Student behavior stands out among issues that greatly affect students' success and even teacher job satisfaction. Researchers have created Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) as a system of interventions that can help students improve their behavior and become more successful. This study sought to add to the body of knowledge…

We examined experiences of participants in "Do the Write Thing" national violence prevention program for middle-level students. Using mixed methods, we conducted surveys and focus groups with students, parents, and teachers who attended the program's National Recognition Week in Washington, DC. Results revealed important affective,…

Instructional coaching has been a professional learning opportunity that many school districts have employed to support teacher practice. Pairing instructional coaching with on-going workshops is a relatively new approach to professional development. Participants for this study include fourteen middle school teachers that teach either mathematics…

This case study reveals how middle school social studies teachers within a professional development program are encouraging their students to use multiple disciplinary literacies to create Our History Clips as they also work toward developing a classroom community of engaged student citizens.

This article reports on how design-based research methodology was used to guide a line of intervention research that developed, implemented, revised, and evaluated online learning science curricula for middle school students, including general education students and English language learners (primarily of Hispanic origin). The iterative,…

This mixed-methods study examines middle school students' academic language development in the context of a year-long professional development project titled, Developing Content Area Academic Language (DCAAL). The purpose of DCAAL was to partner middle school teachers (n = 8) with a team of university researchers to explore how to integrate…

This study aimed to investigate the changes in teacher perceptions regarding the use of technology subsequent to the training about technology integration in mathematics teaching. A training program that included combined technology, pedagogy and content knowledge was prepared and implemented on pre-service teachers with this aim. Exploratory…

It was not known how and to what extent the implementation of "1-2-3 Magic for Teachers" would change the behaviors of disruptive students. The purpose of this study was to reduce the number of behavioral incidents and improve student engagement in learning to produce a learning environment conducive to academic success. The target…

CAST created "Strategic Reader," a technology-based system blending Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) in a digital learning environment to improve reading comprehension instruction. This experimental study evaluates the effectiveness of Strategic Reader using two treatment conditions for measuring…

Joellen Killion is senior advisor to Learning Forward. In each issue of JSD, Killion explores a recent research study to help practitioners understand the impact of particular professional learning practices on student outcomes. The study presented here builds on past research about the relationships between teacher practice and beliefs, teacher…

Recent research has emphasised educating children about positive behaviours to overcome delinquency issues, but there is little clarification of what factors lead to positive behaviours. This study analyses factors that led to children's positive behaviours at a junior high school in Japan, which experienced a dramatic turnaround after…

Commencing in 2011, the Mathematics Academies Initiative is a series of professional development academies (lasting 1 to 2 years, depending on cohort) with the primary objectives of (a) providing educators with a high quality professional development experience that enhances their mathematical content knowledge and pedagogical skills, and (b)…

This study examines factors related to the sustainability of SimCalc Mathworlds (SCMW), a technology-infused mathematics curriculum. We surveyed middle school teachers one year after their participation in a randomized trial where they were introduced to SCMW curriculum, to identify factors related to their continued use of the materials in ways…

This two-phase sequential mixed methods research study examined the effects of targeted instructional craftsmanship training on the perceived self-efficacy and attitude of elementary and middle school teachers of English language learners. A sample of elementary and middle school content area teachers of English language learners (N = 132)…

This article describes an English language arts teacher preparation perspective that considers middle school students as part of the teacher educator team. Based on a recognized gap in the literature about students as powerful partners, the authors undertook a 3-year study to explore the question, "What do preservice middle school teachers…