District leaders have invested widely in the creation of parent portals, but have paid less attention to ensuring that they are achieving their purpose in providing information that parents can use in supporting their children's academic success. This study, based on qualitative field note data from a larger four-year study of a continuous…

Middle grades teachers want early adolescents to take responsibility for their own learning and success in school. One way to encourage this is with "interactive homework," which enables students to lead conversations with a parent or family partner about something interesting they are learning in class. An exploratory study tested…

In this research study two professors and a classroom teacher collaborated to develop instructional moves to teach lateral reading, a digital source evaluation technique that involves conducting strategic quick research on sources of information. Results indicated that the introduction of lateral reading made students aware of the need to know…

The purpose of the current study was to understand to what extent Turkish middle school students' self-efficacy and perfectionism scores explained their academic motivation. Findings from this study have potential to influence counseling interventions, education, and future research. First, findings show that perceptions of self-oriented…

This article describes the development of an innovative clinically rich STEM middle school residency program, one with emphasis in middle grades mathematics program and another in middle grades science aimed to cultivate responsive middle School STEM teachers who are prepared to teach and reach the next generation of young adolescent learners. In…

"This We Believe" advocates the use of a curriculum that maximizes early adolescent learning by integrating multiple disciplines rather than teaching them in isolation. The development of an interdisciplinary curricular unit is a common assignment in middle grades teacher education programs that seek to prepare teacher candidates to…

This article introduces a new middle grades research agenda recently developed by the Middle Level Educational Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). The importance of current research and its impact and influence on the local and national policy are discussed, followed by brief descriptions of the…

Effective educators value young adolescents, are prepared to teach them, and are knowledgeable about this age group. Middle level educators' understanding of adolescent brain development and developmentally responsive teaching strategies can help to support all adolescents' cognitive and social-emotional development in school. This article…

The PairWork mini-unit discussed in this article combines the importance of middle school students learning how to work successfully with another student to accomplish a common goal while incorporating essential principles of social studies curriculum. The mini-unit utilizes six picture books featuring history's Dynamic Duos, or pairs of…

In this study, we examine evidence of transfer from reading instruction to students' learning of language arts and historical content as demonstrated by their independent writing and growth in background knowledge. We taught a unit in a sixth-grade language arts classroom in which students learned about design elements of graphic novels (e.g.,…

Research indicates that school discipline practices are inequitable based on student race, class, and gender; yet, few studies highlight students' voices regarding their experiences with these practices. Further, we know that positive teacher--student relationships are a significant factor in student academic achievement and success. This article…

When middle school teachers and leaders commit themselves to being responsive to the personal concerns of adolescents and the social concerns of their community, it results in opportunities to build capacity in students to be agents of change. This article captures the story of one school's process in designing and implementing a yearlong…

Historically, middle grade schools doled out the harshest and most exclusionary discipline to adolescent African American males. African American males were routed along school to prison pathways at rates higher than African American females and their peers from other racial backgrounds. National conversations about exclusionary discipline…

In the effort to create a multiculturally sensitive citizenry, addressing issues of immigration is critical in today's schools and society. Mathematics and social studies are subjects sensitive to the cultural and population shifts of society. Since STEM subjects and skills are what drive the 21st century classroom today, it is important that…

This study explored how middle-level teachers can combine a public platform for student voice, content related to the American Dream, and pedagogy informed by Tatum's racial identity development to prompt students to: explore their racial and civic identities; engage in critical, inclusive dialogue; complicate traditional narratives about America;…