Declining academic performance, along with a growing apathy of students toward the value of education, demonstrates that students in the United States public education system do not recognize the value of a positive experience in middle schools. A plethora of research and writing has been done on elementary schools and secondary schools, but…

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) sponsored a conference to identify key issues that could help OERI develop an agenda for research, products, and services in early adolescent education. This document compiles the papers from that conference. Following an introduction by OERI and a list of…

Develops the thesis of the interrelationships of conceptions of adolescents with curricula and school organization by examining the Carnegie Council (1989) reform report on middle schools, "Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century." The article discusses economic and social contexts of the report, historical…

Discusses early adolescence as the second most critical stage of development, and the importance of recognizing this when planning a middle school program. Describes how one school met the pressures of logistics and community expectations to develop a classroom that was responsive to the individual student in light of the characteristics and needs…

Noting that young adolescents--around 10 to 15 years of age--undergo significant emotional, social, intellectual, and physical changes, this book serves as a reference for parents, educators, and policymakers concerned with education that meets the unique needs of the student population. The five sections of the book cover the historical and…

Noting the need for middle school educators to learn directly from their students how they view the world, school, and their own learning, this book details findings from a study that used a quasi-ethnographic approach to examine the perceptions of young adolescents. Participating in the study were 2,000 adolescents, 10- to 15-year-olds. Subjects…

Concerns about middle level education began early in this century and will continue to be discussed by researchers and observers well into the next century. This digest examines the evolving characteristics and goals of middle level education, especially in terms of the most recent statements of purpose by major organizations in the field. Noting…