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…

This project took place at four Montana middle and high schools in three rural settings located across the state. Study participants included students and teachers located in four middle and high schools. Each of the schools had large percentages of struggling readers, American Indian students, English learners, and low-income students. Comparison…

Connections Academy is a full-time, tuition-free, virtual public school program that served more than 70,000 K-12 students in 27 states in the 2017-2018 school year. Pearson sought to explore how Connections Academy schools perform compared to the alternatives. This Research Report presents findings from two research studies: one…

The majority of school counselor leadership studies focus on quantitative data. The current study contributes to the limited qualitative research surrounding school counselor leadership. The analysis of an open-ended statement from a national study gives voice to school counselor perceptions about leadership characteristics pertinent to the…

This article discusses the importance of mixed-methods research, in particular the value of qualitatively driven mixed-methods research for quantitatively driven domains like educational accountability. The article demonstrates the merits of qualitative thinking by describing a mixed-methods study that focuses on a middle school's system of…

The National Wildlife Federation engaged in a two-year partnership with AISD to build and maintain outdoor learning habitats for elementary and middle school campuses. This report summarizes the findings from the year 2 program evaluation (academic year 2011-2012), focusing on teacher perceptions and curriculum considerations as well as the actual…

When school personnel are confronted with initiatives that require changes in scholastic curricula, processes, programs, or structures, there is often a naturally occurring defensiveness against, instead of an open embrace of, new educational innovations (Hall & Hord, 2006). This article examines a whole-school reform initiative, specifically…

Disagreement exists about the role and function of middle schools. Demand for improved student achievement, greater accountability, improved test scores, and greater responsiveness to parents characterize tensions. This paper reports on the efforts of one community to examine its middle-school program and reposition it to become more effective at…

A survey conducted in 1982 sought information on teacher education for the middle level schools. Responses to the survey from schools of education indicated that teacher preparation programs have not kept pace with the growing number of teachers needed, and the predominant emphasis in available programs has been at the undergraduate level. This…

It is noted there are few reported studies on programs that focus on parents and their middle-school children learning science together. Details of a zoo course are provided as well as data from a survey designed to find out what other courses could be taught in a similar manner. (MP)

This study examines the pragmatic design and cost-effectiveness of the Marchus School's 1261 Project, a California program that serves elementary and middle school students with emotional or behavioral disorders within a public school setting. Case studies demonstrated that not only have costs been avoided but funds have also been saved.…

A program is described that was developed, implemented, and evaluated at the P.K. Yonge Laboratory School at the University of Florida. It was designed to help middle school students to increase competencies in basic computation. The nine criteria guiding development were: 1) individualized instruction; 2) greater student responsibility for…

A study involving two vocational-technical high schools, four high schools, and an alternative program for middle and high school students, investigated factors affecting implementation and sustainability of self-determination activities within the schools. The importance of engaging general educators in dialogue about the self-determination…

Describes the unique design of Project RETRAIN which employs a "modular approach" to the retraining and recertification of experienced teachers interested in preparing themselves for new careers as junior high school science teachers. Reports on the projects' evaluation findings. (LZ)

The purpose of this research was to enhance self-efficacy beliefs, chemistry content, and pedagogical content knowledge of middle grades teachers by incorporating specific design elements into professional development. This study analyzed the influence of program design on achieving gains in personal science teaching self-efficacy, outcome…