The recipe for success of Strive Preparatory Charter School (formerly West Denver Preparatory Charter School) is not a secret. This summer program, turned four-campus, middle level phenomenon, is proving to satisfy the appetite of parents hungry for a change in their children's educational opportunities. The intent of this article is to share…

The focus on grades and what they represent happens in every middle grades classroom--some students completely understand the concepts when reviewed, but perform poorly on the quiz; some gifted students score high on tests but appear bored in class. With the current emphasis on school accountability by standardized test scores, middle level…

The goal of the intervention peer-tutoring program described in this paper was to help pre-algebra students (tutees) deepen their knowledge of mathematical concepts by providing them an opportunity to collaborate with their peers--accelerated algebra students (tutors). Over the duration of the program, the tutees and tutors gained a mutual respect…

Culture plays a critical role in the most effective middle schools (NMSA, 2010), and the Education Department at University of North Carolina at Charlotte considers transnational children of immigration to be a great wealth, a rich blessing. This Department works tirelessly to equip today's middle grades teachers to serve this group of…

Explicitly communicating objectives is a tenet of effective instruction for students with learning difficulties, yet the practice is often overlooked in research. This case study of a novice middle school geography teacher illustrates how the qualitative and quantitative differences in the ways a teacher communicates the learner expectation can…

This article describes a pen pal project that took place between preservice teachers and students in an urban middle school. The purpose of this project was twofold: to expose preservice teachers to the rewards of urban teaching and to expose urban middle school students to adult reading role models. As a result of the project, both goals were…

Wayside teaching focuses on building and maintaining positive relationships with students. Teachers can implement certain wayside teaching practices to end the year in a positive way and begin preparing for the next school year.

This article examines instruction at a school in California for expelled middle school students and illustrates the practices of its most and least effective teachers. Findings show that teachers' implementation of instructional practices, classroom management, and rapport building mutually reinforced each other to either facilitate or hinder…

This article shares thoughts about motivating young adolescents from the perspective of middle level students. The most compelling thread to emerge from the interviews with students was the fact that teachers matter. Teachers have a direct and significant impact on students' motivation to achieve. This article identifies three ways in which…

Educators can implement strategies to build positive relationships with students that will help them become more autonomous and less anonymous in school. These strategies allow young adolescents to become more self aware, to take greater responsibility for their actions, to reflect on their own lives and actions, and to have choices regarding…

Wayside teaching is all about building and sustaining positive relationships with students. John Lounsbury defined wayside teaching as "the teaching that is done between classes, when walking in the halls, after school, and in dozens of one-on-one encounters, however brief" (1991, p. 29). Wayside teaching helps students feel safe and valued.…

The authors investigated characteristics middle grades students associated with social success among peers in school and studied how these perceptions changed over time. They suggest that interdisciplinary teams can promote positive student-student relationships and a healthy peer culture based on positive peer values. (Contains 2 figures.)

In this final series, the author draws wisdom from the story of Hansel and Gretel to recommend a path forward and to call everyone to action in the critical work of educating every young adolescent. The author believes that middle school educators can learn an important lesson about survival during difficult times from the classic German fairy…

Teachers in middle level schools face overwhelming demands and challenges in their classrooms. They are expected to know content and pedagogy, develop engaging lessons that meet the needs of diverse learners, and use a variety of instructional strategies that will boost student achievement while they simultaneously develop positive relationships…

The authors, Angiline and Al, are university teacher educators who share similar experiences building community in middle grades mathematics classroom. As eighth grade mathematics teachers, they began the year building relationships with their students and encouraging communication to establish a caring ethic. In their mathematics classes, a…