Searching for ways to help students feel more connected to one another and to the school community as a whole, a junior high school implemented the social house approach. Social houses divide students into multiple social units, rather than into separate academic entities. Each unit has its own identity and theme.The different groups mix during…

Two school districts in southwest Washington resolved practical concerns related to the mastery learning of writing skills. (Author/MLF)

Known as "Doc" by his students, as a troublemaker by his critics, as good copy for journalists, and as a dedicated professional by his supporters, Dennis Littky is guided by an impassioned desire to improve education, regardless of the personal risks involved. He became a maverick principal to influence educational change. (MLH)

Describes a Fall 1984 cooperative learning project at a Phoenix, Arizona, junior high school involving three sections of mixed-ability student groupings in reading, English, and math. At year's end, all academic levels (particularly remedial students) in the mixed-ability classes fared better than their counterparts in the tracked classes. By…

Describes a Massachusetts language arts teacher's experiences with diagnosing seventh and eighth graders' learning styles and designing activity stations geared to a particular type. Students progress from one station to another, trying to figure out which activity goes with each style by experiencing each one individually. (MLH)

Middle schools may accrue many benefits by adopting concepts and practices from the early childhood education model. Two concepts are fundamental: learning must be based on developmental abilities, and learning occurs through action. (Author/IRT)

Because the brains of 12-14 year olds are in a slow-growth period, middle schools should concentrate on developing maturity in existing cognitive skills rather than on introducing new skills. (IRT)

A Los Angeles, California, project that infuses reading and language into the health curriculum allows teachers to give additional reading instruction without sacrificing time or curriculum content; it shows that communication skills can be infused successfully into the broader curriculum. (Author/DCS)

The principles of a sound education can be incorporated in a middle school or a junior high school. It is important that commitment be made to programs rather than to the psychological ploy of a name. (Author/MLF)

Effective middle-level schools provide students with a supportive structure in the form of relationships between teachers and students. Research has confirmed the effectiveness of team organization, advisory groups, multi-age grouping, and exploratory curricula. (Author/MLF)

Presents an eighth-grade graduation speech capturing the essence of adolescence. (JM)

A program at the Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center in Boston (Massachusetts) supplements the traditional program of ropes and rocks with community service, giving urban students opportunities to try out new leadership skills in local neighborhoods. (MLF)

Involving teachers in classroom research can result in improved instruction, more reflective learners, professional growth, and collegial sharing. A seventh-grade teacher-researcher, weighing various strategies for mainstreaming learning-disabled students into her science classes, also ponders the implications of more reflective political practice…

Analyzing the ways newspapers cover different racial and cultural groups can stir provocative discussions among middle school students, as one teacher found. In one day's news, students unearthed mostly negative images and citations involving blacks; few references to Hispanics, Indians, Greeks, or Native Americans; and unrealistically favorable…

Middle school students use note writing not only as a natural response to real social and emotional needs, but (when caught by teachers) as an indirect means to communicate with adults. Although these notes are important, it is difficult to determine if note writing makes a difference in children's success at writing or developing social skills.…