be undertaken if needed and…

This book tells the story of two African-centered schools, an elementary school and a middle school, in an urban public school system. Both schools were originally conceived as "all male academies," but legal and political obstacles caused both to become coeducational, although still African-centered. The factors that affected the…

Issues in and suggestions for designing and implementing an interdisciplinary or integrated curriculum are discussed in this book. The first section reviews current research concerning interdisciplinary curriculum. Chapter 1 describes various types and purposes of such curriculum, and chapter 2 presents a step-by-step process for designing…

This handbook was designed to help school administrators, teachers, and community members make a successful transition from a junior high school to a middle school. The focus is on the process rather than content. Chapter 1 provides an example of how one junior high school faculty and administration made the shift to a middle school. Chapter 2…

Only a full scale effort will make multicultural education a success at the middle school level. Multicultural education programs must be integrated into all levels of the school day, from curriculum and instructional materials through all the components of the middle school experience. Chapter 1 looks at the country's increasing cultural…