When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students' education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller "School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action," presents tools and guidelines to help develop more…

The school visit is an effective tool for stimulating the continued professional growth of middle level educators. In the past, however, a major problem with school visits was that they were conducted with positive expectations, but very little preplanning activities, little or no on-site structure, little or no debriefing for either the visiting…

Reported are guidelines which are the outgrowth of six conferences on the teaching of life science in the middle school. The membership of each conference was by invitation consisting of experienced middle school science teachers, biologists from universities, the BSCS staff, and observers. The guidelines were developed to provide direction in…

This publication has been compiled to provide educators with information, ideas, examples, and guidelines for establishing or implementing an orientation and exploratory career education program at the middle or junior high school level. Sections of the manual include: (1) a definition of career education and its role, (2) a discussion of the…

This guide was designed to assist school administrators, teachers, counselors, parents and others who are interested in developing guidance programs which meet the needs of young adolescents in Oregon. Practices, procedures, and forms that school districts have found to be most useful in implementing a coordinated guidance and counseling program…

This workbook provides guidance for the implementation of teacher advisory programs in middle-level schools. Teacher advisory programs are designed to change impersonal school climates, provide a supportive framework for student risk-taking, and promote the healthy development of adolescents. Two program models are described, one initiated in…

This serial issue contains five articles relating to career exploration for middle school youth. The first article makes up most of the publication. It explains the concept of Future Options Education, basic tenets of which are the following: (1) career and college preparatory interventions need to be age and stage appropriate; (2) effective…

This guidebook presents a variety of dropout prevention strategies and is intended to help readers determine which strategies are best suited for a particular classroom, school, or district. The primary audience is school personnel who work with young adolescents. It begins by addressing major dropout issues, primary research findings, and…

This guide explains how U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agencies can join the 20 other USDA agencies that have implemented 18 adopt-a-school partnerships throughout the country. The following are among the topics discussed in the guide's five parts: (1) partnership basics (how adopt-a-school programs benefit both members of the…

The Mathematics Assessment Process (MAP) for the Middle Grades gives teachers and school reform leaders new tools to examine and systematically realign mathematics programs. MAP engages an interdisciplinary coalition within a school in an exploration of mathematics instructional excellence. Through an extensive self-study, a school answers the…

This document, which was developed with input from 14 Illinois middle schools, is a comprehensive guide to planning and implementing career development activities in middle schools. The following are among the topics discussed: (1) background information (the rationale for and importance of career development; young adolescents' interests and…