This interpretive phenomenological analysis investigated the perceptions of school by students with emotional and/or behavioral disabilities (EBD) educated in a substantially separate classroom setting, and whether or not they reported connections to their teachers, peers, and school community. Nussbaum's Capability theory and Bronfenbrenner's…

This 12-week mixed-methods study examined an 8th-grade English language arts curriculum designed to increase participants' (N = 62) reading comprehension and reading motivation. Data consisted of demographic information, pre/post standardized reading comprehension scores, reading motivation survey scores, and participants' periodic semistructured…

Losing contact with nature has become a serious concern in recent years, not only because it depletes children and adolescents' physical health and well-being, but also because it creates apathy towards natural environments. Most past research has developed scales to measure adult's connection with nature (CWN), leaving adolescents' CWN a less…

This study provides an in depth look at how middle school English language learners (ELLs) negotiate their identity as readers and writers as they engage in an identity-oriented unit of instruction. Drawing on theories of identity, identity negotiation, and transformative pedagogy, this study contributes to the field by exploring how a teacher can…

In this research study, an instructional intervention protocol is described. This intervention was designed to help teachers to engage English Learner students (ELs) in mathematical problem-solving lessons and reasoning through discourse. The "Discursive Mathematics Protocol" (DMP) integrates Polya's classic problem-solving framework and…

This paper describes a qualitative content analysis of research articles published on middle level education in the last decade. This analysis was conducted on manuscripts appearing in two premier middle level education journals: "Middle Grades Research Journal" (MGRJ) and "Research in Middle Level Education Online" (RMLE) to…

Our research with Grade 9 learners at a school in Soweto was conducted to explore learners' understanding of fundamental fraction concepts used in applications required at that level of schooling. The study was based on the theory of constructivism in a bid to understand whether learners' transition from whole numbers to rational numbers enabled…

Background: The importance of clarifying goals and providing process feedback for student learning has been widely acknowledged. From a Self-Determination Theory perspective, it is suggested that motivational and learning gains will be obtained because in well-structured learning environments, when goals and process feedback are provided, students…

Middle school students continue to fall below the Proficient level of state standards in the area of literacy. Response to Intervention (RTI) was introduced to provide teachers of all grades and subject areas the necessary steps to aid at-risk students in their classrooms. Due to the lack of specific guidelines for RTI, some teachers implement the…

This qualitative case study examined novice middle level teacher classroom management self-efficacy perceptions and the influence these perceptions had on the approach to instruction and classroom environment. The social cognitive theory and zone of proximal development theory described the experiences and perceptions of novice middle level…

The purpose of this study is to determine the student experiences for a lesson plan designed according to Didactic Situation Theory using Cabri-Geometry software. In line with this aim, we worked with four seventh grade students in Bursa. Within the scope of the study, students were given a black box activity involving the symmetry transformation…

The present study was part of a group randomized controlled trial in which 7th grade students were assigned to a yoga intervention or physical-education-as-usual. Sixteen students were randomly selected from the yoga condition to participate in one-on-one interviews. Qualitative analyses revealed 13 themes that were organized into two categories:…

Background: School climate is crucial: its character can affect pupils' academic achievement, teachers' working conditions and the wellbeing of everyone at school. A major concern for teachers is how to prevent and manage disruptive behaviours. Against this backdrop, there is a need for thorough investigation of pupils' perspectives to better…

Few studies have examined the impact of mastery learning on mastery goal structures or even on students' motivation more generally. In this study, we examined one middle school that implemented a schoolwide mastery learning system, conducting interviews with a sample of administrators (n = 3), teachers (n = 4), and students (n = 9) to determine…

To facilitate identity exploration and career interest among underrepresented racial and gender minorities, a week-long Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) summer camp was designed in alignment with Projective Reflection's (PR) theory of identity exploration and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The camp included the…