Students in the middle grades experience tremendous development in various domains. However, childhood trauma can significantly impede this development, further exacerbating the functioning of our most vulnerable student populations. This article aims to describe the use of trauma-informed teaching as a form of middle-level, social justice…

What constitutes appropriate practice in physical education? NASPE suggests the outcome of a physical education program should be that adolescents have gained the skills and knowledge to be physically active for a lifetime. Furthermore, a physically educated person consistently demonstrates responsible personal and social behavior in physical…

This article examines instructional strategies that middle school educators can use in inclusive settings in order to support the unique needs of culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional (CLDE) students. These nine strategies are appropriate for both typical and atypical learners in a whole group setting, but they are particularly useful…

The transition from school to vocational education and training is becoming more difficult for an increasing number of adolescents. Despite the growing significance of "interim solutions" (IS) shaping the pathway after compulsory education, there is hardly any research. This study aims at contributing to this research gap by…

Background: Children and young adolescents are reaching puberty earlier. Providing information about such changes before puberty can help them develop in a more competent and informed manner. Context and Objective: UNESCO's "International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education" forms a comprehensive, evidence-based, authoritative…

Key developmental issues (growth and development, identity and adjustment, changes in relationships, career paths) form the core of a curriculum-based model for counseling gifted adolescents. Integrated learning strategies are applied to two audiences: gifted adolescents themselves and their parents, teachers, and counselors. (Author/CB)

One of the most challenging daily experiences of teaching young adolescents is helping them transition from Piaget's concrete to the formal operational stage of cognitive development during the middle school years. Students who have reached formal operations can design and test hypotheses, engage in deductive reasoning, use flexible thinking,…

The role of the middle schools in promoting adolescent development and the areas in which the curriculum can help children make the difficult and critical transition from childhood to adolescence are discussed. (MSE)

Teaching music to the early adolescent is a challenging and sometimes difficult task. Characteristics of early adolescence are described, and reasons why some middle level music programs are not effective are discussed. Tips for tailoring instruction to this age group are presented. (RM)

Activities and lessons, based on the theory of active learning and designed for a course to promote student involvement, are discussed in this document. Each activity is described and followed by an evaluation that students completed immediately following the activity. Students were asked about how interesting, useful, and relevant each of the…

Describes educational and philosophical foundations of the Carolina Friends Middle School, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which blends a conception of adolescent development with Quaker beliefs to create a community that values contributions of young people and the ideals of cooperation, responsibility, and communication. Considers the school as a…

Developmental characteristics of students in middle schools (grades 5-8) are detailed and a social studies curriculum tailored to their particular needs is outlined. (JMF)

Early adolescence is a time when students require adult assistance to become accurate and effective decision makers and problem solvers. Because of the fragmented nature of society, the family structure, and the schooling process, schools need to establish a nonthreatening environment in which students can discuss the issues related to growing up.…

High expectations and appropriate standards for learning and achievement are important to any curriculum plan. The need for curriculum to meet developmental needs is particularly important for middle-level students. Middle-level students are unlike any other age group and are internally varied. Not all middle-level students need the same things at…

The middle school program emerged against a backdrop of criticism, awareness of changing educational necessities and values, and new insights into the needs of the middle range of the student population. The precocity of youth mixed with the pseudo-sophistication of adulthood gives the middle school its reason for existence--the…