This much-needed guide shows how to implement positive behavior support (PBS) strategies in secondary settings, using a three-tiered approach. The authors adapt the core ideas of PBS to the developmental context of adolescence and the organizational structures of middle schools and junior and senior high schools. With an emphasis on data-based…

The transition to junior high school is often as hard for both children and parents as starting kindergarten. The school and home have a great need to stay in contact. Eight suggestions to help children through this difficult period are noted. (MT)

This guide has been written to help parents represent their children at New York City Board of Education hearings. The guide explains the rights of parents and children and explains the steps a parent should take in representing the child. It only applies to regular education junior high, intermediate, and elementary school suspensions. Sections…

Following training and experience as peer tutors in a behaviorally oriented reading program for junior high school students, formerly disruptive students decreased their disruptive behaviors and exhibited improved morale and increased academic progress. This article describes the program and provides suggestions for implementing a similar one.…

This booklet provides Alberta (Canada) grade 9 teachers, administrators, and students with samples of the full range of students' writing that exemplify the criteria used to score students' written responses on the June 1990 Grade 9 English Language Arts Achievement Test. Commentary accompanying the students' writing samples in the booklet…

Lack of proper discipline in schools has long been a major concern of the public. Proposals on how to improve discipline have ranged from the bizarre to the cruel. Educators and administrators must devise alternative punishments to replace traditional methods, such as corporal punishment, suspension, and expulsion, that are frequently ineffective.…

This handbook, one of five local handbooks developed to support specialized implementation of the National Career Development Guidelines, presents guidelines for developing comprehensive programs for students in middle and junior high schools. Part I describes the need for guidelines and standards in career development, defines career development…

Outlines the benefits of establishing exploratory programs for the transition from elementary school curriculum to the more diverse environment of middle level schools. (MD)

Agility ladders can be effective fitness tools for elementary and middle school physical education students. Agility ladder activities have students perform various locomotor movements over ladders placed flat on the ground. The paper describes how to conduct agility ladder activities, acquire an agility ladder, and adapt activities to specific…

This article examines factors contributing to low academic achievement among young adolescents and provides data documenting low achievement in 12- to 14-year olds. Strategies for improving this population's achievement are offered, taking into consideration factors contributing to low achievement, such as difficulty constructing wholes during…

This handbook was written to encourage and assist school districts, schools, and community-based organizations to respond to the growing need for adolescent pregnancy prevention activities in the middle grades. It reflects the experiences of adolescent pregnancy prevention programs across the country, particularly those of the eight Urban Middle…

This practitioner's monograph concerns instructional practices for developing self-directed learning among middle-school students. The monograph provides a definition of self-directed learning, a review of the developmental needs of middle-grade students, a description of a classroom environment designed to facilitate self-directed learning, and…

Reviews recent literature which has investigated the interaction between learning disabled adolescents' self-concept and academic, peer family, and community systems. A unique behavioral pattern of emotional disturbance may result from continuous, negative self-concept experiences. In the family and/or community, however, these students can be…

This booklet prepares a student to take New Jersey's Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA), a test that measures the knowledge and skills that will be tested later in the state's High School Proficiency Assessment. The GEPA has three test sections (content areas): Language Arts Literacy, Mathematics, and Science. The booklet tells students…

The authors studied truancy in junior high school students through structured interviews with 33 truants. Truancy at this age was commonly associated with significant difficulties at home, at school, and with peers. Two types of truants were delineated: "authority-defying" and "peer phobic." The school's role is discussed. (Author/SJL)