Restorative practices in schools lack rigorous evaluation studies. As an example of rigorous school-based research, this article describes the first randomized control trial of restorative practices to date, the Study of Restorative Practices. It is a 5-year, cluster-randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Restorative Practices Intervention (RPI)…

This article describes original research to determine reasons graduate students do not complete requirements for a Master's (M.Ed.) in Middle Level Education degree at the Southeastern University. Since the program's initial cohort the graduation rate has decreased. Program faculty was concerned about the increasing difference between the number…

This is the final external evaluation report prepared by SRI International for the Rural Math Excel Partnership (RMEP) project, an investing in innovation (i3) development project funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Operated by Virginia Advanced Study Strategies, Inc. (VASS), the RMEP project included six rural school districts (LEAs) in…

This dissertation was designed to determine reasons graduate students do not complete requirements for a Master's in Middle Level Education degree at the southeastern university. Since the program's initial on-campus cohort (2000) the graduation rate has decreased from 80% to 62.96% with the fourth on-campus cohort (2005). The current cohort…

This guide gives middle school teachers and principals the tools they need to get answers to their questions about program evaluation. It shows how to use the information to work more effectively and efficiently and explains how to use program evaluation techniques to make sure that the approaches selected really solve the problems of interest.…

This final report and status study codified the professional dimension of existing educational programs in music at the elementary and middle/junior high school levels in Rhode Island public schools. A substantial portion of the questionnaire sent to listed music instructors in the state of Rhode Island was composed of applicable minimum optimum…

Many school reform initiatives now require school leaders to make curriculum and resourcing decisions on the basis of evidence about their likely impact on student achievement. In this paper, we discuss the implications of this policy demand in the context of a descriptive study of schools' capacity to collect, analyze, and use collective…

Twnety-seven hypotheses relative to middle school operations were generated and tested through analyses of data gathered. Using various instruments data was obtained from: students, teachers, principals, and central administrative offices. Discussions and findings about the hypotheses are presented, and each is catalogued according to whether it…

The Illinois Rivers Project was developed as an integrated, multidimensional science/technology/society pilot project designed to introduce water quality dimensions into Illinois high schools. The project involved high school science, social science, and English teachers in an integrated study of their local river and community. Science students…

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…

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 paper reviews and critiques empirical evidence concerning knowledge gaps and misconceptions among secondary school students, parents/guardians, and educators about postsecondary education and student financial assistance opportunities and prerequisites, in particular, how Michigan's middle school based Project Awareness may affect student…

In this report, the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) explores the role of coaching in first-year (Cohort 4) America's Choice schools in grades K-8 as it relates to the implementation of readers and writers workshops, referred throughout this report as the literacy workshops. The authors describe the America's Choice coaching…