Mental health challenges are on the rise among today's youth. Recent reports have noted an acute and significant need for school-based mental health education and supportive interventions for children and adolescents. Among these approaches, a growing focus has centered on improving students' mental health literacy (MHL) as a foundational…

The disruption of in-person delivery of a sexual health education curriculum to students in 19 urban middle schools in the Midwestern United States was one of many complications in education due the COVID-19 pandemic. Given time constraints and need for program delivery, community partners collaborated to convert the curriculum for virtual…

A successful middle school team of teachers employed effective middle level philosophy to structure a curriculum around themes that were relevant, challenging, integrative, and engaging for their particular students and community. Realizing that their young adolescents were involved in tough, delicate issues in their out-of-school lives, the…

Dr. William Alexander, a noted curriculum authority and a central founder of the middle school movement, shared in a presentation in 1963 that teachers must have a goal of stimulating a "love for learning, an attitude of inquiry, a passion for truth and beauty, a questioning of mind." He asserted, "Learning the right answers is not…

There is an emerging curriculum vision that transcends the subject-centered and multidisciplinary approaches characterizing most junior high schools and middle schools. This article addresses practical issues (course content, teacher identities, planning, classroom life, and larger purpose) that have arisen around the integrative curriculum…

First in a series of profiles to trace the intellectual roots of the modern middle-school movement through the thoughts and actions of five of its most influential revolutionaries. (seven references) (MLF)

School organization is secondary in importance to an attitude toward, and knowledge and understanding of, students among teachers and principals. (Author/MLF)

Investigated factors that motivate students to learn by interviewing six self-described underachieving middle school students and their teachers. Developed a theory for meaningful, engaged learning involving four key components: learning environment, experience, motivation, and meaning making. (JPB)

Examines the education of young adolescents in New Zealand. Specifically examines: (1) background history of middle schooling in New Zealand; (2) growth of interest in middle schooling; (3) case studies of three different schools; and (4) factors common to successful New Zealand middle schools. (SD)

Eight elements found in nationally recognized, outstanding middle schools are presented as bench marks that all middle schools might utilize in examining their programs. Available from National Middle School Association, P.O. Box 968, Fairborn, Ohio 45324; $1.50 single copy. (Author)

Responds to M. S. Tucker and J. B. Codding's criticism of the middle school concept in their 1999 article "Education and the Demands of Democracy in the Next Millennium." Notes that the authors apparently approve of middle school reform but over-generalize the term "middle school" to mean a building rather than a curriculum or…

Presents findings from the 1993 NASSP study concerning the prevalence of 10 essential middle-school elements (identified by a 1982/1992 National Middle School Association study) in middle schools across the United States. Although middle-level education has come of age and developed a unique identity, most schools must work harder to incorporate…

Argues that the nature of the American middle school is such that there are striking similarities between the characteristics of effective middle school educators and the characteristics of futurists, and that these similarities should be embraced to address concerns with the American educational system. (SD)

A basic principle of education stresses the importance of providing differentiated educational treatment for varied maturity levels. Physical, emotional and social, and mental growth characteristics are identified and aligned with corresponding implications for the curriculum. (Author/MLF)

The mini-course concept need not be restricted to exploratory courses; it works well in the basic general education areas. Available from National Middle School Association, P.O. Box 968, Fairborn, Ohio 45324; $1.50 single copy. (Author/MLF)