Middle schools implementing a multi-tiered system of supports will provide adolescents with or at risk for reading difficulties supplemental, small-group reading intervention classes. Although numerous studies have established that peer collaboration, blended learning, differentiation, and sufficient time for instruction are effective practices…

Feedback is a powerful means for promoting learning, but not all forms of feedback are equally effective. Guided by a large body of feedback research, we argue that personalized feedback provides a particularly important opportunity for enhancing motivation and achievement among middle school students. In this article, we review the extant…

Educators' efforts at fostering social and emotional learning are grounded in, and closely related to caring: a belief that developing social and emotional skills will help students to flourish both personally and academically. Yet, research has shown that many middle grades students do not feel cared for in school and find educators' efforts at…

The United States, in less than 50 years, has gone from legal segregation and exclusion of students with disabilities in schools to an emphasis on inclusion in the least restrictive environments based on individual student needs. The United States has made great strides in the physical inclusion of students with disabilities, but work is still…

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…

In this article, John Lounsbury writes that he believes schools and teachers have been pushed to give so much time and attention to meeting narrow cognitive goals that they have not impacted students as persons and citizens as significantly as they should have. The great concern about preparing students for tomorrow--for high school, college, and…

Summarizes research on the effects of the transition from elementary school to middle school on young adolescents. Notes problems of this transition in academic performance and in students' perceptions of school and self-perceptions, and of the mismatch of developmental needs with school environment. (JPB)

Best way to prevent high school students from dropping out is to address problems at elementary or middle school. At-risk students do not differ greatly from other middle-school students but need specific individualized assistance with academic skills and warm, nurturing advocate to help build self-esteem and achieve success in school work. Middle…

A survey of representative schools in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois showed that most small and rural schools house middle-level students in buildings primarily designed for elementary or high school students. Middle level students often receive an inappropriate educational program that is not taught by teachers trained to understand and…

Describes strategies to smooth students' transition to middle school, listing programs and activities prior to the school year, during the summer, and during the school year. Considers adolescents' changing developmental needs. (JPB)

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)

Details changes in programs and practice to improve middle level education. Examines characteristics of developmentally responsive middle schools. Identifies barriers to efforts to provide meaningful learning experiences through curriculum integration. Maintains that changes should revolve around expanding teachers' models of learning to…

Describes educational and philosophical foundations of the Carolina Friends Middle School, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which blends a conception of adolescent development with Quaker beliefs to create a community that values contributions of young people and the ideals of cooperation, responsibility, and communication. Considers the school as a…

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

Discusses "pods,""team areas," and "houses" as middle school physical environments that support the type of learning opportunities young adolescents need. Offers examples of such school designs from Cleveland, Tennessee; British Columbia; and Milledgeville, Georgia. Concludes by suggesting specifications for new middle school buildings. (EV)