Folding partitions and multipurpose spaces meet flexibility needs at two new schools in Allief, Texas. (Author/MLF)

Uses the example of award-winning Black Hawk Middle School in Minnesota to examine: (1) developing a middle school architecture; (2) benefits of the house concept; (3) the need for staff involvement in school design; (4) assembling houses into schools; (5) reduced discipline problems; (6) fostering teacher collaboration; and (7) measuring success.…

Discusses "pods,""team areas," and "houses" as middle school physical environments that support the type of learning opportunities young adolescents need. Offers examples of such school designs from Cleveland, Tennessee; British Columbia; and Milledgeville, Georgia. Concludes by suggesting specifications for new middle school buildings. (EV)

Having developed a technology-based teaching unit on weather that appeared to work well for middle school students, Nancy Butler Songer and her colleagues at the University of Michigan decided in the late 1990s to take the next logical step in their research program: They scaled up. This article discusses lessons learned by several faculty…

This manifesto outlines the purposes, instructional program, facilities, allocation of resources, financing, and implementation of a private elementary and middle school that is based on the concepts of professional accountability and individualized learning. The school would be organized around learning families that cross grade and ability…

Developed as a guide for school leaders faced with the task of restructuring a school, this guide is a comprehensive look at the notions of restructuring and reform. It provides a comprehensive definition of restructuring, three outstanding representative examples, and a systematic process for implementing and managing change. Written to provide…

Although there is controversy as to whether middle-level education should be more comparable to high school or to elementary school, this paper argues that the school within a school (SWAS) concept effectively makes large schools seem small so that they have more in common with a typical K-5 school than with a grade-10-through-12 high school. The…

Since 1991, a formerly rundown Baltimore middle school's reform efforts have been propelled by visionary administrative leadership; a collegial team of empowered teachers; a responsive, teacher-designed curriculum and instructional model; nongraded, schools-within-a school, interdisciplinary team-teaching; and productive school-business…

The Community for Learning program (CFL), also known as the Learning City Program, a school-based intervention program, is described. A major premise of this program is that the national standards of educational outcomes can and must be upheld for all students, including those at risk. At the core of the program's design is over 20 years of…

School design must reflect deep-seated changes in educational practices such as using outcome-based education, reorganizing traditional grade structures, grouping students in "houses," and mainstreaming handicapped children. Describes designs for five school buildings that are intended to enhance and undergird what goes on in classrooms.…

Uses space problems of a 15-year-old South Carolina middle school to illustrate the importance of a proper facility-design process. Planning principles such as change of space function, flexibility, accommodation of technology, structural quality, adequate supervision, and proper maintenance should be revisited. Time is a good test of design and…

Urban schools' success depends on their responsiveness to student, parent, and community needs. Responsive programs include alternative high-engagement, remedial, or "last-chance" schools; charter schools; full-service schools providing health and social services; immersion programs for single-gender African-American students;…

Project ORDER is a pilot project tested in an urban middle school in Houston, Texas. The program was intended to improve the general school atmosphere; to improve students' attitudes toward the school, its program, faculty, and administration; to show significant improvement in pupil behavior; and to substantially improve teaching-learning…

Increasing numbers of middle school educators believe that the education of young adolescents can be enhanced when teachers and students are members of classrooms and small team groups characterized by long-lasting relationships. This book describes how to offer students the benefits of smallness within increasingly larger schools by ensuring…

Three themes of change in school planning are the future school, outsourcing, and the reconstruction of existing facilities to accommodate technological and philosophical potential. Describes the technology and the house concept at a middle school and renovations at an elementary school. (MLF)