In the Middle: Do We Share the Vision? Do Principals and Teachers Agree about the Middle School Concept?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watts, Cherry; Seed, Allen H.; Franceschini, Louis A., III

2013-01-01

In 2009, the Tennessee Professors of Middle Level Education (TPOMLE) examined how Tennessee schools implemented the middle school concept. Of concern was the impact that emphasis on accountability and achievement had on the middle school concept which emphasizes the development of the whole child. A survey was developed based on the tenets of…

Schools in the Middle: Developing a Middle-Level Orientation. The Practicing Administrator's Leadership Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKay, Jack A.

This handbook was designed to help school administrators, teachers, and community members make a successful transition from a junior high school to a middle school. The focus is on the process rather than content. Chapter 1 provides an example of how one junior high school faculty and administration made the shift to a middle school. Chapter 2…

Findings from the First & Only National Data Base on Elemiddle & Middle Schools (Executive Summary)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hough, David L.

2009-01-01

The study presented here is the first large scale effort on a national level to examine the relationship between K-8 Elemiddle Schools and 6-8 Middle Schools. From a population of more than 2,000 middle grades schools in 49 public school districts across 26 states, a sample of 542 Elemiddle and 506 Middle Schools was drawn. Both regression and…

Gender Equity in Middle School Science Teaching: Being "Equitable" Should Be the Goal.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Subrahmanyan, Lalita; Bozonie, Heath

1996-01-01

Examines level at which gender issues are addressed in middle school science classes. Argues that in the crucial area of science education, particularly for girls at the middle school level, "equal" rather than "equitable" as a dominant teacher attitude may be inadequate to ensure that gender imbalances are rectified. (SD)

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doda, Nancy M.

2009-01-01

School leadership has always been wrought with high-stakes moral dilemmas. For today's middle level leaders, the stakes are about as high as they get. Beyond the challenges that all school leaders expect, middle level leaders must balance the demands of high-stakes accountability with the core principles of the middle school concept. No doubt all…

Leading in the Middle: Leadership Behaviors of Middle Level Principals that Promote Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minus, Eric L.

2010-01-01

This study sought to investigate the relationship between middle school principals' instructional leadership behaviors and student achievement. In particular, this study investigated the specific principal leadership behaviors of middle level principals that promote student achievement in school. A secondary variable for consideration was student…

WWC Review of the Report "Evaluation of a Two-Year Middle-School Physical Education Intervention: M-SPAN"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2013

2013-01-01

The study reviewed in this paper examined the effect of the "Middle School Physical Activity and Nutrition" ("M-SPAN)" intervention on the physical activity level of middle school students. For this 2-year study, 24 middle schools from six districts in southern California were stratified by school district and then randomly…

Toward Middle-Level Manpower Education for Colombia. A Report to USAID Colombia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, B. Lamar

Education for middle-level manpower, a high-priority need in Colombia, is discussed. The current programs of five educational agencies--universities, university institutes, SENA (National Apprentice Service), industrial schools, and agricultural schools--that are providing some preparation for middle-level manpower positions are described. A…

Academic Achievement and Transcendental Meditation: A Study with At-Risk Urban Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nidich, Sanford; Mjasiri, Shujaa; Nidich, Randi; Rainforth, Maxwell; Grant, James; Valosek, Laurent; Chang, Walter; Zigler, Ronald L.

2011-01-01

The middle school level is of particular concern to educators because of poor standardized test performance. This study evaluated change in academic achievement in public middle school students practicing the Transcendental Meditation[R] program compared to controls. A total of 189 students who were below proficiency level at baseline in English…

Middle School Handbook.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finks, Harry

The middle school provides a planned transition from childhood to young adulthood: it moves a student from the protective nurture of elementary school to the more depersonalized high school setting gradually, sensitively, and by design. Composed of the ideas from middle school education that each of the educators who choose this wonderful level of…

Quantifying the effect of changes in state-level adult smoking rates on youth smoking.

PubMed

Farrelly, Matthew C; Arnold, Kristin Y; Juster, Harlan R; Allen, Jane A

2014-01-01

Quantify the degree to which changes in state-level adult smoking prevalence subsequently influence youth smoking prevalence. Analysis of data from the Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS) collected from 1995 to 2006 and the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) collected from 1999 to 2006. Adults 25 years or older who completed the TUS-CPS and youth in middle and high school who completed the NYTS. Current smoking among middle and high school students as a function of the change in state-level adult smoking, controlling for individual-level sociodemographic characteristics and state-level tobacco control policy variables. Among middle school students, declines in state-level adult smoking rates are associated with lower odds of current smoking (P < .05), and each doubling of the decline in adult smoking rates is associated with a 6.0% decrease in youth smoking. Among high school students, declines in state-level adult smoking rates are not associated with current smoking. Higher cigarette prices were associated with lower odds of smoking among middle and high school students. Greater population coverage by smoke-free air laws and greater funding for tobacco control programs were associated with lower odds of current smoking among high school students but not middle school students. Compliance with youth access laws was not associated with middle or high school smoking. By quantifying the effect of changes in state-level adult smoking rates on youth smoking, this study enhances the precision with which the tobacco control community can assess the return on investment for adult-focused tobacco control programs.

Promoting Academic Achievement in the Middle School Classroom: Integrating Effective Study Skills Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thorpe, Christin

2010-01-01

This study aimed to discover what study skills are most useful for middle school students, as well as strategies for integrating study skills instruction into the four main content area classrooms (English, math, science, and social studies) at the middle school level. Twenty-nine in-service middle school teachers participated in the study by…

Transforming Middle Level Education: Perspectives and Possibilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Irvin, Judith L., Ed.

This book addresses the critical issues of curriculum and instruction as they pertain to the restructuring of middle-level education. The first part deals with developing a sense of identity both with the middle-school movement and with young adolescents. Chapters include the following: "Perspectives on the Middle School Movement" (John H.…

Deferred but Not Deterred: A Middle School Manifesto

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lounsbury, John H.

2009-01-01

In this article, the author provides a historical perspective on the middle level movement, examines its past successes and failures, and envisions future improvements. The middle school movement has been a prime target for those forces that do not share the belief middle level advocates hold about the importance of a democratic, student-centered…

Levels of Conformity to Leader in Normal and Critical Situations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gündüz, Yüksel

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to determine primary school, middle school, high school and university students' levels of conformity to leader in normal and critical situations. Experimental model was used in the research. Study group is comprised of 80 students chosen randomly from Karadeniz Bakir Primary School, Gazi Middle School, Kazim Karabekir…

Helping Middle School Girls at Risk for School Failure Recover Their Confidence and Achieve School Success: An Experimental Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mann, Michael J.

2013-01-01

Middle school girls who are at risk have experienced a disproportionate number of intense and disruptive traumatic life events. Such events can adversely affect healthy development and often contribute to higher levels of school failure and problem behavior. Few programs focus on helping at-risk middle school girls achieve school success through…

Effects of a Teacher Professional Development Program on the Mathematics Achievement of Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sample McMeeking, Laura B.; Orsi, Rebecca; Cobb, R. Brian

2012-01-01

The effect of a 15- to 24-month in-service professional development (PD) program on state accountability mathematics test scores for middle school students was examined using a quasi-experimental design. Middle level mathematics teachers (n = 128) from 7 school districts and 64 middle schools volunteered for a PD sequence of content-oriented…

Science Achievement and Self-Efficacy among Middle School Age Children as Related to Student Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, William; Sottile, James M., Jr.; Carter, Jennifer

The purpose of this research was to document the relationship among student development, science achievement, and self-efficacy among middle school students. A novel survey was created to determine the self-efficacy levels of the middle school students. The middle school students were also administered two novel content quizzes in the area of…

It's Not Just in High School--Agriculture Education in Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbs, Hope J.

2005-01-01

Traditionally, students have been strongly encouraged at the high school level to consider careers and choose courses that would fortify occupations of interest. Today, administrators and educators across the nation realize that developing students' interest must be addressed earlier--at the middle school level. Agriculture educators believe this…

Curriculum-Based Vocational Assessment of Students with Special Needs at the Middle School/Junior High School Levels: The Practical Arts Evaluation System (PAES).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swisher, Judy; Clark, Gary M.

1991-01-01

Describes the Practical Arts Evaluation System (PAES), a curriculum-based vocational assessment program for students with special needs at the middle school/junior high school level. Provides a rationale for curriculum-based assessment and occupational exploration at this level and describes benefits of the program. (Author/JOW)

Contrasts in Openness toward Mobile Learning in the Classroom: A Study of Elementary, Middle and High School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christensen, Rhonda; Knezek, Gerald

2017-01-01

In a study involving 1414 elementary, middle school, and high school teachers from a large school district in the southwestern USA, the authors examine the similarities and differences among teachers at the three levels of K-12 education common in US school systems: elementary, middle school and high school. Major findings are that elementary…

Social Studies in the Middle School: A Report of the Task Force on Social Studies in the Middle School. Position Statement & Guidelines.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Council for the Social Studies, Washington, DC.

This task force report is designed to focus attention on the young adolescent learner and provide direction for developing appropriate and meaningful social studies instruction for the middle school. Schools at the middle level characteristically focus on the unique developmental needs of young adolescents. A number of these needs are listed, in…

Booktalking Across the Curriculum: The Middle Years.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keane, Nancy J.

This book contains booktalks for 170 titles that appeal to middle school readers and relate to middle school curriculum. Approximately 90% of the books are fiction. Each entry includes author, title, publisher, date of publication, suggested interest level, suggested reading level, the booktalk, and learning extension ideas. The selections are…

Development of a Multidisciplinary Middle School Mathematics Infusion Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russo, Maria; Hecht, Deborah; Burghardt, M. David; Hacker, Michael; Saxman, Laura

2011-01-01

The National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project "Mathematics, Science, and Technology Partnership" (MSTP) developed a multidisciplinary instructional model for connecting mathematics to science, technology and engineering content areas at the middle school level. Specifically, the model infused mathematics into middle school curriculum…

Integrating Districts in Comprehensive School Reform in the Middle-Grades: Lessons from Middle Start CSR

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gopalan, Pritha

2004-01-01

This report compares district leaders' perspectives on changes in school capacity, student outcomes and district policy over three years of implementation of Middle Start (MS), a comprehensive school reform program to demonstrate the potential for improving the effectiveness and sustainability of CSR at the school level through integrating…

Middle-Level Secondary School Leaders: Potential, Constraints and Implications for Leadership Preparation and Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gurr, David; Drysdale, Lawrie

2013-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to bring together for the first time three studies of middle-level leaders in secondary schools in Victoria, Australia. The studies span more than a decade and allow consideration of the progress in developing middle-level leadership roles. Design/methodology/approach: All studies followed a consistent approach…

Impact of a Career Intervention on At-Risk Middle School Students' Career Maturity Levels, Academic Achievement, and Self-Esteem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Legum, Harry L.; Hoare, Carol H.

2004-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a 9-week career intervention program on at-risk middle school students' career maturity levels, self-esteem, and academic achievement. This study was based on a pretest and posttest design using a control group. Data were collected from 27 at-risk middle school students representing the…

Conceptualizing Student Affect for Science and Technology at the Middle School Level: Development and Implementation of a Measure of Affect in Science and Technology (MAST)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romine, William L.; Sadler, Troy D.; Wulff, Eric P.

2017-01-01

We describe the development of the Measure of Affect in Science and Technology (MAST), and study its usefulness for measuring science affect in middle school students via both classical and Rasch measurement perspectives. We then proceed to utilize the measurement structure of the MAST to understand how middle school students at varying levels of…

New York State Middle Schools and Instructional Scheduling, Teaming and Common Planning: A Descriptive Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corey, Chad; Babo, Gerard

2016-01-01

Data regarding the type of instructional scheduling utilized along with the use of teaming and common planning at the middle school level has not been collected nor reported on the New York State School Report Card, and therefore it is not known whether and how middle schools are implementing these three school supports. Consequently, the purpose…

Smokey Road Middle School: Striving to Reach and Motivate Each Child

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Principal Leadership, 2011

2011-01-01

This article features Smokey Road Middle School, a Title I school serving 850 middle level students in grades 6-8. The school is located on the outskirts of Newnan, Georgia, a historic city of approximately 27,000 residents. The growth and development of the Coweta County School District is largely attributed to its close proximity to Atlanta. In…

Accelerated Middle Schools. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2008

2008-01-01

Accelerated middle schools are self-contained academic programs designed to help middle school students who are behind grade level catch up with their age peers. If these students begin high school with other students their age, the hope is that they will be more likely to stay in school and graduate. The programs serve students who are one to two…

A Delphi study: Practitioners' perceptions of how the science curriculum is differentiated for academically gifted students at the middle school level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelley, Jean Mary

The purpose of this study was to identify, analyze, and compare the perceptions of selected district science educators and teachers of middle school science students regarding the following issues: (1) Current methods of differentiating science instruction for gifted middle school students. (2) Strengths of the current methods of differentiating science instruction for gifted middle school students. (3) Weaknesses of the current methods of differentiating science instruction for gifted middle school students. (4) The types of training/experience needed to prepare teachers to effectively differentiate science instruction for gifted middle school students. (5) The steps need to develop an effective differentiated science program at the middle school level. (6) Trends for the future development of differentiated science programs at the middle school level. The panel of educators was identified using the Delphi technique and asked to participate in the study by responding to the research questions. The responses to the first round were condensed into two lists of discrete statements, and in the second round, each group of panelists was asked to rank each statement on a Likert scale. A third round was sent to each group of panel members showing the median and interquartile ranges of the second round. Panelists could adjust their responses based on the results of the second round. The analysis of the data was computed using the computer program Statistics Package for the Social Sciences. Based on the data obtained, the following results and conclusions were determined. The coordinators and the teachers both considered training of teachers, strategies for differentiation, and future trends to be the most important considerations. The areas with the most differences were those dealing with the current methods of differentiating science instruction at the middle school level. There were several limitations identified in this study. Among them were the makeup of the sample of panelists and different definitions of the same term(s). If we are to address the needs of middle school students who are academically gifted in science, teachers and coordinators need to communicate more about expectations in the classroom and what is really happening.

Changing friend selection in middle school: A social network analysis of a randomized intervention study designed to prevent adolescent problem behavior

PubMed Central

DeLay, Dawn; Ha, Thao; Van Ryzin, Mark; Winter, Charlotte; Dishion, Thomas J.

2015-01-01

Adolescent friendships that promote problem behavior are often chosen in middle school. The current study examines the unintended impact of a randomized school based intervention on the selection of friends in middle school, as well as on observations of deviant talk with friends five years later. Participants included 998 middle school students (526 boys and 472 girls) recruited at the onset of middle school (age 11-12 years) from three public middle schools participating in the Family Check-up model intervention. The current study focuses only on the effects of the SHAPe curriculum—one level of the Family Check-up model—on friendship choices. Participants nominated friends and completed measures of deviant peer affiliation. Approximately half of the sample (n=500) was randomly assigned to the intervention and the other half (n=498) comprised the control group within each school. The results indicate that the SHAPe curriculum affected friend selection within School 1, but not within Schools 2 or 3. The effects of friend selection in School 1 translated into reductions in observed deviancy training five years later (age 16-17 years). By coupling longitudinal social network analysis with a randomized intervention study the current findings provide initial evidence that a randomized public middle school intervention can disrupt the formation of deviant peer groups and diminish levels of adolescent deviance five years later. PMID:26377235

Influence of school-level variables on aggression and associated attitudes of middle school students.

PubMed

Henry, David B; Farrell, Albert D; Schoeny, Michael E; Tolan, Patrick H; Dymnicki, Allison B

2011-10-01

This study sought to understand school-level influences on aggressive behavior and related social cognitive variables. Participants were 5106 middle school students participating in a violence prevention project. Predictors were school-level norms opposing aggression and favoring nonviolence, interpersonal climate (positive student-teacher relationships and positive student-student relationships), and school responsiveness to violence (awareness and reporting of violence and school safety problems). Outcomes were individual-level physical aggression, beliefs supporting aggression, and self-efficacy for nonviolent responses. School norms and both interpersonal climate variables had effects on all three outcomes in theorized directions. Only one of the responsiveness measures, awareness and reporting of violence, had theoretically consistent effects on all outcomes. The other, school safety problems, affected self-efficacy later in middle school. Evidence of gender moderation was generally consistent with greater influence of school-level factors on female adolescents. Discussion focuses on implications in light of previous research and intervention possibilities. Copyright © 2011 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

What Counts When it Comes to School Enjoyment and Aspiration in the Middle Grades.

PubMed

Smith, Megan L; Mann, Michael J; Georgieva, Zornitsa; Curtis, Reagan; Schimmel, Christine J

2016-01-01

Young adolescents, and the middle level educators who work with them, face many exciting but demanding challenges during this key period of development. According to stage-environment fit theory, the degree to which middle grades students perceive a good fit between their school environment and their needs impacts their academic and life outcomes. The authors endeavored to build on middle level research by studying the extent to which students' needs are supported by school environment factors and how this "fit" relates to two academic outcome variables: school enjoyment and aspiration. The sample consisted of middle grades students ( N = 1,027) between the ages of 10 and 14. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted. After controlling for age, ethnicity, and gender, four subscales (Social Skills Needs, Mental Health Needs, Academic and Career Needs, and School Support) were entered as potential predictors. Both models were significant and accounted for ~20% of the variance. This study suggests that middle level educators, counselors, and administrators may benefit from considering ways to enhance the match between students' and the middle grades' learning environment, especially by considering non-academic factors as a way to provide indirect, but powerful, support for academic and life success.

Enhancing Middle-Level General Music: Suggestions from the Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerrity, Kevin W.

2009-01-01

In his book "Teaching Music in the Secondary Schools," Charles Hoffer reported a lack of consensus among music educators when considering the essential components of a middle-level general music course. Today, this condition persists. The increasingly diverse nature of students and schools makes a singular, model curriculum for middle-level…

Middle Grades Research: Not Yet Mature, but No Longer a Child.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mac Iver, Douglas J.; Epstein, Joyce L.

1993-01-01

Summarizes research on middle level schools and students that contributes to ongoing debates concerning grade span, school size, grouping of students, departmentalization, curriculum, instruction, advisory groups, interdisciplinary teaming, school-transition activities, extra-help programs, and student evaluation practices in the middle grades.…

Teachers' Experiences with Middle-Level Mathematics Coaches

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frost, Bernard Emmanuel

2013-01-01

Many school districts have provided support to middle school mathematics teachers who face challenges involving delivery of instruction by hiring instructional mathematics coaches. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the experiences between classroom mathematics middle school teachers and their instructional coach, and to…

Democratic Leadership in Middle Schools of Chihuahua Mexico: Improving Middle Schools through Democracy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delgado, Manuel Lopez

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to analyse the effects of the implementation of a democratic approach to lead and manage middle schools in Chihuahua, Mexico. This research was based on a Likert questionnaire and semistructured interviews to explore the level of involvement of students, teachers, and parents in schools participating in a programme…

Building Middle School Teacher Capacity to Implement Reading Comprehension Strategies for Improved Student Academic Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sircey, Samantha Taylor

2017-01-01

In the middle school setting, reading is a requirement if students are to access the curriculum and demonstrate content proficiency. By grade three, students are expected to read on grade level, but by middle grades (7-8), some students still struggle with reading for comprehension. In addition, some middle school teachers struggle to implement…

Promoting a Positive Middle School Transition: A Randomized-Controlled Treatment Study Examining Self-Concept and Self-Esteem.

PubMed

Coelho, Vitor Alexandre; Marchante, Marta; Jimerson, Shane R

2017-03-01

The middle school transition is a salient developmental experience impacting adolescents around the world. This study employed a randomized-controlled treatment design, with randomization at the school level, to investigate the impact of a school adjustment program for middle school transition and potential gender differences. Participants included 1147 students (M age  = 9.62; SD = 0.30, 45.7 % girls), who were assessed at four time points during the transition, regarding five dimensions of self-concept (academic, social, emotional, physical and family) and self-esteem. Parallel growth curves were employed to analyze the evolution of self-concept. Following the transition to middle school, students reported lower levels of self-concept (academic, emotional and physical) and self-esteem, while participation in the intervention led to increases in self-esteem and gains in social self-concept. No gender differences were found. These results provide preliminary evidence supporting such interventions in early middle school transitions.

Progress Monitoring in Middle School Mathematics: Options and Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foegen, Anne

2008-01-01

This study investigated the technical features of six potential progress-monitoring measures in mathematics appropriate for use at the middle school level, including two commercially available measures for sixth-grade mathematics, two measures used in previous middle school studies, and two new measures of numeracy concepts. Five hundred…

The Peril of Ignoring Middle School Student Speech Rights

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hassenpflug, Ann

2016-01-01

Analysis of two recent federal court cases in which principals violated student speech rights offers guidance to middle school administrators as they attempt to address student expression. Characteristics of a successful school from the Association for Middle Level Education provide a framework for analyzing these cases in order to prevent…

Urban Forestry Laboratory Exercises for Elementary, Middle and High School Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kupkowski, Gary; And Others

The curriculum in this program has been developed for the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Each level builds on the other, and forms a "thread of skills" that are upgraded at each level. The program is divided into two components. The first component is for the development of a school arboretum, tree walk, and herbarium. The second…

Program Quality Review Training Materials for Elementary and Middle School Levels. Overhead Transparencies, Readings, Handouts, Samples of Student Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento. Office of School Improvement.

This guidebook contains training materials to be used by California elementary and middle-level schools in conducting the Program Quality Review (PQR). The PQR process of curriculum self-review enables the school community to focus, through extensive discussion, on how the school's curriculum and instruction can be improved so that all students…

The Implementation of Research-Based Instructional Strategies Using Technology: An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoff, Paula

2014-01-01

Students are entering a suburban middle school with significant achievement gaps. The skill deficits that students bring to the school setting must be addressed based on data that reflect their greatest area of need. At the middle school level, it is critical to address the learning gaps and prepare students for success at the high school level.…

Helping English Language Learners Succeed in Middle and High Schools. Collaborative Partnerships between ESL and Classroom Teachers Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pawan, Faridah, Ed.; Sietman, Ginger, Ed.

2007-01-01

This volume of Collaborative Partnerships between ESL and Classroom Teachers gives emphasis to collaborative partnerships in the middle and high school levels. Editors Faridah Pawan and Ginger Sietman gather expert authors who present us with models of classroom-based and school-based collaborative partnerships from middle and high schools across…

School-Level Correlates of Adolescent Tobacco, Alcohol and Marijuana Use

PubMed Central

Hill, Danielle; Mrug, Sylvie

2016-01-01

Background School-level characteristics are related to students’ substance use, but little research systematically examined multiple school characteristics in relation to different types of substance use across grade levels. Objectives This study examines multiple school-level characteristics as correlates of students’ tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and combined substance use across three grade levels. Methods Students (N = 23,615) from 42 urban and suburban middle schools and 24 high schools in the U.S. reported on their tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use. Students’ mean age was 14 years; 47% were male, 53% African American and 41% Caucasian. School-level data included poverty, racial composition, academic achievement, student-teacher ratio, absenteeism, and school size. Multilevel logistic and Poisson regressions tested associations between school-level predictors and adolescent substance use in middle school, early high school and late high school. Results School-level poverty, more ethnic minority students, low achievement, and higher absenteeism were related to alcohol, marijuana and combined substance use, particularly at lower grade levels. By contrast, cigarette smoking was more prevalent in more affluent high schools with more White students. After adjusting for other school characteristics, absenteeism emerged as the most consistent predictor of student substance use. Conclusions/Importance Interventions addressing absenteeism and truancy in middle and high schools may help prevent student substance use. Schools serving poor, urban, and mostly minority students may benefit from interventions targeting alcohol and marijuana use, whereas interventions focusing on tobacco use prevention may be more relevant for schools serving more affluent and predominantly White students. PMID:26584423

Changing Friend Selection in Middle School: A Social Network Analysis of a Randomized Intervention Study Designed to Prevent Adolescent Problem Behavior.

PubMed

DeLay, Dawn; Ha, Thao; Van Ryzin, Mark; Winter, Charlotte; Dishion, Thomas J

2016-04-01

Adolescent friendships that promote problem behavior are often chosen in middle school. The current study examines the unintended impact of a randomized school-based intervention on the selection of friends in middle school, as well as on observations of deviant talk with friends 5 years later. Participants included 998 middle school students (526 boys and 472 girls) recruited at the onset of middle school (age 11-12 years) from three public middle schools participating in the Family Check-up model intervention. The current study focuses only on the effects of the SHAPe curriculum-one level of the Family Check-up model-on friendship choices. Participants nominated friends and completed measures of deviant peer affiliation. Approximately half of the sample (n = 500) was randomly assigned to the intervention, and the other half (n = 498) comprised the control group within each school. The results indicate that the SHAPe curriculum affected friend selection within school 1 but not within schools 2 or 3. The effects of friend selection in school 1 translated into reductions in observed deviancy training 5 years later (age 16-17 years). By coupling longitudinal social network analysis with a randomized intervention study, the current findings provide initial evidence that a randomized public middle school intervention can disrupt the formation of deviant peer groups and diminish levels of adolescent deviance 5 years later.

Too Good for Violence. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2006

2006-01-01

"Too Good for Violence" promotes character values, social-emotional skills, and healthy beliefs of elementary and middle school students. The program includes seven lessons per grade level for elementary school (K-5) and nine lessons per grade level for middle school (6-8). All lessons are scripted and engage students through…

Dramatic Experiences for Future Middle Level Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weilbacher, Gary; LeMasters, Julie; Gill, Lana; Wisniewski, Jessica; Arnold, Christine

2005-01-01

During the last three years, Lincoln Middle School has been the site of a Professional Development School partnership in conjunction with the Illinois State University Middle School Department. With more than 90% of its 400-plus students receiving free or reduced price lunches, Lincoln is an eight-year-old, "Title I" building whose…

The Impact of Principal Leadership Behaviors on the Efficacy of New and Experienced Middle School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Jeffrey A.

2009-01-01

This study investigated characteristics and behaviors of middle school principals that enhance the efficacy of new and experienced middle school teachers. Existing research has established a positive relationship between high levels of teacher efficacy and increased student achievement. Prior research has also demonstrated a positive link between…

What Role for Middle School Sports?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McEwin, C. Kenneth; Dickinson, Thomas S.

1998-01-01

Safe, developmentally appropriate play is difficult to achieve when middle schools move into the competitive interscholastic arena. Problems associated with middle-level sports programs include students' predisposition to physical injury, psychological unreadiness, high attrition rates, improper coaching, and liability issues. Improving…

In-School Suspension: Pedagogy, Praxis, and Program Effectiveness at the Middle and High School Levels for At-Risk Students and Its Affects on Academic Achievement and Retention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shipman, Larry Douglas, Sr.

2013-01-01

Middle and high schools across America are striving to equip their students with the tools necessary for achieving their highest academic potential to become model citizens. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the strategies and interventions available for middle and high school students referred to In-school suspension (ISS)…

The Implementation Process of Two Multigrade/Multiyear Teams in Two Middle Schools in South Florida: A Cross-Site Case Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heeney, Margaret R.

Multigrade grouping is the practice of intentionally grouping two or more grade levels in the same classroom to enhance learning. It is becoming a much discussed and implemented alternative grouping practice in middle level education. This paper describes the implementation process of two multigrade "teams" in two Florida middle schools,…

The Impact of Single-Gender Scheduling on Students in a Title I School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moss, Janet L.

2011-01-01

This dissertation was designed to examine the impact that single-gender scheduling would have on students who attend a struggling Title I middle school. The importance of the middle level cannot be denied. Strong research points to this time in a student's life as the pivotal crux on which success and failure are balanced. Middle level educators…

Results and Recommendations from the 2009 National Surveys of Randomly Selected and Highly Successful Middle Level Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McEwin, C. Kenneth; Greene, Melanie W.

2010-01-01

While a number of studies have yielded useful information regarding the status of middle level schools in the United States, four linked national surveys provide a longitudinal perspective on the degree of implementation of key middle grades programs and practices. These studies were conducted in 1968 (Alexander, 1968), 1988 (Alexander &…

Comprehensive and Critical Review of Middle Grades Research and Practice 2000-2013

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yoon, Bogum; Malu, Kathleen F.; Schaefer, Mary Beth; Reyes, Cynthia; Brinegar, Kathleen

2015-01-01

This article synthesizes reports of middle grades research and practice from 2000-2013 that appeared in "Middle Grades Research Journal," "Middle School Journal," and "Research in Middle Level Education Online," 3 publications that specifically and exclusively report on middle level research and practice. This…

Student and Teacher Perceptions of Their Middle and High Schools' Sense of Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schulte, Laura E.; Shanahan, Steven; Anderson, Thomas D.; Sides, James

2003-01-01

Investigates sense of community at Midwestern school district's middle and high schools. Finds, for example, that regardless of school level, teachers rated "teacher to student" interactions and relationships significantly more positively than did students. Recommends schools' sense of community be enhanced by integrating opportunities for…

Leveled and Exclusionary Tracking: English Learners' Access to Academic Content in Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Umansky, Ilana M.

2016-01-01

This study examines the characteristics and determinants of English learners' (ELs') access to academic content in middle school (Grades 6-8). Following 10 years of data from a large urban school district in California, I identify two predominant characteristics of EL access to content: leveled tracking in which ELs are overrepresented in lower…

Stability and Change in Peer Relationships during the Transition to Middle-Level School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hardy, Cindy L.; Bukowski, William M.; Sippola Lorrie K.

2002-01-01

Assessed Canadian young adolescents' peer relationships as students moved from grade 6 in small elementary schools to middle-level schools offering grades 7 to 12. Found that girls experienced greater instability in reciprocated friendships than boys. Found that girls, more so than boys, lost old friendships and formed new friendships with…

Increasing the Social Studies Reading Comprehension of Middle School Students with Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bryski, Crystal

2009-01-01

This action research project sets out to identify which component of multi-text instruction is most effective in increasing the reading comprehension level of middle school students with learning disabilities. The research is going to be conducted over a two-week time period during the Spring 2009 with three male middle school students with…

The Effects of Integrated Literacy Interventions on Middle School Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glass, Jamie; Carney, Eve; Fisher, Alexandria

2017-01-01

While districts and schools continue to place more emphasis on personalized instruction and tiers of literacy interventions, more students are continuing to reach middle school without the ability to read on grade level. Much of the emphasis on the attainment of literacy skills occurs in the elementary grades. As a result, middle grades' literacy…

Middle School Teachers' Descriptions of Their Level of Competency in the National Education Technology Standards for Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sam, Daisy

2011-01-01

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate urban middle school teachers' descriptions of their competency in the current National Education Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). The study also investigated how urban middle school teachers currently use technology to support their teaching and student learning. Research…

Beginnings: Beginning Musical Strategies with Social Implications for Level V Middle School Students in Baltimore County, Maryland.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teske, Patricia W.

This document presents strategies developed for teaching learning disabled, emotionally disturbed, or intellectually limited middle school students in the music classroom. The proposed strategies are designed to meet the following criteria: (1) the musical activities are to be musically appropriate for middle school adolescents; (2) each activity…

Preparing for the Educational Black Hole? Teachers' Learning in Two Pathways into Middle School Social Studies Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conklin, Hilary G.

2010-01-01

The author presents findings from the first phase of a longitudinal, comparative case study that investigates what teachers learn about intellectually demanding social studies teaching at the middle school level from two distinctive teacher education pathways: a specialized middle school teacher education program and a secondary social studies…

Steps Counts among Middle School Students Vary with Aerobic Fitness Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Le Masurier, Guy C.; Corbin, Charles B.

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine if steps/day taken by middle school students varied based on aerobic fitness classification. Middle school students (N = 223; 112 girls, 111 boys) were assigned to three aerobic fitness categories (HIGH, MOD, LOW) based on results of the FITNESSGRAM PACER test. Four weekdays of pedometer monitoring…

Examining the Impact and School-Level Predictors of Impact Variability of an 8th Grade Reading Intervention on At-Risk Students' Reading Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fien, Hank; Anderson, Daniel; Nelson, Nancy J.; Kennedy, Patrick; Baker, Scott K.; Stoolmiller, Michael

2018-01-01

The purpose of the present article is to report on a large-scale investigation of six school districts' implementation of an initiative aimed at reducing dropout rates by improving reading achievement in the middle grades. Data for the Middle School Intervention Project (MSIP) were collected in 25 middle schools across the state of Oregon. We…

Transitions between subclasses of bullying and victimization when entering middle school.

PubMed

Williford, Anne; Boulton, Aaron J; Jenson, Jeffrey M

2014-01-01

We examined the effects of depressive symptoms, antisocial attitudes, and perspective-taking empathy on patterns of bullying and victimization during the transition from late elementary (4th grade to 5th grade) to middle school (6th grade) among 1,077 students who participated in the Youth Matters (YM) bullying prevention trial. Latent transition analysis was used to establish classes of bullying, victimization, bully-victimization, and uninvolvement. The intervention had a positive impact on children as they moved from elementary to middle school. More students in the YM group transitioned from the involved statuses to the uninvolved status than students in the control group during the move to middle school. Elementary school bullies with higher levels of depressive symptoms were less likely than other students to move to an uninvolved status in the first year of middle school. Students who held greater antisocial attitudes were more likely to be a member of the bully-victim status than the uninvolved status during the move to middle school. Perspective-taking empathy, however, was not a significant predictor of status change during the transition to middle school. Implications for school-based prevention programs during the move to middle school are noted. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Vocational Education Grades 6-12. Program Evaluation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davitt, Bob; And Others

Vocational education programs were offered in 10 middle schools, 5 area high schools, 2 alternative high schools, and at the central campus of Des Moines Public Schools (Iowa). The major curricular focus at the middle school was career exploration. At the area high school level, the program was broad based to meet the needs of a high percentage of…

Bullying Victimization and Student Engagement in Elementary, Middle, and High Schools: Moderating Role of School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Chunyan; Sharkey, Jill D.; Reed, Lauren A.; Chen, Chun; Dowdy, Erin

2018-01-01

Bullying is the most common form of school violence and is associated with a range of negative outcomes, including traumatic responses. This study used hierarchical linear modeling to examine the multilevel moderating effects of school climate and school level (i.e., elementary, middle, and high schools) on the association between bullying…

State but not district nutrition policies are associated with less junk food in vending machines and school stores in US public schools.

PubMed

Kubik, Martha Y; Wall, Melanie; Shen, Lijuan; Nanney, Marilyn S; Nelson, Toben F; Laska, Melissa N; Story, Mary

2010-07-01

Policy that targets the school food environment has been advanced as one way to increase the availability of healthy food at schools and healthy food choice by students. Although both state- and district-level policy initiatives have focused on school nutrition standards, it remains to be seen whether these policies translate into healthy food practices at the school level, where student behavior will be impacted. To examine whether state- and district-level nutrition policies addressing junk food in school vending machines and school stores were associated with less junk food in school vending machines and school stores. Junk food was defined as foods and beverages with low nutrient density that provide calories primarily through fats and added sugars. A cross-sectional study design was used to assess self-report data collected by computer-assisted telephone interviews or self-administered mail questionnaires from state-, district-, and school-level respondents participating in the School Health Policies and Programs Study 2006. The School Health Policies and Programs Study, administered every 6 years since 1994 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is considered the largest, most comprehensive assessment of school health policies and programs in the United States. A nationally representative sample (n=563) of public elementary, middle, and high schools was studied. Logistic regression adjusted for school characteristics, sampling weights, and clustering was used to analyze data. Policies were assessed for strength (required, recommended, neither required nor recommended prohibiting junk food) and whether strength was similar for school vending machines and school stores. School vending machines and school stores were more prevalent in high schools (93%) than middle (84%) and elementary (30%) schools. For state policies, elementary schools that required prohibiting junk food in school vending machines and school stores offered less junk food than elementary schools that neither required nor recommended prohibiting junk food (13% vs 37%; P=0.006). Middle schools that required prohibiting junk food in vending machines and school stores offered less junk food than middle schools that recommended prohibiting junk food (71% vs 87%; P=0.07). Similar associations were not evident for district-level polices or high schools. Policy may be an effective tool to decrease junk food in schools, particularly in elementary and middle schools. Copyright 2010 American Dietetic Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

State but not District Nutrition Policies Are Associated with Less Junk Food in Vending Machines and School Stores in US Public Schools

PubMed Central

KUBIK, MARTHA Y.; WALL, MELANIE; SHEN, LIJUAN; NANNEY, MARILYN S.; NELSON, TOBEN F.; LASKA, MELISSA N.; STORY, MARY

2012-01-01

Background Policy that targets the school food environment has been advanced as one way to increase the availability of healthy food at schools and healthy food choice by students. Although both state- and district-level policy initiatives have focused on school nutrition standards, it remains to be seen whether these policies translate into healthy food practices at the school level, where student behavior will be impacted. Objective To examine whether state- and district-level nutrition policies addressing junk food in school vending machines and school stores were associated with less junk food in school vending machines and school stores. Junk food was defined as foods and beverages with low nutrient density that provide calories primarily through fats and added sugars. Design A cross-sectional study design was used to assess self-report data collected by computer-assisted telephone interviews or self-administered mail questionnaires from state-, district-, and school-level respondents participating in the School Health Policies and Programs Study 2006. The School Health Policies and Programs Study, administered every 6 years since 1994 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is considered the largest, most comprehensive assessment of school health policies and programs in the United States. Subjects/setting A nationally representative sample (n = 563) of public elementary, middle, and high schools was studied. Statistical analysis Logistic regression adjusted for school characteristics, sampling weights, and clustering was used to analyze data. Policies were assessed for strength (required, recommended, neither required nor recommended prohibiting junk food) and whether strength was similar for school vending machines and school stores. Results School vending machines and school stores were more prevalent in high schools (93%) than middle (84%) and elementary (30%) schools. For state policies, elementary schools that required prohibiting junk food in school vending machines and school stores offered less junk food than elementary schools that neither required nor recommended prohibiting junk food (13% vs 37%; P = 0.006). Middle schools that required prohibiting junk food in vending machines and school stores offered less junk food than middle schools that recommended prohibiting junk food (71% vs 87%; P = 0.07). Similar associations were not evident for district-level polices or high schools. Conclusions Policy may be an effective tool to decrease junk food in schools, particularly in elementary and middle schools. PMID:20630161

Stress in Portuguese Middle School Transition: A Multilevel Analysis.

PubMed

Coelho, Vítor Alexandre; Romão, Ana Maria

2016-09-23

Transition from elementary to middle school is commonly seen as a period of stress, impacting students' school adjustment. The present longitudinal study aimed to analyze the difference in stress levels between the end of 4th grade and 5th grade, while also analyzing gender differences and 5th grade retention. Two hundred fifty-eight 4th grade students (M age = 9.55; SD = 0.77) from six Portuguese public schools, from the municipality of Torres Vedras, participated in this study. Self-report questionnaires were administered at the end of the 4th and 5th grades, and 5th grade school records were also collected. Results showed that 5th graders present higher levels of Academic Stress (d = .29) and Teacher/Rules Stress (d = .28). Girls had a greater increase of Peer-related Stress with the transition (p < .01). Students who were retained at the end of 5th grade showed higher increases of Teacher/Rules Stress (p < .05). Intervention programs that aim to support the transition from elementary to middle school are needed, in order to reduce the increase of stress levels at 5th grade and to promote a better school adjustment in the first year of middle school.

Restructuring for Inclusion: A Story of Middle School Renewal (Part I).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilgore, Karen; Griffin, Cynthia C.; Sindelar, Paul T.; Webb, Rodman B.

2001-01-01

Examines the perceptions of middle school faculty, staff, and students during the restructuring of their school for the fuller inclusion of students with special needs. Describes the philosophy of inclusion, steps in the change process, and the evolution of "schools within a school" made up of teams from each grade level. (JPB)

Sewing a Seamless Education System. Preschool through Postsecondary.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCabe, Robert H.

Today's educational systems work as separate parts with little coordination between academic levels or long-range planning. The transition from elementary school to middle school, middle school to high school, and high school to college is disjointed and often traumatic, producing unneeded anxiety and stress on top of the need to adapt to new…

Theatre Arts Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Virginia Department of Education, 2006

2006-01-01

The Theatre Arts Standards of Learning identify the essential content and skills required in the theatre arts curriculum for the middle school and core high school courses in Virginia's public schools. The standards are designed to be cumulative and progress in complexity by course from the middle school through the secondary level. Throughout…

Girls in Foster Care: Risk and Promotive Factors for School Adjustment Across the Transition to Middle School.

PubMed

Pears, Katherine C; Kim, Hyoun K; Leve, Leslie D

2012-01-01

Girls in foster care may face difficulties across the transition to middle school. Latent growth curve modeling was employed to examine trajectories and predictors of academic competence and aggression from and against peers for 75 girls in foster care from the end of elementary school to the 2(nd) year of middle school. Across the transition to middle school, academic competence increased. Poor self-regulation was associated with decreased academic competence, and higher caregiver support was associated with increased academic competence. Frequency of aggression from peers decreased across the transition, with perceived school competence predicting smaller decreases. Aggression against peers dropped initially and then increased to pretransition levels by the end of the 2(nd) year of middle school. Lower caregiver support was associated with higher rates of aggression against peers at the end of the 1(st) year of middle school. The results are discussed in terms of implications for interventions for girls in foster care.

Girls in Foster Care: Risk and Promotive Factors for School Adjustment Across the Transition to Middle School

PubMed Central

Pears, Katherine C.; Kim, Hyoun K.; Leve, Leslie D.

2011-01-01

Girls in foster care may face difficulties across the transition to middle school. Latent growth curve modeling was employed to examine trajectories and predictors of academic competence and aggression from and against peers for 75 girls in foster care from the end of elementary school to the 2nd year of middle school. Across the transition to middle school, academic competence increased. Poor self-regulation was associated with decreased academic competence, and higher caregiver support was associated with increased academic competence. Frequency of aggression from peers decreased across the transition, with perceived school competence predicting smaller decreases. Aggression against peers dropped initially and then increased to pretransition levels by the end of the 2nd year of middle school. Lower caregiver support was associated with higher rates of aggression against peers at the end of the 1st year of middle school. The results are discussed in terms of implications for interventions for girls in foster care. PMID:22389543

Whose Problem Is It!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mansfield, Deborah; And Others

"Whose Problem Is It" is a workshop for middle level students that encourages their participation, input, and ownership in accomplishing change in the middle level school policies, program and procedure. The workshop revolves around making the school environment a happy, healthy, and productive place for learning. It consists of…

Factors Influencing the Level of Technology Adaptation by Middle-School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strigh, Janice Favre

2017-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine those factors influencing a teacher's level of adaptation to a one-to-one laptop program in a middle-school setting. The school chosen for this study is located in a semi-rural district with approximately 500 students in sixth through eighth grade. Over the past 10 years, the school…

Bullying victimization and student engagement in elementary, middle, and high schools: Moderating role of school climate.

PubMed

Yang, Chunyan; Sharkey, Jill D; Reed, Lauren A; Chen, Chun; Dowdy, Erin

2018-03-01

Bullying is the most common form of school violence and is associated with a range of negative outcomes, including traumatic responses. This study used hierarchical linear modeling to examine the multilevel moderating effects of school climate and school level (i.e., elementary, middle, and high schools) on the association between bullying victimization and student engagement. Participants included 25,896 students in 4th to 12th grades from 114 schools. Results indicated that, after controlling for student and school demographic factors, positive school climate was associated with higher behavioral/cognitive and emotional engagement of students across all grades. This highlights the critical and fundamental role of positive school climate in bullying prevention and intervention, among students across all grade levels, including those with frequent bullying victimization experience. Results also showed that negative associations between student-level bullying victimization and engagement were intensified in more positive school climates. This finding suggests that, in comparison with students in schools with less positive school climates, the engagement of bullying victims in schools with a more positive school climate might be more negatively influenced by their victimization experience. Additionally, the relation between student-level bullying victimization and emotional engagement was significantly different across middle and high schools. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Systematic Screening at the Middle School Level: Score Reliability and Validity of the Student Risk Screening Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Kathleen Lynne; Parks, Robin J.; Kalberg, Jemma Robertson; Carter, Erik W.

2007-01-01

This article presents findings of two studies, one conducted with middle school students (n = 500) in a rural setting and a second conducted with middle school students (n = 528) in an urban setting, of the reliability and validity of the "Student Risk Screening Scale" (SRSS; Drummond, 1994). Results revealed high internal consistency, test-retest…

Model Wind Turbine Design in a Project-Based Middle School Engineering Curriculum Built on State Frameworks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cogger, Steven D.; Miley, Daniel H.

2012-01-01

This paper proposes that project-based active learning is a key part of engineering education at the middle school level. One project from a comprehensive middle school engineering curriculum developed by the authors is described to show how active learning and state frameworks can coexist. The theoretical basis for learning and assessment in a…

An Examination of Middle School Agricultural Education and FFA Programs: Survey Results from State FFA Executive Secretaries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rossetti, Rosemarie; McCaslin, N. L.

A study collected information from 52 of the 53 state Future Farmers of America (FFA) executive secretaries who were sent questionnaires on middle school student enrollment in agricultural education and membership in the national FFA organization. Results showed that 30 states have agricultural education programs in the middle school level, with a…

Teaching in the Middle Grades Today: Examining Teachers' Beliefs about Middle Grades Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DiCicco, Mike; Cook, Chris M.; Faulkner, Shawn A.

2016-01-01

Since the beginning of the middle school movement in the mid-1960s, middle level advocates have called for a school experience for young adolescents grounded in adolescent development that engages students in meaningful learning (Alexander & Williams, 1965; Eichhorn, 1966). The aim of this exploratory multicase study was to understand middle…

Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District. Educational Specifications: Dry Creek Middle School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District, Roseville, CA.

An Educational Specification Committee was convened to determine the design specifications required for a new middle school in Roseville, California's Dry Creek District. This report presents revisions to an earlier document that examined school room specifications for each grade level and administrative area. Specification considerations are…

Developmentally Appropriate Middle Level Schools. 2nd Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manning, M. Lee

Noting factors that have contributed to an increased emphasis on developmentally responsive middle level schools, this revised monograph examines early adolescence as a developmental period and explores the physical, psychosocial, and cognitive characteristics of 10- to 15-year-olds. In addition, the monograph provides recommendations concerning…

Are middle schools harmful? The role of transition timing, classroom quality and school characteristics.

PubMed

Holas, Igor; Huston, Aletha C

2012-03-01

Are middle schools ill-suited for early adolescents, or can school characteristics account for any differences in student functioning? Achievement, school engagement, and perceived competence of children starting middle schools in 5th and 6th grades were compared to those of their same-grade peers in elementary schools in a national, longitudinal sample (NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, n = 855; 52% Female, 82% White). Classroom quality (observed and teacher-reported) and school characteristics (composition and size) were considered as explanations for any relationships between school-level and student functioning. Fifth grade middle school students did not differ from those in elementary school, but students entering middle school in 6th grade, compared to those in elementary school, experienced lower classroom quality, which in turn predicted slightly lower achievement. They also had lower school engagement, explained by larger school size. Classroom quality and school characteristics predicted youth functioning regardless of school type. We suggest reshaping the research and policy debate with renewed focus on classroom quality and school size instead of grade organization.

The Impact of Elementary Gifted Mathematics Programming: Moving into Middle School Research Using the ECLS-K Database

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zayac, Joanne M.

2013-01-01

With tightened school budgets, school administrators need to know the short term and long range effects of providing gifted programs at the elementary level. Programming opportunities in elementary school have direct impact on middle school and this, in turn impacts high school and college course selection. This study used the Early Childhood…

Middle School Students' Perceptions of the Quality of School Life in Ankara

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eres, Figen; Bilasa, Pinar

2016-01-01

The aim of this research is to measure the perception of middle school students in Ankara regarding the quality of school life. According to the findings obtained, the students have moderate level perceptions about the quality of school life. Their perceptions about sub-dimensions vary. While the students have the highest perceptions about…

Classroom Learning Environment & Student Motivational Differences between Exemplary, Recognized, & Acceptable Urban Middle Level Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waxman, Hersh C.; Garcia, Andres; Read, Lisa L.

2008-01-01

One of the essential principles for improving middle grade education is to establish a safe and healthy school environment (Jackson & Davis, 2000; Price & Waxman, 2005). The overall quality of the school climate or school environment has been argued to be one of the central problems of urban schools (Waxman & Huang, 1997). Several…

Educational Quality Differences in a Middle-Income Country: The Urban-Rural Gap in Malaysian Primary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Othman, Mariam; Muijs, Daniel

2013-01-01

Shortcomings of educational quality in rural schools remain a key focus in the literature related to developing countries. This paper studies whether rural primary schools in Malaysia, an upper middle-income developing country, are still experiencing lower levels of educational resources, school climate, school leadership, and parental involvement…

Middle school transition and body weight outcomes: Evidence from Arkansas Public Schoolchildren.

PubMed

Zeng, Di; Thomsen, Michael R; Nayga, Rodolfo M; Rouse, Heather L

2016-05-01

There is evidence that middle school transition adversely affects educational and psychological outcomes of pre-teen children, but little is known about the impacts of middle school transition on other aspects of health. In this article, we estimate the impact of middle school transition on the body mass index (BMI) of public schoolchildren in Arkansas, United States. Using an instrumental variable approach, we find that middle school transition in grade 6 led to a moderate decrease of 0.04 standard deviations in BMI z-scores for all students. Analysis by subsample indicated that this result was driven by boys (0.06-0.07 standard deviations) and especially by non-minority boys (0.09 standard deviations). We speculate that the changing levels of physical activities associated with middle school transition provide the most reasonable explanation for this result. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Lexile Reading Growth as a Function of Starting Level in At-Risk Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Archer, Laura E.

2010-01-01

This study investigated average yearly reading growth norms of at-risk middle school students as a function of start of year reading grade level. Data for this study were collected from an urban school in the western United States over five years and tracked the yearly growth of 2,485 seventh- and eighth-grade students using a Lexile-linked…

The Implementation of a Geospatial Information Technology (GIT)-Supported Land Use Change Curriculum with Urban Middle School Learners to Promote Spatial Thinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bodzin, Alec M.

2011-01-01

This study investigated whether a geospatial information technology (GIT)-supported science curriculum helped students in an urban middle school understand land use change (LUC) concepts and enhanced their spatial thinking. Five 8th grade earth and space science classes in an urban middle school consisting of three different ability level tracks…

Coulombic Interaction in Finnish Middle School Chemistry: A Systemic Perspective on Students' Conceptual Structure of Chemical Bonding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joki, Jarkko; Lavonen, Jari; Juuti, Kalle; Aksela, Maija

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to design a novel and holistic way to teach chemical bonding at the middle school level according to research on the teaching and learning of bonding. A further aim was to investigate high achieving middle school students' conceptual structures concerning chemical bonding by using a systemic perspective. Students in one…

An Interactive Analytical Chemistry Summer Camp for Middle School Girls

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robbins, Mary E.; Schoenfisch, Mark H.

2005-01-01

A summer outreach program, which was implemented for the first time in the summer of 2004, that provided middle school girls with an opportunity to conduct college-level analytical chemistry experiments under the guidance of female graduate students is explained. The program proved beneficial to participants at each level.

Classroom Norms and Individual Smoking Behavior in Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yarnell, Lisa M.; Brown, H. Shelton, III; Pasch, Keryn E.; Perry, Cheryl L.; Komro, Kelli A.

2012-01-01

Objectives: To investigate whether smoking prevalence in grade-level networks influences individual smoking, suggesting that peers are important social multipliers in teen smoking. Methods: We measured gender-specific, grade-level recent and life-time smoking among urban middle-school students who participated in Project Northland Chicago in a…

Applying Hope Theory to Support Middle School Transitions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akos, Patrick; Kurz, Maureen Shields

2016-01-01

Middle grades transitions pose challenges to many students who meet these tasks with varying levels of success. Contemporary developmental and strengths-based literature offers Hope Theory (Snyder, 2002), a research supported approach that can mitigate risks in school transitions. This article describes how middle grades educators can apply the…

A Rewarding Philosophy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKibben, Sarah

2010-01-01

This article presents an interview with Sheila Kahrs, principal of Haymon-Morris Middle School in Winder, Georgia, and the 2010 MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year. Haymon-Morris Middle School has 815 in enrollment, 50 teachers, and 33 staff members. She talks about her leadership philosophy with her teachers and assistant…

Interplay among School Climate, Gender, Attitude toward Mathematics, and Mathematics Performance of Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Namok; Chang, Mido

2011-01-01

This research examined the important factors influencing the mathematics achievement of students in middle schools by hierarchically specifying the personal and contextual variables. The study focused on the effect of school climate at the class level and the effects of student gender, attitude toward mathematics, educational aspiration, parent…

Content-Knowledge Structure Differences among Middle School, High School, and College Life Science Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bates, John A.; And Others

As part of an ongoing study of the content knowledge, instructional beliefs, and instructional practices of middle school, high school, and college science teachers, the hypothesis that there are systematic differences across academic levels in these teachers' conceptual understanding of the same content-specific subjects was studied. Eight middle…

Transitions from Elementary to Middle School Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schielack, Janie; Seeley, Cathy L.

2010-01-01

In the move from elementary to middle school mathematics, students encounter major changes in instructional materials and approaches, work expectations, school structure, and general level of difficulty in material. Research shows that, in general, students suffer significant declines in academic achievement in the transition from elementary…

A Special Report on Middle Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hollifield, John H.

1988-01-01

The first Center for Research on Elementary and Middle Schools (CREM) report describes the structures and practices currently used at all school levels for staffing, grouping, and scheduling. The report assesses the effects of departmentalization, tracking, ability grouping, and grade spans on student learning and development. (MLH)

A Light Touch to Learning: Jackie Robinson Middle School, New Haven, Ct.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Progressive Architecture, 1979

1979-01-01

The architectural design of Jackie Robinson Middle School in New Haven, Connecticut, minimizes the school's size by siting it to reveal only one level at its entrance. Extensive use of transparent and translucent materials projects openness and light. (Author/MLF)

Ohio's Middle Childhood Licensure Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Paula M.; Ross, Diane; Miller, Jennifer; Dever, Robin; Jones, Karen A.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe middle level prepared teachers' perceptions of their practices after completing an Ohio Middle Childhood: Grades 4-9 teacher education program. Using the National Middle School Association/National Council of Accreditation of Teacher Education Initial Level Teacher Preparation Standards (2001)…

Associations between School Perceptions and Tobacco Use in a Sample of Southern Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oglesby, Willie H.; Corwin, Sara J.; Saunders, Ruth P.; Torres, Myriam E.; Richter, Donna L.

2012-01-01

Cigarettes are responsible for nearly 443,000 deaths per year in the United States. Eighty percent of adult smokers began smoking before the age of 18. In 2009, 17.2% of high school and 5.2% of middle school youths reported being a smoker. Research on school perceptions suggests that "engaged" students get more from school on all levels, including…

The Historical and Social Context of U.S. Middle School Education a Practical Guidebook for School Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harley, Sue

2010-01-01

The six chapters in this research involve the history and development of middle schools from the early conceptions of junior high school to the ground breaking research by the Carnegie Foundation on changes in how young adolescent students develop, are taught and transitioned from elementary levels to high school. Professional literature reporting…

Turning the Tables: The Growing Need for High Schools to Follow the Lead of Middle Level Reform Thru Interdisciplinary Teaming.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spies, Paul

High school educators can learn much from the middle school reform movement and apply its strategies to change interdisciplinary teaming and student advocacy programs. Many high schools today still operate with an outdated, impersonal, departmentalized, and factory-model approach to schooling, in which students do not develop a sense of belonging…

Taking Stock and Creating a Vision: A Middle School Community Takes the First Steps toward Creating an Accelerated School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McBride, Ron E.; Stuessy, Carol

1996-01-01

Accelerated schools strive to bring at-risk students into the educational mainstream and perform at grade level through acceleration rather than remediation. Describes four steps to initiate the accelerated process and how a Texas middle school involved all members of the school community in implementing the first two steps, taking stock and…

Alignment of Hands-on STEM Engagement Activities with Positive STEM Dispositions in Secondary School Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christensen, Rhonda; Knezek, Gerald; Tyler-Wood, Tandra

2015-12-01

This study examines positive dispositions reported by middle school and high school students participating in programs that feature STEM-related activities. Middle school students participating in school-to-home hands-on energy monitoring activities are compared to middle school and high school students in a different project taking part in activities such as an after-school robotics program. Both groups are compared and contrasted with a third group of high school students admitted at the eleventh grade to an academy of mathematics and science. All students were assessed using the same science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) dispositions instrument. Findings indicate that the after-school group whose participants self-selected STEM engagement activities, and the self-selected academy of mathematics and science group, each had highly positive STEM dispositions comparable to those of STEM professionals, while a subset of the middle school whole-classroom energy monitoring group that reported high interest in STEM as a career, also possessed highly positive STEM dispositions comparable to the STEM Professionals group. The authors conclude that several different kinds of hands-on STEM engagement activities are likely to foster or maintain positive STEM dispositions at the middle school and high school levels, and that these highly positive levels of dispositions can be viewed as a target toward which projects seeking to interest mainstream secondary students in STEM majors in college and STEM careers, can hope to aspire. Gender findings regarding STEM dispositions are also reported for these groups.

Developmental cascades: Externalizing, internalizing, and academic competence from middle childhood to early adolescence

PubMed Central

Moilanen, Kristin L.; Shaw, Daniel S.; Maxwell, Kari L.

2011-01-01

The current study was initiated to increase understanding of developmental cascades in childhood in a sample of at-risk boys (N = 291; 52% White). Mothers, teachers, and boys reported on boys’ externalizing problems, internalizing difficulties, and academic competence. Consistent with hypotheses regarding school-related transitions, high levels of externalizing problems were associated with both low levels of academic competence and high levels of internalizing problems during the early school-age period, and with elevations in internalizing problems during the transition to adolescence. Low levels of academic competence were associated with high levels of internalizing problems in middle childhood, and with high levels of externalizing problems during the transition from elementary school to middle school. Shared risk factors played a minimal role in these developmental cascades. Results suggest that there are cascading effects of externalizing problems and academic competence in childhood and early adolescence, and that some cascading effects are more likely to occur during periods of school-related transitions. Implications of developmental cascade effects for research and intervention are discussed. PMID:20576184

UnCommon Knowledge: Projects That Help Middle-School-Age Youth Discover the Science and Mathematics in Everyday Life. Volume One: Hands-On Science Projects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, Carolyn S.; Keyes, Marian; Kusimo, Patricia S.; Lunsford, Crystal

This guide contains hands-on science activities to connect middle-school students to the traditional knowledge of their grandparents and elders. Because girls often lose interest in science at the middle-school level, and because women in some communities (especially in rural areas) are seldom involved in work with an obvious science basis, the…

UnCommon Knowledge: Projects That Help Middle-School-Age Youth Discover the Science and Mathematics in Everyday Life. Volume Two: Hands-On Math Projects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, Carolyn S.; Cohen, Sara; Keyes, Marian; Kusimo, Patricia S.; Lunsford, Crystal

This guide contains hands-on mathematics activities to connect middle-school students to the traditional knowledge of their grandparents and elders. Because girls often lose interest in math at the middle-school level, and because women in some communities (especially in rural areas) are seldom involved in work with an obvious math basis, the…

Sensitivity to Verbally and Physically Harassing Behaviors and Reported Incidents in Junior High/Middle School Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turner, Penelope B.

This thesis investigates the sensitivity of junior high/middle school students to statements depicting verbal and physical sexual harassment. The independent variables that were investigated included gender, grade level, age, size of district, grades received, participation in sports, birth order, developmental level, and self-esteem. Students…

Levels and Growth of Specific and General Norms for Nonviolence among Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dymnicki, Allison B.; Antonio, Tiago; Henry, David B.

2011-01-01

This study examined the levels and growth of specific and general normative beliefs about nonviolence (called norms for nonviolence). The sample consisted of 1254 middle school students from four metropolitan areas who participated in the control condition of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project. We predicted that the association and…

Teaching the Middle School Grade-Level Outcomes with Standards-Based Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Avery, Marybell; Rettig, Brad

2015-01-01

This article focuses on the grade-level outcomes to be assessed on middle school (grades 6-8) physical education. Specifically, the article describes how to teach basic tactics and strategies while applying fundamental movement patterns to the various game and movement categories (invasion, net/wall, target, fielding/striking, dance/rhythms, &…

Students' Motivation, Physical Activity Levels, & Health-Related Physical Fitness in Middle School Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gao, Zan; Newton, Maria; Carson, Russell L.

2008-01-01

This study examines the predictive utility of students' motivation (self-efficacy and task values) to their physical activity levels and health-related physical fitness (cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength/endurance) in middle school fitness activity classes. Participants (N = 305) responded to questionnaires assessing their self-efficacy…

State and district policy influences on district-wide elementary and middle school physical education practices.

PubMed

Chriqui, Jamie F; Eyler, Amy; Carnoske, Cheryl; Slater, Sandy

2013-01-01

To examine the influence of state laws and district policies on district-wide elementary school and middle school practices related to physical education (PE) time and the percentage of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) time during PE. Multivariate, cross-sectional analysis of state laws, district wellness and PE policies, and district PE practices for school year 2010-2011 controlling for district-level urbanicity, region, size, race/ethnicity of students, and socioeconomic status and clustered on state. One hundred ninety-five public school districts located in 42 states. District-level PE coordinators for the included districts who responded to an online survey. Minutes and days of PE per week and percent time spent in MVPA during PE time. District PE coordinators reported significantly less PE time than national standards-82.9 and 189.6 minutes at the elementary school and middle school levels, respectively. Physical education was provided an average of 2.5 and 3.7 days per week, respectively; and the percentage of MVPA time in PE was 64.4% and 65.7%, respectively. At the elementary school level, districts in either states with laws governing PE time or in a state and district with a law/policy reported significantly more days of PE (0.63 and 0.67 additional days, respectively), and districts in states with PE time laws reported 18 more minutes of PE per week. At the middle school level, state laws were associated with 0.73 more days of PE per week. Neither state laws nor district policies were positively associated with percent MVPA time in PE. State laws and district policies can influence district-level PE practices-particularly those governing the frequency and duration of PE-although opportunities exist to strengthen PE-related laws, policies, and practices.

The relationship between violent video games, acculturation, and aggression among Latino adolescents.

PubMed

Escobar-Chaves, S Liliana; Kelder, Steve; Orpinas, Pamela

2002-12-01

Multiple factors are involved in the occurrence of aggressive behavior. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the hypotheses that Latino middle school children exposed to higher levels of video game playing will exhibit a higher level of aggression and fighting compared to children exposed to lower levels and that the more acculturated middle school Latino children will play more video games and will prefer more violent video games compared to less acculturated middle school Latino children. This study involved 5,831 students attending eight public schools in Texas. A linear relationship was observed between the time spent playing video games and aggression scores. Higher aggression scores were significantly associated with heavier video playing for boys and girls (p < 0.0001). The more students played video games, the more they fought at school (p < 0.0001). As Latino middle school students were more acculturated, their preference for violent video game playing increased, as well as the amount of time they played video games. Students who reported speaking more Spanish at home and with their friends were less likely to spend large amounts of time playing video games and less likely to prefer violent video games (p < 0.05).

School Lunch Waste among Middle School Students: Implications for Nutrients Consumed and Food Waste Costs

PubMed Central

Cohen, Juliana F.W.; Richardson, Scott; Austin, S. Bryn; Economos, Christina D.; Rimm, Eric B.

2013-01-01

Background The National School Lunch Program has been guided by modest nutrient standards, and the palatability of meals, which drives consumption, receives inadequate attention. School food waste can have important nutritional and cost implications for policy makers, students, and their families. Purpose Nutrient losses and economic costs associated with school meal waste were examined. The study also assessed if school foods served were valid proxies for foods consumed by students. Methods Plate waste measurements were collected from middle school students in Boston attending two Chef Initiative schools (n=1609) and two control schools (n=1440) during a two-year pilot study (2007-2009) where a professional chef trained cafeteria staff to make healthier school meals. The costs associated with food waste were calculated and the percent of foods consumed was compared with a gold standard of 85% consumption. Analyses were conducted in 2010-2011. Results Overall, students consumed less than the required/recommended levels of nutrients. An estimated $432,349 of food (26.1% of the total food budget) was discarded by middle school students annually at lunch in Boston middle schools. For most meal components, significantly less than 85% was consumed. Conclusions There is substantial food waste among middle school students in Boston. Overall, students' nutrient consumption levels were below school meal standards and foods served were not valid proxies for foods consumed. The costs associated with discarded foods are high; if translated nationally for school lunches, roughly $1,238,846,400 annually is wasted. Students would benefit if additional focus was given to the quality and palatability of school meals. PMID:23332326

How Middle School Personnel Perceive an Antibullying Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lester, Robin Rawlings

2013-01-01

Bullying has become a nationwide concern at the K-12 level. Despite the target middle school's antibullying program, the incidence of bullying increased during the 1st and 3rd year of the program implementation. By identifying the perceptions of school personnel about this problem, district school leaders will be better equipped to select and…

The Influence of Subject Areas on Middle School Tracking Policies. Faculty Research Working Paper Series R94-19.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loveless, Tom

Grouping students by ability into courses with distinct curricula, or "tracking" as it is called in middle and high schools, has provoked a furious debate among educational scholars and practitioners. Research on tracking invariably characterizes the practice as a school-level, unitary phenomenon; schools are depicted as either tracked…

A Multilevel Analysis of Japanese Middle School Student and School Socioeconomic Status Influence on Mathematics Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Takashiro, Naomi

2017-01-01

The author examined the simultaneous influence of Japanese middle school student and school socioeconomic status (SES) on student math achievement with two-level multilevel analysis models by utilizing the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Japan data sets. The theoretical framework used in this study was…

E-cigarette use among students and e-cigarette specialty retailer presence near schools.

PubMed

Bostean, Georgiana; Crespi, Catherine M; Vorapharuek, Patsornkarn; McCarthy, William J

2016-11-01

This study examined the association between presence of e-cigarette specialty retailers near schools and e-cigarette use among middle and high school students in Orange County (OC), CA. The OC subsample of the 2013-2014 California Healthy Kids Survey (N=67,701) was combined with geocoded e-cigarette retailers to determine whether a retailer was present within one-quarter mile of each public school in OC. Multilevel logistic regression models evaluated individual-level and school-level e-cigarette use correlates among middle and high school students. Among middle school students, the presence of an e-cigarette retailer within one-quarter mile of their school predicted lifetime e-cigarette use (OR=1.70, 95% CI=1.02, 2.83), controlling for confounders but no effect for current use. No significant effect was found for high school students. E-cigarette specialty retailers clustered around schools may be an environmental influence on student e-cigarette experimentation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

E-cigarette use among students and e-cigarette specialty retailer presence near schools

PubMed Central

Crespi, Catherine M.; Vorapharuek, Patsornkarn; McCarthy, William J.

2016-01-01

Objective This study examined the association between presence of e-cigarette specialty retailers near schools and e-cigarette use among middle and high school students in Orange County (OC), CA. Methods The OC subsample of the 2013–2014 California Healthy Kids Survey (N=67,701) was combined with geocoded e-cigarette retailers to determine whether a retailer was present within one-quarter mile of each public school in OC. Multilevel logistic regression models evaluated individual-level and school-level e-cigarette use correlates among middle and high school students. Results Among middle school students, the presence of an e-cigarette retailer within one-quarter mile of their school predicted lifetime e-cigarette use (OR = 1.70, 95% CI=1.02, 2.83), controlling for confounders but no effect for current use. No significant effect was found for high school students. Conclusions E-cigarette specialty retailers clustered around schools may be an environmental influence on student e-cigarette experimentation. PMID:27770669

Comprehension Strategies for Middle Grade Learners: A Handbook for Content Area Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sadler, Charlotte Rose

Although students are expected to read and comprehend grade-level texts by the time they reach middle school, classroom teachers are constantly challenged to instruct students who have difficulty comprehending what they read. But how does a middle school teacher approach this task, particularly a teacher with limited experience in reading…

Democracy at Work: The Struggle To Renorm One Middle Level Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williamson, Ronald

Disagreement exists about the role and function of middle schools. Demand for improved student achievement, greater accountability, improved test scores, and greater responsiveness to parents characterize tensions. This paper reports on the efforts of one community to examine its middle-school program and reposition it to become more effective at…

A Middle School Teacher's Guide for Selecting Picture Books

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Costello, Bill; Kolodziej, Nancy J.

2006-01-01

The use of picture books as supplementary material for middle level classrooms is becoming more common. Picture books are being created specifically to address the needs and interests of middle school students. Society is becoming more visually oriented and the visual format of picture books appeals to adolescents, who today are exposed to various…

Evidence of the Value of the Smoking Media Literacy Framework for Middle School Students.

PubMed

Bier, Melinda C; Zwarun, Lara; Sherblom, Stephen A

2016-10-01

Susceptibility to future smoking, positive beliefs about smoking, and perceptions of antismoking norms are all factors that are associated with future smoking. In previous research, smoking media literacy (SML) has been associated with these variables, even when controlling for other known risk factors for smoking. However, these studies were performed with older teenagers, often in high school, not younger teens at a crucial developmental point with respect to the decision to begin smoking. This study uses survey data collected from 656 American public middle school students representing multiple zip codes, schools, and school districts. Smoking media literacy levels for middle school students were similar to those of high school students in earlier studies. Higher SML levels were associated with lower susceptibility to future smoking and predicted susceptibility to smoke when controlling for other risk factors. This suggests that the same relationships found with teenagers may exist with middle school students. Although follow-up studies using larger and more controlled administrations of the SML scale are warranted, this study suggests the utility of the SML framework and scale in the development and investigation of media literacy as a prevention strategy in students this age. © 2016, American School Health Association.

How Do Selected Novice Middle School Teachers from Various Certification Pathways Perceive the Effectiveness of Their Teacher Preparation?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hesson, Nicole

2016-01-01

This study compared the three most common pathways of traditional preparation for novice middle level teachers (elementary, middle level, and secondary) and attempted to answer the central question of which group felt best prepared for middle level teaching. Selected novice teachers from each of the three pathways were interviewed and asked to…

How Do Selected Novice Middle School Teachers from Various Certification Pathways Perceive the Effectiveness of Their Teacher Preparation?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hesson, Nicole

2016-01-01

This dissertation study compared the three most common pathways of traditional preparation for novice middle level teachers (elementary, middle level, and secondary) and attempted to answer the central question of which group felt best prepared for middle level teaching. Selected novice teachers from each of the three pathways were interviewed and…

Exploring Gender Differences across Elementary, Middle, and High School Students' Science and Math Attitudes and Interest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LeGrand, Julie

The issue of female underrespresentation in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology careers and courses has been well researched over the last several decades. However, as gender gaps in achievement close and representation becomes more equitable in certain academic domains, research has turned to social and cultural factors to explain why fewer women persist in STEM studies and careers than men. The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in science and math attitudes and interests from elementary school, to middle school, to high school. To examine possible gender-specific shifts in students' interest and attitudes in science and math, 136 students from a suburban, public school district were surveyed at the elementary school level (N=31), middle school level (N=54), and high school level (N=51) and various constructs were used to assess the responses in accordance with expectancy-value theory. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, a random sample of students from each grade level then participated in focus groups, and corollary themes were identified. Results from a logistical regression analysis and Mann-Whitney Test indicated that significant gender differences exist for interest, efficacy, expectancy, and value within science domains (p<.05), although these differences are not the same at each grade level or for each scientific discipline. Significant gender differences in mathematics are present only at the elementary school level.

Middle Level Leadership Handbook. National Leadership Camp Curriculum--Student Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jensen, Jacquie; And Others

Activities and exercises to enhance student leadership are included in this curriculum guide for middle-level student leaders and their advisors. Because students in intermediate grades are not "little high school students," this separate leadership curriculum guide for middle-level student leaders was developed. Although the achieved skills are…

Cooking for Independence: Middle School Students Gain Skills While Cooking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mixon, Gloria

2011-01-01

Middle school students with intellectual disabilities often have difficulties achieving independence with instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs); therefore, these skills must be taught in school. IADLs are a complex component of skills that require a higher level of cognitive reasoning such as community mobility, shopping, meal…

Middle School, One-to-One

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weber, Eric G.

2009-01-01

Westside Middle School, located in Omaha, Nebraska, serves 950 seventh- and eighth-grade students. Over the last few years, the school's teachers and administrators have evaluated its technology status and needs. As part of this process, the staff members engaged in many activities, including developing a building-level technology plan, organizing…

Sounds Like a Winner.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rittner-Heir, Robbin M.

2001-01-01

Explains how the Ocoee Middle School (Orlando, Florida) improved the ability of students to hear in their classrooms and gained improvements in their attention levels and their conduct. Specific design concepts that make Ocoee Middle School the SMART school of the future while also controlling design and construction costs are examined. (GR)

An Ecological Systems Approach to Bullying Behaviors among Middle School Students in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Chang-Hun

2011-01-01

The aim of this study is to identify an ecological prediction model of bullying behaviors. Based on an ecological systems theory, this study identifies significant factors influencing bullying behaviors at different levels of middle and high school. These levels include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. More specifically,…

Organizational Health and Student Achievement in Tennessee Middle Level Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Christopher L.; Buehler, Alison E.; Stein, William L.; Dalton, John E.; Robinson, Teresa R.; Anfara, Vincent A., Jr.

2005-01-01

Although the successful middle level school was designed to address both the affective and cognitive development of young adolescents (NMSA 2003), academic achievement is the outcome of paramount importance in the current political context of accountability, high-stakes testing, and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In their efforts to reform,…

Teacher Knowledge of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder among Middle School Students in South Texas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guerra, Fred R., Jr.; Brown, Michelle S.

2012-01-01

This quantitative study examined the knowledge levels middle school teachers in South Texas have in relation to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The study specifically compared teacher knowledge levels among three specific ADHD knowledge areas: (a) general knowledge of ADHD, (b) knowledge of symptoms/diagnosis of ADHD, and (c)…

Conceptual Demand of Science Curricula: A Study at the Middle School Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calado, Sílvia; Neves, Isabel P.; Morais, Ana M.

2013-01-01

This article addresses the issue of the level of conceptual demand of science curricula by analysing the case of the current Portuguese Natural Sciences curriculum for middle school. Conceptual demand is seen in terms of the complexity of cognitive skills, the complexity of scientific knowledge and the intra-disciplinary relations between distinct…

"Teaching Is a Lot More than Just Showing up to Class and Grading Assignments": Preparing Middle-Level Teachers for Longevity in the Profession

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Overschelde, James P.; Saunders, Jane M.; Ash, Gwynne Ellen

2017-01-01

The university's teacher preparation program has implemented and continually refined a professional development school program, with extended university-school relationships in its middle-level certification program. This program offers dialogue, targeted learning activities, and intensive field-based experiences to help ease preservice teachers…

Implications for School Leaders of the Impact of Math, Science, and Technology Magnet Programs on Middle School Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hinojosa, Lupita

2012-01-01

Although many national studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of magnet programs, there is limited research involving math, science, and technology magnet schools and their influence on student academic performance, especially at the middle school level. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a statistical difference existed…

Racial Differences in the Transactional Relationship Between Depression and Alcohol Use From Elementary School to Middle School.

PubMed

Birkley, Erica L; Zapolski, Tamika C B; Smith, Gregory T

2015-09-01

The aim of this investigation was to test hypothesized reverse prospective relationships between alcohol consumption and depressive symptomatology as a function of race among youth. In a two-wave prospective study, 328 European American, 328 African American, and 144 Hispanic American youth were studied at the end of fifth grade (last year of elementary school) and the end of sixth grade (first year of middle school). A positive correlation was observed between alcohol consumption and depressive symptoms among all youth. However, the predictive relationship differed based on race. For European American and Hispanic American youth, depressive symptom levels at the end of elementary school predicted alcohol consumption at the end of the first year of middle school, but the converse relationship was not observed. For African American youth, the opposite pattern was found. Alcohol consumption at the end of elementary school predicted depressive symptom levels at the end of the first year of middle school, and the converse relationship was not observed. These findings suggest the possibility that etiological relationships between depression and alcohol use vary by race, thus highlighting the importance of considering race when studying the risk process.

Racial Differences in the Transactional Relationship Between Depression and Alcohol Use From Elementary School to Middle School

PubMed Central

Birkley, Erica L.; Zapolski, Tamika C. B.; Smith, Gregory T.

2015-01-01

Objective: The aim of this investigation was to test hypothesized reverse prospective relationships between alcohol consumption and depressive symptomatology as a function of race among youth. Method: In a two-wave prospective study, 328 European American, 328 African American, and 144 Hispanic American youth were studied at the end of fifth grade (last year of elementary school) and the end of sixth grade (first year of middle school). Results: A positive correlation was observed between alcohol consumption and depressive symptoms among all youth. However, the predictive relationship differed based on race. For European American and Hispanic American youth, depressive symptom levels at the end of elementary school predicted alcohol consumption at the end of the first year of middle school, but the converse relationship was not observed. For African American youth, the opposite pattern was found. Alcohol consumption at the end of elementary school predicted depressive symptom levels at the end of the first year of middle school, and the converse relationship was not observed. Conclusions: These findings suggest the possibility that etiological relationships between depression and alcohol use vary by race, thus highlighting the importance of considering race when studying the risk process. PMID:26402361

Getting Middle-School Students up and Moving: What's the Role of School and Neighborhood Environments...and the Weather: Studying the Effect of Neighborhood and School Environments on Youth Physical Activity Levels. Program Results

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nakashian, Mary

2008-01-01

Researchers at the Harvard Prevention Research Center at Harvard University School of Public Health examined how physical and social environments of schools and neighborhoods shape routine physical activities of students attending 10 middle schools in the Boston area. They also analyzed the effect of weather conditions on student physical…

Invention and Innovation: A Standards-Based Middle School Model Course Guide. Advancing Technological Literacy: ITEA Professional Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Technology Education Association (ITEA), 2005

2005-01-01

This guide presents a model for a standards-based contemporary technology education course for the middle school. This model course guide features an exploratory curriculum thrust for a cornerstone middle level course. It provides teachers with an overview of the concept, suggestions for planning the course, and ideas for developing…

Success Stories: Minimum Competencies for Early Adolescents. Family & Consumer Education: Home Economics in the Middle School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Frances M.; And Others

This guide, which is intended to help middle-level home economics teachers satisfy the Iowa Vocational Education Standards and Requirements, consists of descriptions of 51 successful learning activities developed by Iowa teachers for helping middle school students master 17 minimum competencies in the following major content areas: personal and…

"Leading from the Middle": An Initial Study of Impact

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naylor, Philip; Gkolia, Chrysanthi; Brundrett, Mark

2006-01-01

The National College for School Leadership (NCSL) Programme, Leading from the Middle (LftM), was introduced in 2003 and was designed to help improve leadership at middle levels in schools and to impact on the effectiveness of teams of teachers in improving pupil progress. This article is a report on an evaluative study of how the program has…

Open Education: A Look at the Subtleties. A Guide for the Unfamiliar Observer of Intermediate Education. Occasional Paper 90-1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hager, Ronald A.

The open classroom model, enthusiastically adopted in American elementary schools based on the evident success of the British open primary schools, seemed to be an ideal educational concept for implementation into the middle school. But in the past 2 years, a growing number of educators, both at the middle school and the primary school level, have…

Remediation for Students with Mathematics Difficulties: An Intervention Study in Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moser Opitz, Elisabeth; Freesemann, Okka; Prediger, Susanne; Grob, Urs; Matull, Ina; Hußmann, Stephan

2017-01-01

As empirical studies have consistently shown, low achievement in mathematics at the secondary level can often be traced to deficits in the understanding of certain basic arithmetic concepts taught in primary school. The present intervention study in middle schools evaluated whether such learning deficits can be reduced effectively and whether the…

A School-Wide Approach to Student-Led Conferences: A Practitioner's Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinney, Patti; Munroe, Mary Beth; Sessions, Pam

Noting that the benefits of student-led conferences align well with practices recognized as developmentally appropriate for the middle school years, this book provides a step-by-step guide to implementing student-led conferences at the middle school level. The chapters are: (1) "Setting the Stage," presenting the rationale for student-led…

Transition Strategies at the School Level: Reforming Middle Grades' Organization and Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bentley, Ernest L., Jr.; Campbell, Beverly

This paper presents organizational strategies and implementation methods for conversion to middle school organization (scheduled to take place in 1988) in the Johnson City, Tennessee, school system. Carried out by the district in partnership with local institutions of higher education, the study focuses on what is educationally best for the child…

High-Stakes Testing and Teacher Stress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoyt, Joshua Paul

2017-01-01

The purpose of this mixed-methods research study was to examine how stress levels of middle school mathematics teachers who taught Algebra I in school districts in the state of Pennsylvania relate to high-stakes testing and to explore the experiences of middle school mathematics Algebra I teachers. The researcher collected and compared it to…

Examining Middle School Students' Views on Text Bullying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Semerci, Ali

2016-01-01

This study aimed to examine middle school students' views on text bullying in regard to gender, grade level, reactions to bullying and frequency of internet use. The participating 872 students were selected through simple random sampling method among 525 schools located in central Ankara. The data were collected via a questionnaire and a survey…

Training Manual: Middle Schools. Vocational Strategies for Special Needs Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blanc, Doreen V.

Instructional materials presented in this teaching guide, one of five developed as part of the vocational strategies project, are intended to provide vocational services to mildly handicapped special needs students mainstreamed into regular schools at the middle school level. The skill development described is based on the belief that preparation…

Friendships in Middle School: Influences on Motivation and School Adjustment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wentzel, Kathryn R.; Barry, Carolyn McNamara; Caldwell, Kathryn A.

2004-01-01

In this 2-year longitudinal study (n=242), the authors examined relations of having a reciprocated friend and characteristics of a reciprocated friend to students' social and academic adjustment to middle school. With respect to having a friend, 6th-grade students without friends showed lower levels of prosocial behavior, academic achievement, and…

Transitions: How Music Can Help Build a Bridge from Middle School to High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poliniak, Susan

2011-01-01

When students first enter high school, the change can be overwhelming on many levels. All at once, or very nearly, they're dealing with an onslaught of new educational concerns, weighty academic decisions, different extracurricular options, unfamiliar teachers, and potentially bewildering social atmospheres. Meanwhile, former middle school…

Creating the Cougar Watch: Learning to Be Proactive against Bullying in Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Robert W.; Smith, Kayce

2014-01-01

Despite reticence from the central office, strong middle level teacher leaders worked together to develop an effective anti-bullying program that addresses a significant need for safety and inclusion for all middle school students. This article describes how one teacher's concerns changed her school's attitude with regard to bullying from assuming…

Positive Behavior Supports: Tier 2 Interventions in Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoyle, Carol G.; Marshall, Kathleen J.; Yell, Mitchell L.

2011-01-01

School personnel are using Schoolwide Positive Behavior Supports in public schools throughout the United States. A number of studies have evaluated the universal level, or Tier 1, of Schoolwide Positive Behavior Supports. In this study, the authors describe and analyze the interventions offered as options for use for Tier 2 in middle schools…

Middle school students' attitudes toward math and STEM career interests: A 4-year follow-up study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, Madalyn R.

The purpose of the current study is to examine middle school students' attitudes toward math, intent to pursue STEM-related education and occupations, and STEM interest from middle school to high school. The data used in this study are from a larger, on-going National Science Foundation (NSF) grant-funded study that is investigating middle school students' disengagement while using the Assistments system (Baker, Heffernan & San Pedro, 2012), a computer-based math tutoring system. The NSF grant study aims to explore how disengagement with STEM material can aid in the prediction of students' college enrollment as well as how it may interact with other factors affecting students' career choices (San Pedro, Baker, Bowers, Heffernan, 2013). Participants are students from urban and suburban schools in Massachusetts measured first in middle school and again four years later. Measures at Time 1 included: various items related to attitudes toward mathematics, occupations they could see themselves doing as adults, and the Brief Self-Control Scale (Tangney, Baumeister, & Luzio Boone, 2004). Measures at Time 2 included: items requesting the students' current mathematics and science courses and intended majors or occupations following high school graduation. Exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression and logistic regression analyses were used to test the following four hypotheses: I. There will be several distinct factors that emerge to provide information about middle school students' attitudes toward math; II. Students' attitudes toward math will correlate positively and significantly with students' intent to pursue STEM-related careers at Time 1 with a medium effect; III. Middle school attitudes toward mathematics will relate positively and significantly to level of high school mathematics and science courses with a medium effect; IV. Middle school intent to pursue STEM will correlate positively and significantly with high school intent to pursue STEM majors/careers with a medium effect. Results supported a 2-factor model of Attitudes toward Mathematics consisting of Math Self-Concept and Attitudes toward Assistments. Other significant findings include: a positive relationship between students' Attitudes toward Assistments and level of math class taken in high school; a positive relationship between students' Math Self-Concept and Self Control; a positive relationship between Self Control and students' endorsement of STEM careers while in middle school, and discrepancy between male and female students' endorsement of STEM careers as early as middle school. Although many of the study's primary hypotheses were not supported, the present study provides a framework and baseline for several important considerations. Limitations, including those related to the present study's small sample size, and future implications of the present study, which add to career development literature in STEM, are discussed in regard to both research and practice. Keywords: career development, middle school, attitudes, math, STEM, self-concept

School lunch waste among middle school students: nutrients consumed and costs.

PubMed

Cohen, Juliana F W; Richardson, Scott; Austin, S Bryn; Economos, Christina D; Rimm, Eric B

2013-02-01

The National School Lunch Program has been guided by modest nutrient standards, and the palatability of meals, which drives consumption, receives inadequate attention. School food waste can have important nutritional and cost implications for policymakers, students, and their families. Nutrient losses and economic costs associated with school meal waste were examined. The study also assessed if school foods served were valid proxies for foods consumed by students. Plate waste measurements were collected from middle school students in Boston attending two Chef Initiative schools (n=1609) and two control schools (n=1440) during a 2-year pilot study (2007-2009) in which a professional chef trained cafeteria staff to make healthier school meals. The costs associated with food waste were calculated and the percentage of foods consumed was compared with a gold standard of 85% consumption. Analyses were conducted in 2010-2011. Overall, students consumed less than the required/recommended levels of nutrients. An estimated $432,349 of food (26.1% of the total food budget) was discarded by middle school students annually at lunch in these Boston middle schools. For most meal components, substantially less than 85% was consumed. There is substantial food waste among middle school students in Boston. Overall, students' nutrient consumption levels were below school meal standards, and foods served were not valid proxies for foods consumed. The costs associated with discarded foods are high; if translated nationally for school lunches, roughly $1,238,846,400 annually is wasted. Students might benefit if additional focus were given to the quality and palatability of school meals. Copyright © 2013 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The physical activity climate in Minnesota middle and high schools.

PubMed

Samuelson, Anne; Lytle, Leslie; Pasch, Keryn; Farbakhsh, Kian; Moe, Stacey; Sirard, John Ronald

2010-11-01

This article describes policies, practices, and facilities that form the physical activity climate in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota metro area middle and high schools and examines how the physical activity climate varies by school characteristics, including public/private, school location and grade level. Surveys examining school physical activity practices, policies and environment were administered to principals and physical education department heads from 115 middle and high schools participating in the Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer-Identifying Determinants of Eating and Activity (TREC-IDEA) study. While some supportive practices were highly prevalent in the schools studied (such as prohibiting substitution of other classes for physical education); other practices were less common (such as providing opportunity for intramural (noncompetitive) sports). Public schools vs. private schools and schools with a larger school enrollment were more likely to have a school climate supportive of physical activity. Although schools reported elements of positive physical activity climates, discrepancies exist by school characteristics. Of note, public schools were more than twice as likely as private schools to have supportive physical activity environments. Establishing more consistent physical activity expectations and funding at the state and national level is necessary to increase regular school physical activity.

Middle school science grades: Can they be used to forecast performance on standardized tests?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hubbard, Gary L.

2007-12-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if classroom science grades could be used to forecast standardized testing readiness for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). Participants for this study consisted of 647 eighth grade students assigned to a public middle school in Florida. Using annual classroom science grades and the corresponding year's FCAT Science scale scores for each student, scatter plot graphs and Pearson product-moment correlations were used to determine their relationships. Correlation strengths were determined for several segmented student populations. First, the grade and FCAT score relationship for the entire middle school population was calculated and, then, the relationship between grades and FCAT scores for students grouped by their individual assigned science teacher was determined. Next, a second look at students grouped as above was conducted, this time focusing only on students with unacceptable FCAT scores (levels 1 and 2). The correlation between grades and FCAT scores for the entire middle school was moderate and ranged from high to weak for students assigned to individual science teachers. The relationship of grades and FCAT scores for middle school students that scored at levels 1 and 2 was weakly correlated and ranged from moderate to weak for students as they were assigned to their science teachers. Generally, classroom grades were found to be inefficient predictors for standardized testing readiness for students assigned to this middle school.

Middle Level Learning, 1999-2000.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Social Education, 2000

2000-01-01

Intended for middle school social studies classrooms, this publication features articles that spotlight diverse and innovative learning activities. This document includes the three issues of the "Middle Level Learning" supplement published in 1999 and the three that were published in 2000. Articles and classroom activities highlighted in this…

Promoting Mental Health in Italian Middle and High School: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Veltro, Franco; Ialenti, Valentina; Morales García, Manuel Alejandro; Bonanni, Emiliana; Iannone, Claudia; D'Innocenzo, Marinella; Gigantesco, Antonella

2017-01-01

In Italy, a handbook has been developed based on the principles of cooperative learning, life skills, self-effectiveness, and problem-solving at high school level. Early studies have shown the handbook's effectiveness. It has been hypothesized that the revised handbook could be more effective in middle schools. The study design is a "pre- and posttest" that compares the results obtained from 91 students of the high schools with those of the 38 students from middle schools. The assessment was made through "self-reporting" questionnaires of (a) learning skills including problem-solving and (b) perceived self-efficacy in managing emotions, dysfunctional beliefs, and unhealthy behaviours (i.e., drinking/smoking). Significant improvements were observed in both groups with the exceptions of perceived self-efficacy in managing emotions. The improvement of dysfunctional beliefs and the learning of problem-solving skills were better in middle schools. The results confirm the authors' hypothesis that the use of this approach is much more promising in middle school.

The development of science achievement in middle and high school. Individual differences and school effects.

PubMed

Ma, Xin; Wilkins, Jesse L M

2002-08-01

Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), hierarchical linear models (HLMs) were used to model the growth of student science achievement in three areas (biology, physical science, and environmental science) during middle and high school. Results showed significant growth in science achievement across all areas. The growth was quadratic across all areas, with rapid growth at the beginning grades of middle school but slow growth at the ending grades of high school. At the student level, socioeconomic status (SES) and age were related to the rate of growth in all areas. There were no gender differences in the rate of growth in any of the three areas. At the school level, variables associated with school context (school mean SES and school size) and variables associated with school climate (principal leadership, academic expectation, and teacher autonomy) were related to the growth in science achievement. Initial (Grade 7) status in science achievement was not associated with the rate of growth in science achievement among either students or schools in any of the three areas.

Short Sleep Duration Among Middle School and High School Students - United States, 2015.

PubMed

Wheaton, Anne G; Jones, Sherry Everett; Cooper, Adina C; Croft, Janet B

2018-01-26

Insufficient sleep among children and adolescents is associated with increased risk for obesity, diabetes, injuries, poor mental health, attention and behavior problems, and poor academic performance (1-4). The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has recommended that, for optimal health, children aged 6-12 years should regularly sleep 9-12 hours per 24 hours and teens aged 13-18 years should sleep 8-10 hours per 24 hours (1). CDC analyzed data from the 2015 national, state, and large urban school district Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBSs) to determine the prevalence of short sleep duration (<9 hours for children aged 6-12 years and <8 hours for teens aged 13-18 years) on school nights among middle school and high school students in the United States. In nine states that conducted the middle school YRBS and included a question about sleep duration in their questionnaire, the prevalence of short sleep duration among middle school students was 57.8%, with state-level estimates ranging from 50.2% (New Mexico) to 64.7% (Kentucky). The prevalence of short sleep duration among high school students in the national YRBS was 72.7%. State-level estimates of short sleep duration for the 30 states that conducted the high school YRBS and included a question about sleep duration in their questionnaire ranged from 61.8% (South Dakota) to 82.5% (West Virginia). The large percentage of middle school and high school students who do not get enough sleep on school nights suggests a need for promoting sleep health in schools and at home and delaying school start times to permit students adequate time for sleep.

Middle school students' beliefs about matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakhleh, Mary B.; Samarapungavan, Ala; Saglam, Yilmaz

2005-05-01

The objective of this study was to examine middle school students' developing understanding of the nature of matter and to compare middle school students' ideas to those of elementary schools students, as was done by Nakhleh and Samarapungavan [J Res Sci Teach 36(7):777-805, 1999]. Nine middle school students were interviewed using a scripted, semistructured interview. The interview probed students' understanding of the composition and particulate (atomic/molecular) structure of a variety of material substances; the relationship between particulate structure and macroscopic properties such as fluidity and malleability; as well as understanding of processes such as phase transition and dissolving. The results indicate that most of the middle school students interviewed knew that matter was composed of atoms and molecules and some of them were able to use this knowledge to explain some processes such as phase transitions of water. In contrast, almost no elementary students knew that matter was composed of atoms and molecules. However, the middle school students were unable to consistently explain material properties or processes based on their knowledge of material composition. In contrast to elementary school students, who had scientifically inaccurate but relatively consistent (macrocontinuous or macroparticulate) knowledge frameworks, the middle school students could not be classified as having consistent knowledge frameworks because their ideas were very fragmented. The fragmentation of middle school students' ideas about matter probably reflects the difficulty of assimilating the microscopic level scientific knowledge acquired through formal instruction into students' initial macroscopic knowledge frameworks.

The Effect of Using the Creative Reversal Act in Science Education on Middle School Students' Creativity Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karaca, Tulin; Koray, Ozlem

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the creative reversal act (CREACT) used in teaching ecosystems topics on the creativity levels of middle school students. Research Methods: The research was conducted using a quasi-experimental design, a quantitative research method, and a pretest-posttest control group design. The…

Seeking to Expand Middle Level Success to All Students: A Not-So-Secret Recipe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Jesse

2014-01-01

The recipe for success of Strive Preparatory Charter School (formerly West Denver Preparatory Charter School) is not a secret. This summer program, turned four-campus, middle level phenomenon, is proving to satisfy the appetite of parents hungry for a change in their children's educational opportunities. The intent of this article is to share a…

A First Step in Learning Analytics: Pre-Processing Low-Level Alice Logging Data of Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Werner, Linda; McDowell, Charlie; Denner, Jill

2013-01-01

Educational data mining can miss or misidentify key findings about student learning without a transparent process of analyzing the data. This paper describes the first steps in the process of using low-level logging data to understand how middle school students used Alice, an initial programming environment. We describe the steps that were…

Adolescents' Stage-Environment Fit in Middle and High School: The Relationship between Students' Perceptions of Their Schools and Themselves

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Booth, Margaret Zoller; Gerard, Jean M.

2014-01-01

This mixed-methods longitudinal project investigates the association between student perceptions of their schools and themselves. Findings from the first two waves of data analysis with 894 middle and high school students in a midsized Great Lakes city reveal similarities and differences between the grade levels (7th-10th) and their perceptions of…

The School-Parent Relationship across Different Income Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matthews, Alison; McPherson-Berg, Sherry L.; Quinton, Adalcy; Rotunda, Robert S.; Morote, Elsa-Sofia

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the school-parent relationship (volunteering, outreach, and communicating) in schools differs among the poverty level of students. One hundred eighty-nine middle school parents answered a parental involvement survey. Comparisons were made between the poverty level of students (free and reduced…

You Say, "Cariño"; I Say, "Caring": Latino Newcomer Immigrant Families in the Middle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodríguez-Castro, Mónica; Salas, Spencer; Murray, Beth

2016-01-01

One of the 16 core beliefs of middle level thinking is that schools and families must work together on behalf of every young adolescent (National Middle School Association, 2010). However, in classrooms and on curriculum nights, communication emerges as a critical issue. This is especially true when it comes to teachers' interacting with Latino…

East Coast/West Coast Art Project: A Constructivist and Technological Approach to Middle Level and Higher Education Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Margaret H.; Kieling, Linda W.; Cooper, Susan L.

2014-01-01

In this article, the authors report on usage of 21st-century technology, and a collaborative project that allowed middle school art students and preservice teachers to share their artwork and receive feedback in a constructivist learning environment. Middle school students often deal with issues such as bullying, divorce, and depression; they can…

What Counts When It Comes to School Enjoyment and Aspiration in the Middle Grades

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Megan L.; Mann, Michael J.; Georgieva, Zornitsa; Curtis, Reagan; Schimmel, Christine J.

2016-01-01

Young adolescents, and the middle level educators who work with them, face many exciting but demanding challenges during this key period of development. According to stage-environment fit theory, the degree to which middle grades students perceive a good fit between their school environment and their needs impacts their academic and life outcomes.…

Organizational Health Directly Influences Student Performance at the Middle Level.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Kathleen M.; Roney, Kathleen; Anfara, Vincent A., Jr.

2003-01-01

Explored the implementation of middle level reform components in both high- and low-performing middle schools, seeking to identify factors linked to student achievement. Found that organizational health, which includes academic focus, teacher affiliation, and resource support, more directly influences student performance than simple implementation…

Ghost Children: Invisible Middle Level Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matteson, Shirley M.

2014-01-01

For this study, 119 middle level teacher candidates identified, observed, and documented their interactions with middle school "ghost children" as part of their field placement activities. About two thirds of the 124 ghost children identified for this study were male. The teacher candidates documented additional characteristics of ghost…

What Current Research Says to the Middle Level Practitioner.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Irvin, Judith L., Ed.

This volume provides recent research findings on important topics related to the still-expanding middle school movement. They are divided into seven parts, addressing teaching/learning, curriculum, teacher education, social context, organization, leaderships, and issues and future directions. Following an introduction to middle level education…

Association between attempted suicide and academic performance indicators among middle and high school students in Mexico: results from a national survey.

PubMed

Orozco, Ricardo; Benjet, Corina; Borges, Guilherme; Moneta Arce, María Fátima; Fregoso Ito, Diana; Fleiz, Clara; Villatoro, Jorge Ameth

2018-01-01

Students' mental health is associated to academic performance. In high income countries, higher students' grades are related to lower odds of suicidal behaviors, but studies on other indicators of academic performance are more limited, specially in middle income countries. Data from 28,519 middle and high school students selected with multistage clustered sampling in the Mexican National Survey of Student's Drug Use. Using a self-administered questionnaire, lifetime suicidal attempt and four indicators of academic performance were assessed: age inconsistency with grade level, not being a student in the last year, perceived academic performance and number of failed courses. Multiple logistic regression models were used to control for sociodemographic and school characteristics. The lifetime prevalence of attempted suicide was 3.0% for middle school students and 4.2% for high school students. Among middle school students, statistically adjusted significant associations of suicide attempt with academic performance indicators were: not being a student the year before, worse self-perceived performance and a higher number of failed courses; among high school students, predictors were failed courses and self-perceived academic performance, with ORs of 1.65 and 1.96 for the categories of good and fair/poor respectively, compared to those who reported very good performance. Self-perceived academic performance was the main indicator for suicide in both school levels. Suicide prevention efforts in Mexico's schools should include asking students about the perception they have about their own academic performance.

Multiracial in Middle School: The Influence of Classmates and Friends on Changes in Racial Self-Identification.

PubMed

Echols, Leslie; Ivanich, Jerreed; Graham, Sandra

2017-11-27

In the present research, the influence of racial diversity among classmates and friends on changes in racial self-identification among multiracial youth was examined (n = 5,209; M age  = 10.56 years at the beginning of sixth grade). A novel individual-level measure of diversity among classmates based on participants' course schedules was utilized. The findings revealed that although there was some fluidity in multiracial identification at the beginning of middle school, changes in multiracial identification were more evident later in middle school. In addition, although diversity among classmates and friends both increased the likelihood of multiracial identification in the beginning of middle school, only diversity among friends mattered later in middle school, when fluidity in multiracial identification was at its peak. © 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

A comparative study of middle school and high school students' views about physics and learning physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Lin

2013-01-01

Previous studies of student epistemological beliefs about physics and learning physics focused on college and post-college students in Western countries. However, little is known about early-grade students in Asian countries. This paper reports Chinese middle and high school students' views about the nature of physics and learning physics, measured by the Colorado Learning Attitudes Survey about Science (CLASS). Two variables—school level and gender—are examined for a series of comparative analyses. Results show that although middle school students received fewer years of education in physics, they demonstrated more expert-like conceptions about this subject matter than high school students. Also, male students in general exhibited more expert-like views than their female counterparts. While such a gender difference remained constant across both middle and high schools, for the most part it was a small-size difference.

A comparative analysis of Science-Technology-Society standards in elementary, middle and high school state science curriculum frameworks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tobias, Karen Marie

An analysis of curriculum frameworks from the fifty states to ascertain the compliance with the National Science Education Standards for integrating Science-Technology-Society (STS) themes is reported within this dissertation. Science standards for all fifty states were analyzed to determine if the STS criteria were integrated at the elementary, middle, and high school levels of education. The analysis determined the compliance level for each state, then compared each educational level to see if the compliance was similar across the levels. Compliance is important because research shows that using STS themes in the science classroom increases the student's understanding of the concepts, increases the student's problem solving skills, increases the student's self-efficacy with respect to science, and students instructed using STS themes score well on science high stakes tests. The two hypotheses for this study are: (1) There is no significant difference in the degree of compliance to Science-Technology-Society themes (derived from National Science Education Standards) between the elementary, middle, and high school levels. (2) There is no significant difference in the degree of compliance to Science-Technology-Society themes (derived from National Science Education Standards) between the elementary, middle, and high school level when examined individually. The Analysis of Variance F ratio was used to determine the variance between and within the three educational levels. This analysis addressed hypothesis one. The Analysis of Variance results refused to reject the null hypothesis, meaning there is significant difference in the compliance to STS themes between the elementary, middle and high school educational levels. The Chi-Square test was the statistical analysis used to compare the educational levels for each individual criterion. This analysis addressed hypothesis two. The Chi-Squared results showed that none of the states were equally compliant with each individual criterion across the elementary, middle, and high school levels. The National Science Education Standards were created with the input of thousands of people and over twenty scientific and educational societies. The standards were tested in numerous classrooms and showed an increase in science literacy for the students. With the No Child Left Behind legislation and Project 2061, the attainment of a science literate society will be helped by the adoption of the NSES standards and the STS themes into the American classrooms.

A comparison study of instruction between international school and state school of middle school level in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pamelasari, S. D.; Nurkhalisa, S.; Laksmana, S. I.

2018-03-01

This paper presents a comparison between the instruction in international school and state school in the middle level in Indonesia to find out the strength and weakness of each school in order to identify some professional development needs. The observation and interview were conducted to see the instruction of each school. Some pedagogy aspects consisting of attitude, strategy, and practice were observed to get the overview of instruction. Through this study, it has been found that the teachers apply an active learning approach that created an enthusiastic atmosphere of students’ participation. However, the different circumstance found is in the aspect of the number of students, the language of instruction and students’ characteristics between those schools.

Technological Studies at Thomas Edison Middle School. Grades 6-7-8.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, Patrick N.

This technology studies curriculum for grades 6-8 is a plan for each middle school student to experience technology education for approximately 60 days (1 trimester of a 180-day school year) in each grade. Section A provides definitions; structure or content for grade-level programs with science and technology unifiers (unifying curricular…

Adolescents' Psychological Well-Being and Perceived Parental Involvement: Implications for Parental Involvement in Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cripps, Kayla; Zyromski, Brett

2009-01-01

Adolescence is a critical period of development. Previous research suggests parent involvement in school directly impacts student success. However, different types of parental involvement and the efforts of middle school personnel to educate parents about these effective practices have received scant attention in the literature. The level and type…

How School Leaders Perceive the Leadership Role of Middle Leaders in Singapore Primary Schools?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koh, Hak Hiang; Gurr, David; Drysdale, Lawrie; Ang, Li Li

2011-01-01

Middle leaders are "recognised as a significant source in ensuring that quality education reaches out to pupils" (Low and Lim "1997", p. 77) for they are "the human link between national education policy as manifested in school-level strategic planning...and the teaching staff whose "field tactics" are used to…

Dosage Effects of a Preventive Social-Emotional Learning Intervention on Achievement Loss Associated with Middle School Transition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenblatt, Jennifer L.; Elias, Maurice J.

2008-01-01

A number of studies have documented a normative decline in academic achievement across the transition from elementary school to middle or junior high school. The current study examined the effectiveness of varying levels of a social-emotional learning intervention, "Talking with TJ," in limiting achievement loss across transition. Data were…

Breaking the Barriers Between Middle School and High School: Developing a Transition Team for Student Success.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hertzog, C. Jay; Morgan, P. Lena

1998-01-01

Discusses results of a study examining self-perceptions of students moving from middle level to high schools. Kids reported a significant drop in perceived physical appearance, job competence, romantic appeal, conduct, and global self-worth. A transition team can help eighth graders develop an understanding of the academic rigors and cocurricular…

Hallways Paved with Good Intentions: Analyzing Rules and Procedures in Non-Classroom Middle School Spaces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wellenreiter, Benjamin R.

2018-01-01

Non-classroom school spaces such as cafeterias, hallways, and locker rooms have complex structures that require analysis to maintain or improve school climate. Middle level educators are encouraged to observe, question, and evaluate rules and procedures to ensure these spaces are safe and socially just. Educators should work to view these spaces…

Middle School Exploratory Foreign Language Programs: A Position Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Council of State Supervisors of Foreign Language.

Four types of exploratory foreign language programs are described: (1) the language overview course, (2) the trial-study course, (3) the Level I offering, and (4) the course for the non-college bound. It is largely in the middle schools (grades 6-8) and junior high schools (grades 7-9) that exploratory programs are being used. The language…

English Learner "Curricular Streams" in Four Middle Schools: Triage in the Trenches

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Estrada, Peggy

2014-01-01

Little is known about the curricular experiences schools provide English learner students (ELs) to meet the dual goals of attaining English language proficiency (ELP) and grade-level achievement. I introduce the concept of "Curricular Streams" to provide a more nuanced comparative analysis of four urban middle schools, focusing on: (a)…

The Poor Get Richer: Heterogeneity in the Efficacy of a School-Level Intervention for Academic Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawrence, Joshua F.; Francis, David; Paré-Blagoev, Juliana; Snow, Catherine E.

2017-01-01

We investigate the impact of a relatively brief cross-curricular intervention, Word Generation, on middle school students' development of taught academic vocabulary. Students (n = 8382) in forty-four middle schools in three urban districts were randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. Treatment teachers implemented the program with…

Advantages and Challenges of Distributing Leadership in Middle-Level Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grenda, J. Patrick; Hackmann, Donald G.

2014-01-01

This multiple-site case study examined distributed leadership practices of three middle school principals, using observations, interviews, and document analysis. Findings disclosed that the principals built on the interdisciplinary teaming structure to develop empowering organizational structures that promoted democratic governance. Employing…

Welcome to Clipper Camp!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holler, Edward W.

2008-01-01

Rising middle level students face many new situations when they enter middle school. Stress is not uncommon for new students in any grade, but it is most acute during middle level years when students are dealing with the rapidly changing physical characteristics and emotions associated with early adolescence. The community of adults at a middle…

Supporting Diverse Young Adolescents: Cooperative Grouping in Inclusive Middle-Level Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Nicole C.; McKissick, Bethany R.; Ivy, Jessica T.; Moser, Kelly

2017-01-01

The middle level classroom presents unique challenges to educators who strive to provide opportunities that acknowledge learner diversity in terms of social, cognitive, physical, and emotional development. This is confounded even further within inclusive middle-school classrooms where the responsibility to differentiate instruction is even more…

[Violence prevention in secondary schools: the Faustlos-curriculum for middle school].

PubMed

Schick, Andreas; Cierpka, Manfred

2009-01-01

Schools and kindergartens are particularly suitable for the implementation of violence prevention programs. Many German schools and kindergartens have securely established the violence prevention curriculum Faustlos. The Faustlos programs for kindergartens and elementary schools are now complemented with the version for middle schools. As the kindergarten- and elementary school versions the middle school program too focuses on the theoretically profound, age group-tailored promotion of empathy, impulse control and anger management. These dimensions are subdivided into the five themes "understanding the problem" "training for empathy"; "anger management", "problem solving" and "applying skills" and taught stepwise, highly structured and based on several video sequences in 31 lessons. US-American evaluation studies proof the effectiveness and the violence prevention potential of the program. With the curriculum for middle schools a comprehensive Faustlos program package is now made available to sustainably promote core violence prevention competences of children and adolescents on a developmentally appropriate level and with a consistent didactic approach.

Adult Recollections of Peer Victimization during Middle School: Forms and Consequences

PubMed Central

Rosen, Lisa H.; Underwood, Marion K.; Gentsch, Joanna K.; Rahdar, Ahrareh; Wharton, Michelle E.

2012-01-01

This study examined memories of peer victimization by eliciting narratives from university students (N = 210) about one previous experience of peer maltreatment during middle school, and investigating how these recollections related to current levels of adjustment. The majority of participants described an experience of social victimization (70.0%) or physical victimization (16.7%), and analyses examining form of victimization were limited to these participants (n = 182). Previous experiences of peer maltreatment during middle school were associated with negative indices of adjustment in early adulthood. The implications of our findings for school intervention programs are discussed. PMID:23175596

Training Master's-Level Graduate Students to Use Inquiry Instruction to Teach Middle-Level and High-School Science Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilman, Sharon Larimer; Hitt, Austin M.; Gilman, Craig

2015-01-01

Through the GK-12 program of the National Science Foundation, graduate student fellows in a coastal marine and wetland studies program were trained to present targeted science concepts to middle- and high-school classes through their own research-based lessons. Initially, they were taught to follow the 5-E learning cycle in lesson plan…

"Growing Up" through the Middle Level Years: A Case Study in Leadership Actions Necessary to Meet Students' Needs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, M. Melissa Richard

2010-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the journey of a suburban middle level principal, as she led a school through an educational change process. This was a single case study design involving the school leader as principal participant, and the researcher as participant observer. The theoretical model that was developed for this…

Warm-Up Activities of Middle and High School Band Directors Participating in State-Level Concert Band Assessments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Justin P.; Hancock, Carl B.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the warm-ups chosen by concert band directors participating in state-level performance assessments. We observed 29 middle and high school bands and coded the frequency and duration of warm-up activities and behaviors. Results indicated that most bands rehearsed music and played scales, long tones, and…

Randomized Controlled Evaluation of the "Too Good for Drugs" Prevention Program: Impact on Adolescents at Different Risk Levels for Drug Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Bruce W.; Bacon, Tina P.; Ferron, John M.

2013-01-01

Sixth graders participating in the "Too Good for Drugs" (TGFD) prevention program in comparison to 6th graders not participating show different results by student risk level. Sixth graders from 20 middle schools were randomly assigned to receive the intervention and those from 20 paired middle schools assigned to serve as controls (N =…

Perceptions Regarding the Use and Experience of Information and Communication Technology from Female Students in a Catholic Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tellez, Julio C.

2013-01-01

Despite advancements in the search of equity, females still struggle to find acceptance in the field of information and communication technology. Research indicates that differences in perception of ability of ICT use begin to manifest in the middle school level. This mixed methods study explored the experiences and perceptions of 46 middle school…

Reading and Teaching in an Urban Middle School: Preservice Teachers' Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Field-Based Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rogers-Haverback, Heather; Mee, Molly

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate middle level preservice teacher self-efficacy beliefs in general, as well as in the domain of reading. The participants were 8 middle school preservice teachers enrolled in a state-mandated reading methods course and student teaching over the course of a year. As part of the yearlong internship, the…

Successful Mathematics Teaching for Middle-School Grades.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clayton, Gypsy Abbott; And Others

Several competencies and instructional strategies necessary to accommodate the changing role of teachers of mathematics at middle-school level are described. Also provided are teacher-generated and teacher-tested instructional activities that can be used to facilitate student success in learning mathematical concepts. After describing the…

76 FR 61347 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection Requests

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-04

..., middle and high schools). Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 413. Total Estimated Annual Burden..., middle and high schools where students achieve at high levels or where the achievement gap is narrowing... information technology. Dated: September 29, 2011. Darrin King, Director, Information Collection Clearance...

Understanding Male Underachievement in Middle School Science: Challenging the Assumptions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holbrooks, Marilyn Jane

The overall purpose of this collaborative action research study was to explore the experiences of eight middle school science teachers. This collaborative action research study concerned itself with male student underachievement in science at the middle school level. The study was conducted at Sherwood Forest Middle School (a pseudonym) with sixth through eighth grade science teachers with more than three years of experience, various teaching backgrounds within academic subjects as well as special education, and different grade levels. The interviews probed the teachers' personal experiences and insights regarding male underachievement in science. This collaborative action research study relied on qualitative data from interviews and other pieces of evidence that might support the teachers' observations, specifically standardized test data and class grades. In addition, four of the seven teachers participated in a focus group, developing strategies for more effective teaching in science for all students. Understanding the experiences of science educators for sixth through eighth grade students can assist local, state, and federal policymakers in educational decision-making processes for the future.

Environmental, Institutional, and Demographic Predictors of Environmental Literacy among Middle School Children

PubMed Central

Stevenson, Kathryn T.; Peterson, M. Nils; Bondell, Howard D.; Mertig, Angela G.; Moore, Susan E.

2013-01-01

Building environmental literacy (EL) in children and adolescents is critical to meeting current and emerging environmental challenges worldwide. Although environmental education (EE) efforts have begun to address this need, empirical research holistically evaluating drivers of EL is critical. This study begins to fill this gap with an examination of school-wide EE programs among middle schools in North Carolina, including the use of published EE curricula and time outdoors while controlling for teacher education level and experience, student attributes (age, gender, and ethnicity), and school attributes (socio-economic status, student-teacher ratio, and locale). Our sample included an EE group selected from schools with registered school-wide EE programs, and a control group randomly selected from NC middle schools that were not registered as EE schools. Students were given an EL survey at the beginning and end of the spring 2012 semester. Use of published EE curricula, time outdoors, and having teachers with advanced degrees and mid-level teaching experience (between 3 and 5 years) were positively related with EL whereas minority status (Hispanic and black) was negatively related with EL. Results suggest that school-wide EE programs were not associated with improved EL, but the use of published EE curricula paired with time outdoors represents a strategy that may improve all key components of student EL. Further, investments in teacher development and efforts to maintain enthusiasm for EE among teachers with more than 5 years of experience may help to boost student EL levels. Middle school represents a pivotal time for influencing EL, as improvement was slower among older students. Differences in EL levels based on gender suggest boys and girls may possess complementary skills sets when approaching environmental issues. Our findings suggest ethnicity related disparities in EL levels may be mitigated by time spent in nature, especially among black and Hispanic students. PMID:23533631

Making the transition to middle schooling: A case study of experienced science teachers coping with change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strong, Donna Dorough

The increasing popularity of the middle school movement necessitates a need for more interpretive research in middle level education. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore science teachers' perceptions of the transition to a new middle school and the meanings they attached to this new experience. The participants were three eighth grade science teachers, each with 20 plus years of teaching experience. The primary data for analysis was a series of five interviews with each participant. Data collection also included weekly participant observation of team meetings. Findings revealed that the science teachers all had positive feelings attached to the ability to keep track of students' academic progress and behavior problems as a result of teaming. The changes associated with the first year were very stressful for all three, primarily the loss of the traditional junior high departmentalized structure. The two participants who transferred directly from the junior high school were very skeptical of any benefits from an interdisciplinary curriculum, the appropriateness of the middle school philosophy for eighth grade students, and the move to heterogeneously grouped science classes. In contrast, the former junior high teacher who had spent the past ten years teaching sixth grade at the elementary school had positive beliefs about the potential benefits of an interdisciplinary curriculum and heterogeneous grouping. Teacher stress associated with a change in the school setting and the science teachers' constraints to actualizing a meaningful middle schooling experience are illuminated. Teachers' lack of ownership in the reform decision making process, loss of time with their science teacher peers, diminished compliments from high school counterparts, and need for more empirical evidence supporting proposed changes all served as barriers to embracing the reform initiatives. The participants found taking a very slow approach to be their most useful means of coping with the stress of these changes. The discussion includes meta-assertions and recommendations concerning the leadership and planning process for movement to a middle school philosophy, the most appropriate building structure for meeting needs of science teachers, teachers as curriculum makers, and the nature of middle level professional development for experienced science teachers.

[Prevalence of dyslipidemia and its influential factors in 2 028 students from primary and middle schools in Changsha].

PubMed

Li, Yamei; Luo, Jiayou; Ma, Jun; Zou, Zhiyong; Liu, Xiaoqun; Li, Huixia

2017-06-28

To determine the prevalence of dyslipidemia in students from the primary and middle schools and the influential factors, and to provide evidence for the prevention and control of dyslipidemia and relevant chronic diseases in primary and middle schools. 
 Methods: A total of 2 028 students aged 7 to 17 from the primary and middle schools in Changsha were selected by stratified random cluster sampling. The contents of the study included questionnaire survey, physical measurement and blood tests for fasting blood triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels. Non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) level was calculated by TC level minus HDL-C level. Chi-square test and non-conditional logistic regression model were used to analyze the factors that contributed to dyslipidemia.
 Results: The dyslipidemia rate was 18.6%, and the abnormal rates of TG, TC, LDL-C, non-HDL-C and HDL-C were 6.8%, 5.6%, 2.3%, 4.2% and 8.6%, respectively. By chi-square test, the dyslipidemia rate in students with different ages, home locations, BMI groups, central obesity, time on watching TV or playing computer per day, and daily sleep time was statistically significant. Non-conditional logistic regression analysis showed that home location for the city (OR=1.332), overweight (OR=1.548), obesity (OR=2.201), central obesity (OR=1.695), watching TV or playing computer for more than 2 hours per day (OR=1.357), daily sleep time longer than 11 hours (OR=2.518) were the risk factors for dyslipidemia in students from the primary and middle schools. 
 Conclusion: Nearly 1/5 primary and middle school students show dyslipidemia, which is associated with obesity and other bad behaviors.

The Read 180 Program: Analysis of Program Effect on the Reading Achievement, Motivation, Engagement, and Self-Efficacy of Sixth Grade Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawson, Sylvia

2011-01-01

National testing standards have increased pressure on school personnel to identify and implement instructional practices that facilitate the academic achievement of at-risk students. No Child Left Behind legislation currently mandates that reading programs at the middle school level receiving federal funding must use scientifically validated…

Which Middle-Level School Should We Choose? Four Common Traits of Schools Demonstrating Student Growth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pfeiffer, Linda E.

2015-01-01

Few things strike fear in the hearts of parents like sending their child off to middle school. Parents of gifted learners fear for their child's safety--both emotional and physical--and their academic well-being. Having survived this transition, it occurred to the author that this experience would make an interesting research project and,…

Do Students Using Electronic Books Display Different Reading Comprehension and Motivation Levels than Students Using Traditional Print Books?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wells, Casey L.

2012-01-01

The effect of electronic books on the reading comprehension of middle and high school students was examined using an experimental posttest-only control-group design. A convenience sample of 140 randomly assigned middle and high school English students at an independent school in eastern North Carolina participated. Half of the students used…

Do School Incentives and Accountability Measures Improve Skills in the Middle East and North Africa? The Cases of Jordan and Tunisia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shafiq, M. Najeeb

2011-01-01

There is general agreement that skill-enhancing school reforms in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are necessary for economic, political and social reasons. Using student-level data from Jordan and Tunisia, this study assesses the relationship between skills and the following school incentive and accountability measures: pedagogical…

The Impact of the Stanford Math Intervention Program and School Climate on Mathematics Achievement Levels of Female Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carwell, Tamika L.

2012-01-01

The study's focus was to determine whether or not there was a significant statistical relationship between improved student performance scores from the Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) Stanford Math Intervention Program and Discovery Formative Assessment mathematics mean scores of female middle school students. An additional focus of…

Effects of perceived support from mothers, fathers, and teachers on depressive symptoms during the transition to middle school.

PubMed

Rueger, Sandra Yu; Chen, Pan; Jenkins, Lyndsay N; Choe, Hyung Joon

2014-04-01

The transition to middle school can be a significant stressor for young adolescents, leading to increases in depression for those who are vulnerable. The current study examined how perceived support from mothers, fathers, and teachers independently and interactively predicted developmental patterns of depressive symptoms during adolescents' transition to middle school, and gender differences in these effects of social support. Four timepoints of data were collected from 1,163 participants (48.5 % boys) enrolled in an ethnically diverse suburban middle school in the Midwest between 1.25 and 20.50 months after these participants entered the 7th grade. The results from growth curve modeling indicated that levels of depressive symptoms decreased over time for boys but remained stable for girls during the developmental period examined. There is also evidence that support from mothers, fathers, and teachers independently and inversely predicted levels of depressive symptoms at the beginning of the 7th grade, and support from both mothers and fathers predicted changes in these symptoms. Effects of mothers' support and teachers' support, but not the effect of fathers' support, remained significant in reducing levels of depressive symptoms at 20.50 months from middle school entry. Furthermore, the protective effect of mothers' support was stronger for girls than for boys. Finally, mothers' support interacted with fathers' support and teachers' support to predict levels of depressive symptoms. Specifically, the protective effect of mothers' support was more salient when fathers' support was low, and vice versa. In contrast, support from mothers and teachers had an amplifying, synergistic effect.

Developing school-pharmacist partnerships to enhance correct medication use and pain medication literacy in Taiwan.

PubMed

Chang, Fong-Ching; Chi, Hsueh-Yun; Huang, Li-Jung; Lee, Chun-Hsien; Yang, Jyun-Long; Yeh, Ming-Kung

2015-01-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of the health promoting school (HPS)-community pharmacist partnership program that promotes students' correct medication use and enhances pain medication literacy in Taiwan. Pre- and post-studies and intervention/comparison group comparisons. Primary and middle schools, along with their communities, in Taiwan. In 2013, baseline and follow-up self-administered, online surveys were received from 5,373 students enrolled in intervention primary and middle schools and from 4,643 students enrolled in comparison primary and middle schools. The level of medication literacy, including correct medication use knowledge, self-efficacy, and skills. The development and implementation of the HPS-community pharmacist partnership program in primary and middle schools significantly enhanced students' knowledge, self-efficacy, and skills in correct medication use and pain medication literacy (P <0.001). The HPS-community pharmacist partnership had a positive impact on enhancing correct medication use and pain medication literacy in Taiwan.

Policy changes to implement intramural sports in North Carolina middle schools: simulated effects on sports participation rates and physical activity intensity, 2008-2009.

PubMed

Edwards, Michael B; Kanters, Michael A; Bocarro, Jason N

2014-01-16

Extracurricular school sports programs can provide adolescents, including those who are economically disadvantaged, with opportunities to engage in physical activity. Although current models favor more exclusionary interscholastic sports, a better understanding is needed of the potential effects of providing alternative school sports options, such as more inclusive intramural sports. The purpose of this study was to simulate the potential effect of implementing intramural sports programs in North Carolina middle schools on both the rates of sports participation and on energy expenditure related to physical activity levels. Simulations were conducted by using a school-level data set developed by integrating data from multiple sources. Baseline rates of sports participation were extrapolated from individual-level data that were based on school-level characteristics. A regression model was estimated by using the simulated baseline school-level sample. Participation rates and related energy expenditure for schools were calculated on the basis of 2 policy change scenarios. Currently, 37.2% of school sports participants are economically disadvantaged. Simulations suggested that policy changes to implement intramural sports along with interscholastic sports could result in more than 43,000 new sports participants statewide, of which 64.5% would be economically disadvantaged students. This estimate represents a 36.75% increase in economically disadvantaged participants. Adding intramural sports to existing interscholastic sports programs at all middle schools in North Carolina could have an annual effect of an additional 819,892.65 kilogram calories expended statewide. Implementing intramural sports may provide economically disadvantaged students more access to sports, thus reducing disparities in access to school sports while increasing overall physical activity levels among all children.

Middle Start Technology Facts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holland, Holly

Equity is an important part of technology education. Without adequate equipment and training, schools shortchange students and limit their ability to compete with their more fortunate peers. This is especially important at the middle school level because computer assisted instruction not only taps into adolescents' natural curiosity, but also can…

Leading in Middle Management in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pepper, Coral; Giles, Wendy

2015-01-01

In this article we discuss the experiences of academics who occupy middle-level leadership roles in higher education. We use the term middle management to describe personnel occupying positions below the level of dean and often referred to as associate deans or heads of school. Practitioners rarely turn their attention to their own organizations,…

Instructional Leadership in Missouri: A Study of Middle-Level Building Principals and Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carson, Craig L.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this descriptive study was to describe Missouri middle-level school principals' perceptions of their instructional leadership practices. The Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) by Philip Hallinger was used to define the measured leadership tasks (www.philiphallinger.com). There were a total of 77 middle-level…

Considering the Virtual Classroom: A Call to Middle Level Education Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eisenbach, Brooke B.

2016-01-01

Today's classrooms are changing and moving beyond the walls of a traditional school environment. With each passing year, a growing population of middle level learners are logging into full-time or blended learning virtual courses. However, teachers often lack the training and experience necessary to address the developmental needs of middle level…

[Analysis on risk factors of screen time among Chinese primary and middle school students in 12 provinces].

PubMed

Wu, X Y; Tao, S M; Zhang, S C; Zhang, Y K; Huang, K; Tao, F B

2016-06-01

To investigate the characteristics of screen time and its risk factors in Chinese primary and middle school students. During April 2012 and June 2012, according to the geographical distribution, the stratified random cluster sampling method was used to select 4 provinces from eastern, central and western China, respectively. The convenience sampling method was used to select 2 primary and middle schools from urban, 2 primary and middle schools from rural in each province. In each school, all grades were included, and 2 classes were selected in each grade. A total of 51 866 students or parents were selected as study participants, and 43 771 questionnaires were valid. Information on demographics, academic performance, screen time (TV, computer and cellphone) at weekdays and weekends and the prevalence of the high screen time were compared, multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the association between screen time >2 h/d and potential influential factors. The percentage of students with screen time >2 h/d at weekdays and weekends were 16.2% (7 082/43 771) and 41.5% (18 141/43 771) (χ(2)=6 280.14, P<0.001), respectively. The distribution of P50 (P25-P75) for screen time at weekdays and weekends were 0.9(0.4-1.6) and 1.8(1.0-3.0) (Z=-131.26, P<0.001), respectively. The results of multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that, at weekdays, subjects characterized as primary school students, boys, urban area, living in western area and sufficient vigorous physical activity ≤2 d/w had higher risk for screen time >2 h/d than those characterized as elementary school students, girls, rural area, living in eastern area and sufficient vigorous physical activity >3 d/w, odds ratio were 2.01, 1.54, 1.21, 1.09, and 1.07, respectively (P<0.05 for all); subjects characterized as a normal or worse self rating academic performance had higher risk for screen time >2 h/d than those characterized as a good self rating academic performance, odds ratioes were 1.24 and 1.73, respectively (P<0.05 for all); subjects characterized as paternal education level as elementary school, middle school, high school or secondary school had higher risk for screen time >2 h/d than those characterized as paternal education level as college school or high, odds ratioes were 1.41, 1.47 and 1.52, respectively (P<0.05 for all); subjects characterized as maternal education level as elementary school, middle school and high school or secondary school had higher risk for screen time >2 h/d than those characterized as maternal education level as college, odds ratioes were 1.40, 1.52 and 1.47, respectively (P<0.05 for all). At weekends, subjects characterized as primary school students, boys, urban area and sufficient vigorous physical activity ≤2 d/w had higher risk for screen time >2 h/d than those characterized as elementary school students, girls, rural area and sufficient vigorous physical activity >3 d/w, odds ratioes were 2.11, 1.51, 1.20 and 1.05, respectively (P<0.05 for all). At weekends, subjects characterized as a normal or worse self rating academic performance had higher risk for screen time >2 h/d than those characterized as a good self rating academic performance, odds ratioes were 1.09 and 1.26, respectively (P<0.05 for all); subjects characterized as paternal education level as elementary school, middle school, high school or secondary school had higher risk for screen time >2 h/d than those characterized as paternal education level as college school or high, odds ratioes were 1.29, 1.30 and 1.19, respectively (P<0.05 for all); subjects characterized as maternal education level as elementary school, middle school had higher risk for screen time >2 h/d than those characterized as maternal education level as college school or high, odds ratioes were 1.19 and 1.16 and, respectively (P<0.05 for all). The prevalence of screen time >2 h/d is high; screen time at weekdays is longer than weekends, and there are significant differences among different sexes, urban or rural areas, living areas, self rating academic performance, parents education levels and physical activity groups.

Individual differences in anxiety trajectories from Grades 2 to 8: Impact of the middle school transition.

PubMed

Nelemans, Stefanie A; Hale, William W; Branje, Susan J T; Meeus, Wim H J; Rudolph, Karen D

2017-11-21

This study examined the impact of the middle school transition on general anxiety trajectories from middle childhood to middle adolescence, as well as how youths' individual vulnerability and exposure to contextual stressors were associated with anxiety trajectories. Participants were 631 youth (47% boys, M age = 7.96 years at Time 1), followed for 7 successive years from second to eighth grade. Teachers reported on youths' individual vulnerability to anxiety (anxious solitude) in second grade; youth reported on their anxiety in second to eighth grade and aspects of their social contexts particularly relevant to the school transition (school hassles, peer victimization, parent-child relationship quality, and friendship quality) in sixth to eighth grade. The results revealed two subgroups that showed either strongly increasing (5%) or decreasing (14%) levels of anxiety across the transition and two subgroups with fairly stable levels of either high (11%) or low (70%) anxiety over time. Youth in the latter two subgroups could be distinguished based on their individual vulnerability to anxiety, whereas youth with increasing anxiety reported more contextual stressors and less contextual support than youth with decreasing anxiety. In sum, findings suggest that the middle school transition has the potential to alter developmental trajectories of anxiety for some youth, for better or for worse.

Predictors of Middle School Students' Interest in Participating in an Incentive-Based Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program in Connecticut

PubMed Central

Morean, Meghan E.; Camenga, Deepa R.; Kong, Grace; Cavallo, Dana A.; Schepis, Ty S.

2014-01-01

Behavioral incentives have been used to encourage smoking cessation in older adolescents, but the acceptability of incentives to promote a smoke-free lifestyle in younger adolescents is unknown. To inform the development of novel, effective, school-based interventions for youth, we assessed middle school students' interest in participating in an incentive-based tobacco abstinence program. We surveyed 988 students (grades 6–8) attending three Connecticut middle schools to determine whether interest in program participation varied as a function of (1) intrapersonal factors (i.e., demographic characteristics (sex, age, race), smoking history, and trait impulsivity) and/or (2) aspects of program design (i.e., prize type, value, and reward frequency). Primary analyses were conducted using multiple regression. A majority of students (61.8%) reported interest in program participation. Interest did not vary by gender, smoking risk status, or offering cash prizes. However, younger students, non-Caucasian students, behaviorally impulsive students, and students with higher levels of self-regulation were more likely to report interest. Inexpensive awards (e.g., video games) offered monthly motivated program interest. In sum, middle school students reported high levels of interest in an incentive-based program to encourage a tobacco-free lifestyle. These formative data can inform the design of effective, incentive-based smoking cessation and prevention programs in middle schools. PMID:25147747

School-Level Factors Associated with Increased Fruit and Vegetable Consumption among Students in California Middle and High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gosliner, Wendi

2014-01-01

Background: This study assessed associations between selective school-level factors and students' consumption of fruits and vegetables at school. Better understanding of school factors associated with increased produce consumption is especially important, as students are served more produce items at school. Methods: This cross-sectional study…

The pediatric daytime sleepiness scale (PDSS): sleep habits and school outcomes in middle-school children.

PubMed

Drake, Christopher; Nickel, Chelsea; Burduvali, Eleni; Roth, Thomas; Jefferson, Catherine; Pietro, Badia

2003-06-15

To develop a measure of daytime sleepiness suitable for middle-school children and examine the relationship between daytime sleepiness and school-related outcomes. Self-report questionnaire. Four hundred fifty, 11- to 15-year-old students, from grades 6, 7, and 8 of a public middle school in Dayton, Ohio. A pediatric daytime sleepiness questionnaire was developed using factor analysis of questions regarding sleep-related behaviors. Results of the sleepiness questionnaire were then compared across other variables, including daily sleep patterns, school achievement, mood, and extracurricular activities. Factor analysis on the 13 questions related to daytime sleepiness yielded 1 primary factor ("pediatric daytime sleepiness"; 32% of variance). Only items with factor loadings above .4 were included in the final sleepiness scale. Internal consistency (Chronbach's alpha) for the final 8-item scale was .80. Separate one-way analyses of variance and trend analyses were performed comparing pediatric daytime sleepiness scores at the 5 different levels of total sleep time and academic achievement. Participants who reported low school achievement, high rates of absenteeism, low school enjoyment, low total sleep time, and frequent illness reported significantly higher levels of daytime sleepiness compared to children with better school-related outcomes. The self-report scale developed in the present work is suitable for middle-school-age children and may be useful in future research given its ease of administration and robust psychometric properties. Daytime sleepiness is related to reduced educational achievement and other negative school-related outcomes.

Single-gender mathematics and science classes and the effects on urban middle school boys and girls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sudler, Dawn M.

This study compared the differences in the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) mathematics and science achievement scores of boys and girls in Grade 7 at two urban middle schools. The data allowed the researcher to determine to what degree boys and girls in Grade 7 differ in their mathematics and science achievements within a single-gender environment versus a coeducational learning environment. The study compared any differences between boys and girls in Grade 7 within a single-gender environment in the subjects of mathematics and science, as measured by the CRCT assessments. The study also compared differences between boys and girls in Grade 7 within a coeducational environment in the subjects of mathematics and science, as measured by the CRCT assessments. Two middle schools were used within the study. One middle school was identified as a single-gender school (Middle School A); the other was identified as a coeducational school (Middle School B). This quantitative study applied the use of a descriptive research design. In addition, CRCT scores for the subjects of mathematics and science were taken during the spring of 2008 from both middle schools. Data were measured using descriptive statistics and independent t test calculations. The frequency statistics proceeded to compare each sample performance levels. The data were described in means, standard deviations, standard error means, frequency, and percentages. This method provided an excellent description of a sample scored on the spring 2008 CRCT mathematics and science assessments.

The Nature of Parental Involvement in Middle School: Examining Nonlinear Associations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wehrspann, Elizabeth; Dotterer, Aryn M.; Lowe, Katie

2016-01-01

Parental educational involvement during middle school has received increased attention from researchers and policymakers because of its links to a variety of academic outcomes. Despite this increased attention, parental involvement has been inconsistently linked to academic outcomes among adolescents, indicating different types and levels of…

Using Invitational Learning to Address Writing Competence for Middle School Students with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ornelles, Cecily; Black, Rhonda S.

2012-01-01

This study describes the process of creating an Invitational Learning environment to improve the writing competence of middle school students in two special education classes. Teacher-student interactions were coded according to Purkey and Novak's (1996) Intentionality/Invitation Quadrant with levels corresponding to intentionally disinviting,…

Figuring It Out: Standard-Based Reforms in Urban Middle Grades.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Anne C.

Six urban school districts (Chattanooga, Tennessee, Corpus Christi, Texas, Long Beach, California, Louisville, Kentucky, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and San Diego, California) have been pursuing standard-based reform at the middle school level accepting systemic reform as the norm. This report provides descriptions of their approaches, and commentary…

A Village Study with Middle School Spatial Organisation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, El

1985-01-01

Demonstrates how elements of a built environment can be introduced to middle school students. Describes activities that address the concept of spatial organziation in a small scale urban environment, suggesting that hierarchical arrangements of settlements, the central place theory, and land use zoning can be taught at the elementary level. (ML)

Mothers' Knowledge of Early Adolescents' Activities following the Middle School Transition and Pubertal Maturation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laird, Robert D.; Marrero, Matthew D.

2011-01-01

This study tested a sequential mediation model to determine whether experiences, social cognitions, or parent-adolescent interactional processes account for lower levels of mothers' knowledge of adolescents' whereabouts and activities following early adolescents' transition into middle school (MS) and pubertal development. Cross-sectional data…

Highlands County Energy Lessons. Middle School Level - Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, Vocational Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Rodney F., Ed.; Farmer, Richard

Middle school energy skills (Enerskills) and activities (Eneractivities) are provided in seven sections. Areas addressed include: (1) locating energy information using telephone books, dictionaries, card catalogs, and readers' guides; (2) writing letters for energy information; (3) energy and food (food intake/human performance, calories/energy);…

Teaching Students with Cognitive Impairment Chained Mathematical Task of Decimal Subtraction Using Simultaneous Prompting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rao, Shaila; Kane, Martha T.

2009-01-01

This study assessed effectiveness of simultaneous prompting procedure in teaching two middle school students with cognitive impairment decimal subtraction using regrouping. A multiple baseline, multiple probe design replicated across subjects successfully taught two students with cognitive impairment at middle school level decimal subtraction…

Counselor Perceptions: Let Us Do Our Job!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benigno, Stephen

2017-01-01

Elementary and Middle school administrators continually struggle with developing instructional programs that will address the academic and human developmental levels of the students in their care. Addressing the human development and the academic issues related to the elementary and middle school student is only a small percentage of the attention…

Improving Instruction in Middle Level Schools: Implications of Neurological Data for Curriculum Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toepfer, Conrad F., Jr.

Implications of biophysicist Herman Epstein's research on brain growth periodization, which develop a neurobiological consideration of learning issues for middle school curricula, have created controversy among educators and stimulus for further research. This presentation (1) summarizes the writer's interpretations of these data and implications…

Reclaiming Advisory: Advocacy in Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bennett, Cory A.; Martin, Kathryn

2018-01-01

Exemplary middle schools have a variety of programs that support students' needs and help them adjust socially and emotionally; advisory programs can be one structure to effectively provide some of this support. This article shares the story of how a group of middle level teachers and teacher leaders within a culturally diverse school reclaimed…

Reflections on Teaching Struggling Middle School Readers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ivey, Gay

1999-01-01

Shares four working generalizations on what it takes for middle school students with persistent reading difficulties to become successful readers: (1) access to materials that span the gamut of interests and difficulty levels; (2) opportunities to share reading experiences with teachers and classmates; (3) real purposes for reading; and (4)…

Personal-Academic Studies Engage Urban, Seventh-Grade Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hansen, Jane

2014-01-01

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…

A 21st Century Research Agenda: Issues, Topics & Questions Guiding Inquiry into Middle Level Theory & Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Middle School Association, Columbus, OH.

The purpose of this document is to widen the conversation and include all the stakeholders in the further development and use of enlightened and relevant research on middle level schooling. The research agenda it presents is meant to be a guide to topics, themes, and questions central to a number of middle level issues. The agenda consists of sets…

Adolescents’ Stage-Environment Fit in Middle and High School: The Relationship Between Students’ Perceptions of Their Schools and Themselves

PubMed Central

Booth, Margaret Zoller; Gerard, Jean M.

2012-01-01

This mixed-methods longitudinal project investigates the association between student perceptions of their schools and themselves. Findings from the first two waves of data analysis with 894 middle and high school students in a midsized Great Lakes city reveal similarities and differences between the grade levels (7th–10th) and their perceptions of their schools. Although 7th-grade students enter middle school with the most positive feelings about their schools, they lose this feeling of euphoria by the end of their academic year. In contrast, the 10th-grade females are the most positive of all students, recognizing school characteristics which assist with their self-efficacy. Results from quantitative analyses indicate that student attitudes toward school and a sense of school connectedness are linked to both self-esteem and academic self-efficacy. PMID:25332512

Multivariate Assessment of Middle School Students' Interest in STEM Career: a Profile from Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koyunlu Ünlü, Zeynep; Dökme, İlbilge

2018-05-01

According to a report by the Turkish Industry and Business Association, Turkey will need approximately 1 million individuals to be employed in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) fields by 2023, and 31% of this requirement will not be met. For continuous economic development, there is a need to integrate STEM into education in Turkey, which brings the need for research in this area. This study, based on a survey model, aimed to determine the level of interest of a sample of Turkish middle school students in STEM careers on the basis of gender, where they lived, grade levels, their end-of-semester grades, and their parents' educational status and levels of income. The research data was collected using the STEM Career Interest Survey (STEM-CIS) and Personal Information Form, which were applied to 851 middle school students (fifth and eighth graders). The collected data was analyzed with SPSS using Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis H tests. It was found that middle school students' interest in STEM careers differed according to sex, where they lived, and grade levels but it did not differ in relation to their parents' educational status and the levels of income of the family. It is believed that the results obtained in this study reflecting the profile in Turkey will guide educational policy makers, curriculum developers, teachers, pre-service teachers, and researchers about STEM education.

Traditional and Digital Game Preferences of Children: A CHAID Analysis on Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tatli, Zeynep

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study is to determine types of games that middle school students play in their daily lives and analyze the effects of various variables such as gender, available technology, grade in school and parents' education levels on their game preferences. The sample consisted of a total of 464 grade 5-8 students (212 girls and 252…

The Implementation and Impact of Evidence-Based Mathematics Reforms in High-Poverty Middle Schools: A Multi-Site, Multi-Year Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balfanz, Robert; Mac Iver, Douglas J.; Byrnes, Vaughan

2006-01-01

This article reports on the first 4 years of an effort to develop comprehensive and sustainable mathematics education reforms in high poverty middle schools. In four related analyses, we examine the levels of implementation achieved and impact of the reforms on various measures of achievement in the first 3 schools to implement the Talent…

The Relationship between Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) and Middle School Student Academic Achievement and Stakeholders' Perceptions: A Southern California Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dean, Jonathan C.

2009-01-01

Advancement via Determination (AVID) is an innovative educational program designed to enhance student eligibility for 4-year college admissions. While much research has been done at the high school level, little is known about AVID's effect on the academic success of middle school students and how teachers, AVID participants, and parents of AVID…

The Utility of Conflict Resolution and Study Skills Interventions with Middle School Students at Risk for Antisocial Behavior: A Methodological Illustration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalberg, Jemma Robertson; Lane, Kathleen; Lambert, Warren

2012-01-01

This article provides a methodological illustration of how to conduct randomized controls trials (RCT) for secondary levels of prevention within the context of three-tiered models of support. First, the authors demonstrate one method of using school-wide data to identify middle school students (N = 45) who were struggling in academic and…

Building of Environmental Literacy among Middle School Students: The Role of In-School, Out of School, and Psychological Factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevenson, Kathryn Tate

Solving environmental challenges will require an environmentally literate citizenry, equipped with ecological knowledge, pro-environmental attitudes, problem-solving skills, and motivation toward environmentally responsible behaviors. This dissertation addresses three approaches to building environmental literacy (EL) among middle school students: through schools (Chapter 1), through activities outside of school (Chapter 2), and through understanding psychological factors that affect environmental perceptions (Chapter 3). Chapter 1. This study examined school-wide EE programs among middle schools in North Carolina, including the use of published EE curricula and time outdoors while controlling for teacher education level and experience, student demographics, and school attributes. Our sample included an EE group selected from schools with registered schoolwide EE programs, and a control group randomly selected from NC middle schools that were not registered as EE schools. Students were given an EL survey at the beginning and end of the spring 2012 semester. Use of published EE curricula, time outdoors, and having teachers with advanced degrees and mid-level teaching experience (between 3 and 5 years) were positively related with EL whereas minority status (Hispanic and black) was negatively related with EL. Results suggest that though school-wide EE programs may vary in effectiveness, the use of published EE curricula paired with time outdoors represents a promising strategy. Further, investments in both new and veteran teachers to build and maintain enthusiasm for EE may help to boost student EL levels. Middle school represents a pivotal time for influencing EL, as improvement was slower among older students. Differences in EL levels based on gender suggest boys and girls may possess complementary skills sets when approaching environmental issues. Our findings suggest ethnicity related disparities in EL levels may be mitigated by time spent in nature, especially among black and Hispanic students. Chapter 2. Significant life experience (SLE) research suggests presence of role models, time outdoors, and nature-related media foster pro-environmental behavior, but most research is qualitative. Based on a random sample of middle school students in North Carolina, USA, we found limited positive associations between presence of a role model and time outdoors with behavior and a negative association between watching nature television and environmental knowledge. The strongest predictors of environmental knowledge and behavior were student/teacher ratio and county income levels, respectively. We also found that Native Americans engaged in environmental behaviors more than Caucasians, and that African American and Hispanic students had lower levels of environmental knowledge. Accordingly, life experiences appear less important than promoting small class sizes and addressing challenges associated with lower incomes in schools. Chapter 3. Though many climate literacy efforts attempt to communicate climate change as a risk, these strategies may be ineffective because among adults, worldview rather than scientific understanding largely drives climate change risk perceptions. Further, increased science literacy may polarize worldview-driven perceptions, making some climate literacy efforts counterproductive among skeptics. Because worldviews are still forming in the teenage years, adolescents may represent a more receptive audience. This study examined how worldview and climate change knowledge related to acceptance of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) and in turn, climate change risk perception among middle school students. We found respondents with individualistic worldviews were 16.1 percentage points less likely to accept AGW than communitarian respondents at median knowledge levels, mirroring findings in similar studies among adults. The interaction between knowledge and worldview, however, was opposite from previous studies among adults, because increased climate change knowledge was positively related to acceptance of AGW among both groups, and had a stronger positive relationship among individualists. Thus, education efforts specific to climate change may counteract divisions based on worldviews among adolescents, versus polarize them as among adults.

Gender Norm Salience Across Middle Schools: Contextual Variations in Associations Between Gender Typicality and Socioemotional Distress.

PubMed

Smith, Danielle Sayre; Schacter, Hannah L; Enders, Craig; Juvonen, Jaana

2018-05-01

Youth who feel they do not fit with gender norms frequently experience peer victimization and socioemotional distress. To gauge differences between schools, the current study examined the longitudinal effects of school-level gender norm salience-a within-school association between gender typicality and peer victimization-on socioemotional distress across 26 ethnically diverse middle schools (n boys  = 2607; n girls  = 2805). Boys (but not girls) reporting lower gender typicality experienced more loneliness and social anxiety in schools with more salient gender norms, even when accounting for both individual and school level victimization. Greater gender norm salience also predicted increased depressed mood among boys regardless of gender typicality. These findings suggest particular sensitivity among boys to environments in which low gender typicality is sanctioned.

Fat and sugar levels are high in snacks purchased from student stores in middle schools.

PubMed

Wildey, M B; Pampalone, S Z; Pelletier, R L; Zive, M M; Elder, J P; Sallis, J F

2000-03-01

Children consume about one third of their daily energy at school, mostly from cafeteria food and bag lunches. Students also shop at student-run stores that generate revenue for extracurricular activities; yet the nutritional value of snacks sold at student stores has not been documented to our knowledge. Cross-sectional study of foods sold at student stores in middle schools. Twenty-four San Diego County (Calif) public middle schools, grades 6 through 8 (age 11 to 13), from 9 school districts. The schools represent a diversity of ethnic groups and socioeconomic levels. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlations, analysis of variance. Snacks averaged 8.7 g fat and 23.0 g sugar. Overall, 88.5% of store inventory was high in fat and/or high in sugar. Sugar candy accounted for one third of store sales. Chocolate candy was highest in fat content: 15.7 g. Fourteen of the 24 schools had stores that sold food and were run by student organizations. Stores were open daily for about 90 minutes; half sold food during lunch. Adolescents need opportunities to supplement main meals; however, student stores in middle schools sell primarily high-fat, high-sugar snacks. Key intervention possibilities include limiting sales of chocolate candy and substituting low-fat varieties of cakes, cookies, chips, and crackers. Competition with cafeterias for sales at lunchtime should be addressed.

Middle School Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. The Handbook of Research in Middle Level Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anfara, Vincent A., Jr., Ed.; Stacki, Sandra L., Ed.

This volume theorizes, describes, and explains practices and some specific programs designed to help meet the needs and demands of a diverse student population. The central point of this volume is that curriculum, instruction, and assessment in middle-level education is a dynamic, interrelated system undergoing change. The book contains the…

Analysis of food irradiation education for elementary, middle, and high school students for three years in South Korea.

PubMed

Choi, Yoonseok; Kim, Jaerok; Han, Eunok

2016-04-01

The current South Korean government policy on food irradiation technology should be reformed based on an in-depth investigation of the communications aspect, because the issue is no longer of a technological nature, given the proven safety and efficacy of the processes. The target population of the education program consisted of elementary, middle, and high school students attending 310 schools in South Korea (2013: 63 schools, 2014: 104 schools, 2015: 143 schools). Data subjected to analysis were 13,327 pre-education and 12,641 post-education questionnaires received from 7,582 elementary, 2,671 middle, and 3,249 high school students who participated in the education program from May 2012 to April 2015 (n = 12,831), after the exclusion of inadequately filled-in questionnaires. Analysis of the three-year educational effect trend was conducted by comparing levels of variables before and after food radiation education. The analysis yielded the finding that the post-education levels were significantly higher for all variables. That is, for interest in education, perception (necessity, safety, subjective knowledge, and information acquisition), objective knowledge, and attitude, with the sole exception of objective knowledge in 2013. Given that post-education levels of perception, knowledge, and attitude concerning irradiated foods increased considerably compared to pre-education levels, behavior change should be induced by providing continuous education to enhance, these primary variables.

A case study of a mathematics teacher's and science teacher's use of teacher wisdom in integrating middle school mathematics and science content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saam, Julie Reinhardt

The National Science Education Standards, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Curriculum Standards, the Interdisciplinary Team Organization structure and the Middle School movement collectively suggest to teachers to make connections between their subject areas. This case study of a middle school mathematics teacher and science teacher utilizes the framework of teacher wisdom to bring a unique perspective to the process of developing and implementing integrated curriculum. Data collection consisted of interviews with the teachers, students, and their principal; documents such lesson plans, team meeting minutes and teacher journal entries; and field notes acquired within team meetings and classroom instruction. The interpretations of this study reveal that teacher development of integrated curriculum occurs in two ways: naturally and intentionally. The natural label used to describe when teachers comfortably share information that could serve as connections between subjects. The intentional label used to describe when the teachers purposely plan integrated lessons and units. These findings also provide an image of middle school integration. This image exhibits more than connections between subject area content; it also shows connections with away-from-school skills and events, lifeskills, and lifelong guidelines. Although these teachers found it frustrating and overwhelming to meet the many views of integration, they assembled integration curriculum that followed their philosophy of education, coincided with their personal characteristics and met the needs of their students. The interpretations of this study reveal a new model of middle school integration. Teachers can use this model as a collection of integration examples. Integration researchers can use this model as a conceptual framework to analyze the integration efforts of middle level teachers. Additional research needs to focus on: developing new modeling and evaluation tools for teachers, evaluating middle school professional development programs, investigating middle school teachers' characteristics, and continuing the study of integration's worth. The results of this study and additional research may help: (a) administrators to target specific teachers for middle school positions, (b) educators to plan and implement new programs for inservice and preservice middle school teachers, and (c) teachers to experiment with new and innovative strategies for middle school integration.

Propagation & Level: Factors Influencing in the ICT Composite Index at the School Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aoki, Hiroyuki; Kim, JaMee; Lee, WonGyu

2013-01-01

Many nations are greatly affected by their education policies, and the educational level of different schools is relevant to a nation's ICT policy. In the area of ICT, Korea has achieved quite high levels of competency. This study analyzed the level of ICT competency of 4490 elementary and 2419 middle schools in Korea within the context of the…

Cardiovascular risk factors in multi-ethnic middle school students: the HEALTHY primary prevention trial.

PubMed

Willi, S M; Hirst, K; Jago, R; Buse, J; Kaufman, F; El Ghormli, L; Bassin, S; Elliot, D; Hale, D E

2012-06-01

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of an integrated, multi-component, school-based intervention programme on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among a multi-ethnic cohort of middle school students. HEALTHY was a cluster randomized, controlled, primary prevention trial. Middle school was the unit of randomization and intervention. Half of the schools were assigned to an intervention programme consisting of changes in the total school food environment and physical education classes, enhanced by educational outreach and behaviour change activities and promoted by a social marketing campaign consisting of reinforcing messages and images. Outcome data reported (anthropometrics, blood pressure and fasting lipid levels) were collected on a cohort of students enrolled at the start of 6th grade (∼11-12 years old) and followed to end of 8th grade (∼13-14 years old). Forty-two middle schools were enrolled at seven field centres; 4363 students provided both informed consent and CVD data at baseline and end of study. The sample was 52.7% female, 54.5% Hispanic, 17.6% non-Hispanic Black, 19.4% non-Hispanic White and 8.5% other racial/ethnic combinations, and 49.6% were categorized as overweight or obese (body mass index ≥ 85th percentile) at baseline. A significant intervention effect was detected in the prevalence of hypertension in non-Hispanic Black and White males. The intervention produced no significant changes in lipid levels. The prevalence of some CVD risk factors is high in minority middle school youth, particularly males. A multi-component, school-based programme achieved only modest reductions in these risk factors; however, promising findings occurred in non-Hispanic Black and White males with hypertension. © 2012 The Authors. Pediatric Obesity © 2012 International Association for the Study of Obesity.

Teachers' Perspectives about an Anti-Bullying Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lester, Robin Rawlings; Maldonado, Nancy

2013-01-01

Bullying has become a nationwide concern at the K-12 level. Guided by the theoretical framework of social learning theory, this study explored the perceptions of secondary education teachers about the bully-proofing program in place at one target middle school. Despite the target middle school's anti-bullying program, the incidence of bullying had…

NCLB Presents Middle School Complications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keller, Bess

2004-01-01

In this article, the author reports how the "highly qualified" provision of the No Child Left Behind Act affected middle-grades teachers far more than teachers at the elementary and high school levels. Under the federal law, teachers beyond the elementary grades who were in the classroom two years ago may show their knowledge of academic…

Introduction to Vocations Comprehensive Middle School Program: Mathematics Activities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gartner, Karen; And Others

Junior high or middle school student activities in mathematics are provided for three entry level occupations in each of fifteen career clusters. The fifteen cluster titles including one of the three occupations for each cluster with an example of a student activity follow: (1) Agri-business and Natural Resources (cropdusting pilot, reading an…

Teaching Economics to Young Adolescents: A Research-Based Rationale.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, James E.

This booklet presents a research-based rationale for teaching economics at the middle/junior high school level in the United States. Chapter 1, "Introduction," describes the project in which the rationale was developed and outlines the remainder of the document. Chapter 2, "Elements of a Rationale for Middle School Economic Education," presents…

An Analysis of School Anti-Bullying Laws in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kueny, Maryellen T.; Zirkel, Perry A.

2012-01-01

Bullying, a pattern of physical or emotional abuse that students intentionally inflict on their peers, exists throughout secondary education, but is most prevalent during the middle grades. To inform the practice of middle level educators, this study canvassed school anti-bullying laws in each state and compared them with relevant research…

Beyond Interdisciplinary Teaming: Findings and Implications of the NASSP National Middle Level Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hackmann, Donald G.; Petzko, Vicki N.; Valentine, Jerry W.; Clark, Donald C.; Nori, John R.; Lucas, Stephen E.

2002-01-01

Reports trends and implications of interdisciplinary teaming practices in middle schools, based on findings from a national survey. Noting that nearly 80 percent of schools currently implement teaming, challenges principals and teachers to move beyond simple formation of teams to the creation of an infrastructure that supports high-performing…

Alternative Middle School Models: An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duffield, Stacy Kay

2018-01-01

A Midwestern state allocated grant funding to encourage more accessible alternative programming at the middle level. Seventeen schools were approved for this grant and used the funds to supplement the operation of a new or existing program. This study provides policymakers and educators with an overview of the various types of alternative middle…

Does Biliteracy + Mathematical Discourse = Binumerate Development? Language Use in a Middle School Dual-Language Mathematics Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubinstein-Ávila, Eliane; Sox, Amanda A.; Kaplan, Suzanne; McGraw, Rebecca

2015-01-01

Few studies on the role of bilingualism in mathematics classrooms explore the intersection of biliteracy, language use, mathematical discourse, and numeracy--especially at the middle school level. Drawing from biliteracy development theory and reform mathematics education literature, this qualitative case study of a dual-language mathematics…

Teaching Design in Middle-School: Instructors' Concerns and Scaffolding Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bamberger, Yael M.; Cahill, Clara S.

2013-01-01

This study deals with engineering education in the middle-school level. Its focus is instructors' concerns in teaching design, as well as scaffolding strategies that can help teachers deal with these concerns. Through participatory action research, nine instructors engaged in a process of development and instruction of a curriculum about energy…

Beyond the Transcript: Factors Influencing the Pursuit of Science and Mathematics Coursework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haag, Susan; Megowan, Colleen

2012-01-01

The nation's middle schools suffer from a shortage of qualified science and mathematics teachers. To address this need, one university in the southwest has developed the Modeling Institute, a master's degree program for in-service elementary educators interested in teaching science and mathematics at the middle school level. Identifying the…

Parental Overprotection: Effects on Self-Concept and Social and School Functioning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oh, Susan Y.; And Others

Relationships between parental overprotection and fifth-graders' self-concept and level of social and school functioning were examined by means of systematic observations of parent-child interactions in the home, parent and child self-reports, teacher and peer ratings, grades, and achievement scores. Subjects were 43 middle-to-upper-middle income…

Implementation of Standards-Based Grading at the Middle School Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Urich, Laura Jill

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to learn about the experiences of teachers as they transition from traditional grading practices to standards-based reporting (SBR). In order to achieve this overall objective, the following research questions framed this qualitative study: (1) What understandings related to practices do middle school teachers have as…

Professional Development Sites: Revitalizing Preservice Education in Middle Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bell, Nancy M.

This case study reports on the experiences of teachers and student teachers during the process of developing and implementing professional development sites (PDSs) at one urban and two rural middle schools. The study examines the phases of development that teachers go through in the process of developing PDSs and how teachers' level of development…

The Influence of Loneliness and Interpersonal Relations on Latina/o Middle School Students' Wellbeing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heredia, Dagoberto, Jr.; Sanchéz Gonzalez, Mayra L.; Rosner, Christine M.; He, Xiao; Castillo, Linda G.; Ojeda, Lizette

2017-01-01

This study examined associations of loneliness and relationships (e.g., teacher/student relationships, peer support, and family support) with wellbeing among Latina/o middle school students. A hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated that age and loneliness predicted wellbeing; older students and students with high levels of loneliness…

Student Perspectives on Quality Teaching: Words and Images

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bell, Athene; Ewaida, Marriam; Lynch, Megan R.; Zenkov, Kristien

2011-01-01

This article reports on the findings of a photography and literacy project ("Through Students' Eyes") the authors conducted with middle level English language learners and alternative high school youth from a mid-Atlantic (US) ex-urban area. In order to bridge middle and high school settings, the authors used multimodal and photo…

Introduction to Computers in Education for Elementary and Middle School Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moursund, David

Designed to help elementary and middle school teachers increase their level of computer-education literacy, this book discusses the capabilities, limitations, applications, and possible impact of computers in education. Chapter 1 briefly defines what a computer is and explains the book's goals and applications. Chapter 2 provides a technical…

Discourse-Based Instructional Strategies to Engage Middle School Students with Standards for Mathematical

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cookson, Sandra

2017-01-01

Student achievement in mathematics is correlated with factors related to student engagement. Improving engagement has the potential to improve student achievement at the middle school level. The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics explicate eight specific Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMPs) that clarify the types of skills and…

Reform in Middle-Level Education: Roles, Relationships, and Reality.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrow, Linda E.; Martin, Kaye M.

The faculty of one rural middle school in Ohio received professional development funds to implement a 5-year school improvement plan (Ohio's Venture Capital initiative). A study of the project investigated: (1) how the experience affected teachers' perceptions of their roles as reflective practitioners and as resources to their colleagues; (2) how…

Commonalities and Differences in Teacher Leadership at the Elementary, Middle, and High School Levels.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stone, Mary; And Others

This paper reports the findings of three integrated studies initiated by principal/researchers in an elementary, middle, and high school. The purpose of integrating the studies was to compare and contrast teacher leadership in the following areas: characteristics of teacher leadership, motivation for teachers to assume leadership roles, supports…

A Comparison of Actual and Preferred Classroom Environments as Perceived by Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lai, Hsiang-Ru; Chou, Wei-Lun; Miao, Nae-Fang; Wu, Yu-Ping; Lee, Pi-Hsia; Jwo, Jiunn-Chern

2015-01-01

Background: A good classroom environment can promote students' learning motivation and affect their academic efficacy and adaptation. This study compares the perceptions of Taiwanese middle school students regarding actual and preferred classroom environments and explores the association with sex and grade level. Methods: Data were collected using…

Hope as a Mediator and Moderator of Multidimensional Perfectionism and Depression in Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ashby, Jeffrey S.; Dickinson, Wendy L.; Gnilka, Philip B.; Noble, Christina L.

2011-01-01

The authors examined the relationship of perfectionism, hope, and depression in a sample of 153 middle school students. Adaptive perfectionists differed significantly from both maladaptive perfectionists and nonperfectionists on their levels of hope and depression. Hope mediated the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and depression and…

"What We're Doing, We Do Musically": Leading and Managing Music in Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, Janet A.; Beauchamp, Gary

2005-01-01

In English schools, many responsibilities have been delegated downwards to "middle level leaders". National standards for subject leadership assume that middle leadership skills are generic and the literature largely agrees with this view. This article presents data from the first pilot enquiry within ARTSLAMP (Arts Leadership and…

An Electrifying Quiz! Constructing a Printed-Circuit Board Quiz Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calhoun, Michael J.

2005-01-01

Laptop computers, cell phones and the Apple iPod all contain transistors, IC chips, capacitors, and other electronic components. To the general public--and especially students in upper elementary and middle school grades--these components are most often very mysterious items. Yet, it is at elementary and middle school levels that scientists and…

Safety in the Air: A Curriculum About Flight and Air Traffic Control Designed for Middle School Students

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1983-01-01

Safety in the Air is designed to be taught as a six-lesson unit to middle school : students, preferably sixth, seventh, or eighth grade level. : This curriculum is designed first of all to familiarize both the teacher and the : student with some basi...

New Scientific Aspects of the "Burning Candle" Experiment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Massalha, Taha

2016-01-01

The "burning candle" experiment is used in middle school education programs to prove that air contains a component that is essential to burning (i.e., oxygen). The accepted interpretation taught by teachers in middle school is this: when burning occurs, oxygen is used up, creating an underpressure that causes a rise in water level inside…

The influence of family context on life, educational and occupational ideal among middle school students in China.

PubMed

Yao, Benxian; Zhang, Ling; Zhen, Rui; Zhou, Xiao

2016-06-01

This study examined the relationship between family context of middle school students on their educational and occupational ideals. Middle school students (N = 2000) responded to questions assessing family location, family structure, parental educational level and family economic status, as well as to the Middle School Students' Ideals Questionnaire. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated that life, educational and occupational ideals of female students and students in lower grades were higher than that of male students and students in higher grades. Regression analysis indicated that paternal education level have a positive association with educational and occupational ideals, but not life ideals, and family economic status have a positive relation to life ideals, but not educational and occupational ideals. Moreover, the interaction between family economic status and family location has a negative association with students' life, educational and occupational ideals. These results suggest that different factors predicted different ideals of adolescents, and that family economic status had a negative moderating effect on the relationship between family location and ideals of students. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

Trajectories of teacher-student warmth and conflict at the transition to middle school: Effects on academic engagement and achievement.

PubMed

Hughes, Jan N; Cao, Qian

2018-04-01

Using piece-wise longitudinal trajectory analysis, this study investigated trajectories of teacher-reported warmth and conflict in their relationships with students 4years prior to and 3years following the transition to middle school in a sample of 550 academically at-risk and ethnically diverse adolescents. At the transition to middle school, teacher reports of warmth showed a significant drop (shift in intercept), above age-related declines. Both warmth and conflict declined across the middle school years. Structural equation modeling (SEM) tested effects of the shifts in intercept and the post-transition slopes on reading and math achievement, teacher-rated engagement, and student-reported school belonging 3years post-transition, above pre-transition levels of the outcome. For warmth, a drop in intercept predicted lower math scores and engagement, and a more positive slope predicted higher engagement. For conflict, an increase in intercept and a negative slope predicted lower engagement. Implications of findings for reducing normative declines in academic engagement in middle school are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Partners in Physics with Colorado School of Mines' Society of Physics Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, Shirley; Stilwell, Matthew; Boerner, Zach

2011-04-01

The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) Society of Physics Students (SPS) revitalized in 2008 and has since blown up with outreach activity, incorporating all age levels into our programs. In Spring 2010, CSM SPS launched a new program called Partners in Physics. Students from Golden High School came to CSM where they had a college-level lesson on standing waves and their applications. These students then joined volunteers from CSM in teaching local elementary school students about standing waves beginning with a science show. The CSM and high school students then helped the children to build make-and-take demonstrations incorporating waves. This year, rockets are the theme for Partners in Physics and we began with demonstrations with local middle school students. In Spring 2011, CSM SPS will be teaching elementary school students about projectile motion and model rockets along with these middle school students. Colorado School of Mines Department of Physics

Intrapersonal, Behavioral, and Environmental Factors Associated With Meeting Recommended Physical Activity Among Rural Latino Youth

PubMed Central

Perry, Cynthia K.; Saelens, Brian E.; Thompson, Beti

2013-01-01

This study aimed to identify intrapersonal, behavioral, and environmental factors associated with engaging in recommended levels of physical activity among rural Latino middle school youth. Data were from an anonymous survey of 773 Latino youth (51% female) about level of and barriers and motivators to physical activity, risk behaviors, and park use. Logistic regression models identified factors correlated with meeting recommended levels of physical activity (5 days or more 360 min/day). Thirty-four percent of girls and 41% of boys reported meeting this physical activity recommendation. Participation in an organized after school activity (p < .001) and in physical education (PE) classes 5 days a week (p < .001) were strongly associated with meeting recommended physical activity level. Making PE available 5 days a week and creating opportunities for organized after school physical activity programs may increase the number of rural Latino middle school youth who meet recommended physical activity level. PMID:22109778

Intrapersonal, behavioral, and environmental factors associated with meeting recommended physical activity among rural Latino youth.

PubMed

Perry, Cynthia K; Saelens, Brian E; Thompson, Beti

2011-11-01

This study aimed to identify intrapersonal, behavioral, and environmental factors associated with engaging in recommended levels of physical activity among rural Latino middle school youth. Data were from an anonymous survey of 773 Latino youth (51% female) about level of and barriers and motivators to physical activity, risk behaviors, and park use. Logistic regression models identified factors correlated with meeting recommended levels of physical activity (5 days or more 3 60 min/day). Thirty-four percent of girls and 41% of boys reported meeting this physical activity recommendation. Participation in an organized after school activity (p < .001) and in physical education (PE) classes 5 days a week (p < .001) were strongly associated with meeting recommended physical activity level. Making PE available 5 days a week and creating opportunities for organized after school physical activity programs may increase the number of rural Latino middle school youth who meet recommended physical activity level.

Pedometer-Assessed Physical Activity Levels of Rural Appalachian Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oh, Hyun-Ju; Rana, Sharon

2014-01-01

The purposes of this investigation were to examine whether pedometer-assessed physical activity (PA) in Appalachian Ohio students differed by body mass index (BMI), school level (middle school vs. high school), and gender during school days and nonschool days and whether students met the recommended PA guidelines. Participants (N = 149) were…

Factors that Influence Pre-Service Administrators' Views of Appropriate School Counselor Duties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mason, Kimberly L.; Perera-Diltz, Dilani M.

2010-01-01

This study surveyed pre-service administrative internship students (N = 61) at an urban Midwestern state university to explore factors that influence duties assigned to school counselors at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Results indicated variation in duties assigned by pre-service administrators based on school building level.…

E-cigarette curiosity among U.S. middle and high school students: Findings from the 2014 national youth tobacco survey.

PubMed

Margolis, Katherine A; Nguyen, Anh B; Slavit, Wendy I; King, Brian A

2016-08-01

Curiosity is a potential risk factor for electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use, which has increased considerably among US youth in recent years. We examined the relationship between curiosity about e-cigarettes and perceived harm, comparative addictiveness, and e-cigarette advertisement exposure. Data came from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey, a nationally representative survey of U.S. middle and high school students. In 2014, 2.5% of middle school and 9.2% of high school students currently used cigarettes, while 3.9% of middle school and 13.4% of high school students reported current e-cigarette use. Among never e-cigarette users (n=17,286), descriptive statistics assessed curiosity about e-cigarettes by combustible tobacco use, sex, race/ethnicity, and school level. Associations between curiosity and perceived harm (absolute and comparative to cigarettes), comparative addictiveness, and e-cigarette advertising exposure were explored using multivariate models in 2015. Among youth who never used e-cigarettes, 25.8% reported curiosity about e-cigarettes. Higher levels of perceived absolute harm and comparative harm were associated with lower levels of curiosity, while no association was observed between comparative addictiveness and curiosity. Among never combustible tobacco users, the odds of high curiosity were greater among non-Hispanic blacks (odds ratio (OR): 1.39; 95% confidence interval (CI):1.02-1.88), Hispanics (OR=1.79; 95% CI:1.48-2.16), and non-Hispanic 'Other' (OR=1.47; 95% CI:1.15-1.89) race/ethnicities than non-Hispanic whites. One-quarter of middle and high school students who have never used e-cigarettes are curious about the products, with greater curiosity among those with lower perceptions of harm from these products. These findings may help inform future strategies aimed at reducing curiosity about e-cigarettes among youth. Published by Elsevier Inc.

E-cigarette Curiosity among U.S. Middle and High School Students: Findings from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey

PubMed Central

Margolis, Katherine A.; Nguyen, Anh B.; Slavit, Wendy I.; King, Brian A.

2016-01-01

Curiosity is a potential risk factor for electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use, which has increased considerably among US youth in recent years. We examined the relationship between curiosity about e-cigarettes and perceived harm, comparative addictiveness, and e-cigarette advertisement exposure. Data came from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey, a nationally representative survey of U.S. middle and high school students. In 2014, 2.5% of middle school and 9.2% of high school students currently used cigarettes, while 3.9% of middle school and 13.4% of high school students reported current e-cigarette use. Among never e-cigarette users (n= 17,286), descriptive statistics assessed curiosity about e-cigarettes by combustible tobacco use, sex, race/ethnicity, and school level. Associations between curiosity and perceived harm (absolute and comparative to cigarettes), comparative addictiveness, and e-cigarette advertising exposure were explored using multivariate models in 2015. Among youth who never used e-cigarettes, 25.8% reported curiosity about e-cigarettes. Higher levels of perceived absolute harm and comparative harm were associated with lower levels of curiosity, while no association was observed between comparative addictiveness and curiosity. Among never combustible tobacco users, the odds of high curiosity were greater among non-Hispanic blacks (odds ratio (OR): 1.39; 95% confidence interval (CI):1.02–1.88), Hispanics (OR=1.79; 95%CI:1.48–2.16), and non-Hispanic ‘Other’ (OR=1.47; 95%CI:1.15–1.89) race/ethnicities than non-Hispanic whites. One-quarter of middle and high school students who have never used e-cigarettes are curious about the products, with greater curiosity among those with lower perceptions of harm from these products. These findings may help inform future strategies aimed at reducing curiosity about e-cigarettes among youth. PMID:27155440

Family-School Connections and the Transitions of Low-Income Youth and English Language Learners from Middle School into High School

PubMed Central

Crosnoe, Robert

2010-01-01

The theoretical and policy focus on parental involvement in education has evolved into a consideration of two-way connections between families and schools. Working from a social capital perspective emphasizing the importance of information in periods and domains of uncertainty, this study tested a specific application of this reconceptualization. Multilevel models of the National Education Longitudinal Study (n = 17,899) revealed that youth started high school in higher-level math when parents, middle school personnel, and high school personnel were in contact with each other and when middle school personnel bridged the other two. The observed effects of other family-school patterns on math and of all family-school patterns on science were driven by selection, including adolescents' characteristics selecting them into different family-school configurations. Importantly, multiple forms of family-school communication were related to reduced income and language disparities in math and science coursework, regardless of their associations with coursework in the general population. PMID:19586180

Availability of drinking water in US public school cafeterias.

PubMed

Hood, Nancy E; Turner, Lindsey; Colabianchi, Natalie; Chaloupka, Frank J; Johnston, Lloyd D

2014-09-01

This study examined the availability of free drinking water during lunchtime in US public schools, as required by federal legislation beginning in the 2011-2012 school year. Data were collected by mail-back surveys in nationally representative samples of US public elementary, middle, and high schools from 2009-2010 to 2011-2012. Overall, 86.4%, 87.4%, and 89.4% of students attended elementary, middle, and high schools, respectively, that met the drinking water requirement. Most students attended schools with existing cafeteria drinking fountains and about one fourth attended schools with water dispensers. In middle and high schools, respondents were asked to indicate whether drinking fountains were clean, and whether they were aware of any water-quality problems at the school. The vast majority of middle and high school students (92.6% and 90.4%, respectively) attended schools where the respondent perceived drinking fountains to be clean or very clean. Approximately one in four middle and high school students attended a school where the survey respondent indicated that there were water-quality issues affecting drinking fountains. Although most schools have implemented the requirement to provide free drinking water at lunchtime, additional work is needed to promote implementation at all schools. School nutrition staff at the district and school levels can play an important role in ensuring that schools implement the drinking water requirement, as well as promote education and behavior-change strategies to increase student consumption of water at school. Copyright © 2014 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Integrating Art and History: A Model for the Middle School Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kahn, Brian

2017-01-01

One of the major challenges facing middle level social studies teachers is to help young adolescents understand the relevance of the past in the present day. As middle level learners are primed to develop their cognitive abilities and to view people and events from the past from multiple perspectives, it is imperative that teachers go beyond the…

What Is the Current Level of Asthma Knowledge in Elementary, Middle, and High School Teachers?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carey, Stephen

2013-01-01

This study examined teacher asthma knowledge based on three areas including (a) the level of teacher asthma knowledge in the Maury County Public School System, (b) the level of teacher asthma knowledge based on five demographic factors, and (c) the level of teacher asthma knowledge in the Maury County Public School System compared with teacher…

Do you have any material that I could use in the classroom (elementary school/middle school/high school/college level)?

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2015-10-28

Please visit the Science Directorate Educational Resources page for information on videos, classroom projects, and activities that are available for all grade levels. Trading cards, bookmarks, and lesson plans can also be downloaded from...

A Reexamination of the Psychometric Properties of the "School-Wide Evaluation Tool" (SET)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vincent, Claudia; Spaulding, Scott; Tobin, Tary Jeanne

2010-01-01

As a follow-up to Horner et al., this study focuses on the internal consistency and validity of the School-wide Evaluation Tool (SET) at all school levels. Analyzing SET data from 833 elementary, 264 middle, and 93 high schools, the authors focused on (a) describing commonalities and differences in SET data across the school levels, (b) assessing…

An empirical investigation of differences between mathematics specialists and non-specialists at the high school level in Cyprus: A Logistic regression Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papanastasiou, Elena C.; Zembylas, Michalinos

2006-12-01

AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MATHEMATICS SPECIALISTS AND NON-SPECIALISTS AT THE HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL in Cyprus - The data obtained from high-school seniors for the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) for the country of Cyprus appear to be contradictory. Although Cypriot students did not perform well in mathematics in elementary school, middle school, and in the non-advanced sectors of high school, students in advanced mathematics courses in high school managed to perform exceptionally well. In seeking to account for this apparent disparity, the present study examines the differences between mathematics specialists and non-specialists at the high-school level and discusses the implications that these have for teaching practice. It shows how students educated in an environment that might not be optimal for producing high-achieving students in mathematics and science in elementary and middle school (according to the TIMSS) might nonetheless manage to excel in these fields at the end of their schooling. In conclusion, the authors address the implications of their study for similar educational systems in other developing countries.

A Longitudinal Analysis of the Effects of Socioeconomic Factors, Foreign Media, and Attitude toward Appearance on General and Central Adiposity in Chinese Adolescents.

PubMed

Felicitas, Jamie Q; Tanenbaum, Hilary C; Li, Yawen; Chou, Chih-Ping; Palmer, Paula H; Spruijt-Metz, Donna; Reynolds, Kim D; Johnson, C Anderson; Xie, Bin

This paper explores the longitudinal effects of socioeconomic factors (i.e., parent education and family income level), foreign media, and attitude toward appearance on general and central adiposity among Chinese adolescents. A longitudinal analysis was performed using data from the China Seven Cities Study, a health promotion and smoking prevention study conducted in seven cities across Mainland China between 2002 and 2005. Participants included 5,020 middle and high school students and their parents. Explanatory variables included foreign media exposure, attitude toward appearance, parent education, and family income. Three-level, random-effect models were used to predict general adiposity (i.e., body mass index) and central adiposity (i.e., waist circumference). The Generalized Estimating Equation approach was utilized to determine the effect of explanatory variables on overweight status. Among girls, foreign media exposure was significantly negatively associated with general adiposity over time (β=-0.06, p=0.01 for middle school girls; β=-0.06, p=0.03 for high school girls). Attitude toward appearance was associated with lesser odds of being overweight, particularly among high school girls (OR=0.86, p<0.01). Among boys, parental education was significantly positively associated with general adiposity (β=0.62, p<0.01 for middle school boys; β=0.37, p=0.02 for high school boys) and associated with greater odds of being overweight (OR=1.55, p<0.01 for middle school boys; OR=1.26, p=0.04 for high school boys). Across all gender and grade levels, family income was significantly negatively associated with central adiposity over time. Interventions addressing Chinese adolescent overweight/obesity should consider these factors as potential focus areas.

Epidemiology of basketball, soccer, and volleyball injuries in middle-school female athletes.

PubMed

Barber Foss, Kim D; Myer, Greg D; Hewett, Timothy E

2014-05-01

An estimated 30 to 40 million school children participate in sports in the United States; 34% of middle-school participants become injured and seek medical treatment at an annual cost close to $2 billion. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the injury incidence and rates in female athletes in the middle-school setting during the course of 3 seasons. Female basketball, soccer, and volleyball players were recruited from a single county public school district in Kentucky consisting of 5 middle schools. A total of 268 female athletes (162 basketball, 26 soccer, and 80 volleyball) participated. Athletes were monitored for sports-related injury and number of athlete exposures (AEs) by an athletic trainer. Injury rates were calculated for specific types of injuries within each sport. Injury rates for games and practices were also calculated and compared for each sport. A total of 134 injuries were recorded during the 3 sport seasons. The knee was the most commonly injured body part (99 injuries [73.9%]), of which patellofemoral dysfunction (31.3%), Osgood-Schlatter disease (10.4%), and Sinding-Larsen-Johansson/patella tendinosis (9%) had the greatest incidence. The ankle was the second most commonly injured body part, accounting for 16.4% of all injuries. The overall rates of injury by sport were as follows: soccer, 6.66 per 1000 AEs; volleyball, 3.68 per 1000 AEs; and basketball, 2.86 per 1000 AEs. Female middle-school athletes displayed comparable injury patterns to those seen in their high-school counterparts. Future work is warranted to determine the potential for improved outcomes in female middle-school athletes with access to athletic training services. As the participation levels and number of injuries continue to rise, middle-school athletes demonstrate an increasing need for medical services provided by a certified athletic trainer.

The Middle Ages: Family Life.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

School Library Media Activities Monthly, 1996

1996-01-01

Describes a four-volume reference set for elementary and middle school students called "The Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia for Students" edited by William Chester Jordan. Provides a sample lesson which includes library media skills objectives, curriculum objectives, grade levels, resources, instructional roles, activity and procedures for…

Connections Count. Improving Family and Community Involvement in Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Epstein, Joyce L.

2007-01-01

Educators at all school levels know that successful students--at all ability levels--have families who stay informed and involved in their children's education. Yet many middle level and high school teachers report that the only time they contact families is when students are in trouble. This disconnect between knowledge and behavior can be…

Secondary Prevention Efforts at the Middle School Level: An Application of the Behavior Education Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Kathleen Lynne; Capizzi, Andrea M.; Fisher, Marisa H.; Ennis, Robin Parks

2012-01-01

In this study we examine the impact of the Behavior Education Program (BEP; Hawken, MacLeod, & Rawlings, 2007) with four middle school students who were not responsive to a comprehensive primary prevention program including academic, behavioral and social components. To extend this line of inquiry we (a) conducted a functional behavioral…

Computerized Adaptive Testing, Anxiety Levels, and Gender Differences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fritts, Barbara E.; Marszalek, Jacob M.

2010-01-01

This study compares the amount of test anxiety experienced on a computerized adaptive test (CAT) to a paper-and-pencil test (P&P), as well as the state test anxiety experienced between males and females. Ninety-four middle school CAT examinees were compared to 65 middle school P&P examinees on their responses to the State-Trait Anxiety…

Self-Reported Intentions and Related Factors for Sexual Onset in Rural Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nazar, Barry L.; Zanis, David A.; Melochick, Jennifer Ryan

2011-01-01

This study examines early adolescent self-reported intentions about having sex during the next year. A total of 114 variables are investigated for possible associations with lower versus higher levels of intention about having sex. The sample consists of 306 early adolescents from several middle schools in a predominantly white, rural community in…

Read-Aloud and the English Language Learner

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watson, Tanya Elaine

2013-01-01

Reading aloud (read-aloud) is quickly progressing as a useful strategy on the middle school level, yet research has not adequately caught up with is use with special populations such as middle school students and English language learners (ELLs). The purpose of this study was to add to the limited research on the read-aloud instructional strategy…

Online Options for Math-Advanced Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wessling, Suki

2012-01-01

Once upon a time, a student well advanced past grade level in math would have had few choices. Advanced students would invariably outpace the skills of their elementary teachers, and due to age wouldn't have options such as going to the middle school or community college for classes. Soon thereafter, students would enter middle school only to find…

Relationships between a Social-Emotional Learning Program and Emotional Intelligence in Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Katherine Marie

2013-01-01

This study examined the relationships between a social-emotional learning program and the 5 dimensions of emotional intelligence and whether the relationships were moderated by gender. The problem addressed in the study was the lack of research focused on the development of emotional intelligence at the middle school level. The participants…

Norms for Participation in a Middle School Mathematics Classroom and Its Effect on Student Motivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Megowan-Romanowicz, M. Colleen; Middleton, James A.; Ganesh, Tirupalavanam; Joanou, Jamie

2013-01-01

In this article we examine how students engage in learning mathematical concepts in the middle grades of an urban public school in the Southwestern United States. In the context of a 3-year National Science Foundation-funded longitudinal study of the development of students' rational number understanding, we encountered differing levels of…

Do We Practice What We Preach? Special Report on Standards, Assessment, Accountability, and Interventions. Report #4, Fall 2000.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duttweiler, Patricia Cloud

This study was designed to analyze the implementation of state and district mandated academic standards, assessment processes, accountability, and intervention strategies at the middle-school level. Its goal is to identify and describe intervention strategies that are effective in increasing the ability of middle school students in at-risk…

Mathematics Anxiety According to Middle School Students' Achievement Motivation and Social Comparison

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kesici, Sahin; Erdogan, Ahmet

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study is to clarify whether middle school students' mathematics anxiety differentiates or not, according to their low and high achievement motivation and their level of self-esteem stemming from social comparison. This study also aims to clarify the effects of these two variables on mathematics anxiety. The study groups were…

Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Intervention Mathematics Class for Low Achieving Middle School Students in Northwest Georgia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coats, Johnnie Hugh

2013-01-01

High-stakes testing has become crucial in public education, requiring students to meet increasingly higher standards, regardless of their ability levels. This causal-comparative study sought to determine the effectiveness of an intervention mathematics course in the middle school setting for at-risk, sixth grade students. The Georgia Criterion…

The Effect of Bullying and Victimization on Cognitive Empathy Development during the Transition to Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williford, Anne; Boulton, Aaron J.; Forrest-Bank, Shandra S.; Bender, Kimberly A.; Dieterich, William A.; Jenson, Jeffrey M.

2016-01-01

Background: Interventions aimed at reducing bullying behavior commonly target the development of empathy. Yet, few longitudinal studies have investigated how empathy levels vary with bullying and victimization over time, especially during the transition to middle school. Objective: To that end, the purpose of the present study was to: (1) examine…

Teaching a New Conceptual Framework of Weight and Gravitation in Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stein, Hana; Galili, Igal; Schur, Yaron

2015-01-01

Empirical studies have reported difficulties, confusion, and lack of understanding among students at all levels of instruction regarding the issue of weight--gravitation--weighing relationships. This study examined the impact of a new conceptual framework of weight, on a small group of 7th-grade students (N?=?14) in a middle school in Israel. This…

Number Sense Mediated by Mathematics Self-Concept in Impacting Middle School Mathematics Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geronime, Lara K.

2012-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to extend the research on number sense to the middle school level and to simultaneously consider socioemotional elements related to the construct at this developmental stage. Its genesis was initially rooted in an ongoing and dramatic emphasis by U.S. policymakers, researchers, and educators on improving…

The Delivery of Professional Development in the Middle School: Exploring Optimal Settings, Times, and Participants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohr, Carrie A.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to describe and understand the experiences of teachers and instructional leaders related to the delivery of professional development at the middle school level. This qualitative study examines four professional development experiences and provides a summary of emerging themes related to those experiences for both…

Making Writing Instruction a Priority in America's Middle and High Schools. Policy Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alliance for Excellent Education, 2007

2007-01-01

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only about a quarter of the nation's middle and high school students are proficient in writing. Even among students who plan to go to college, roughly a third fall short of readiness benchmarks for college-level writing composition. Yet, the ability to write plays an increasingly…

Middle/Junior High School Parenthood Education Curriculum Guide for Consumer and Homemaking Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hadley, Sharon; And Others

Intended for use by teachers on the middle or junior high school level in Kentucky, this curriculum guide outlines a four-week course in parenthood education. The eight units included are as follow: (1) responsibilities of parenthood, including parental roles and financial responsibilities; (2) human reproduction; (3) family planning and birth…

"No Child Left Untested [sic]" Battle or Battle Cry Guiding Research and Practice? Making Research User-Friendly.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hough, David L.

2003-01-01

Critiques five articles from an online research journal in middle-level education on mathematical problem solving, social inclusion of students with disabilities in physical education, school and dispositional aggression among middle school boys, problem-based learning, and students' views of futuristics. Asserts that embracing the view that all…

Perceptions of the Value of Digital Mini-Games: Implications for Middle School Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ray, Beverly; Coulter, Gail A.

2010-01-01

This research examined the change in the perceptions of preservice teachers regarding the use of digital minigames to support middle school level social studies learning. The results of a Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test for matched pairs revealed that participants' (N = 18) perceptions were positively modified by participation in a series of digital…

An Investigation of Pattern Problems Posed by Middle School Mathematics Preservice Teachers Using Multiple Representation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yilmaz, Yasemin; Durmus, Soner; Yaman, Hakan

2018-01-01

This study investigated the pattern problems posed by middle school mathematics preservice teachers using multiple representations to determine both their pattern knowledge levels and their abilities to transfer this knowledge to students. The design of the study is the survey method, one of the quantitative research methods. The study group was…

Access to Upper-Level Mathematics: The Stories of Successful African American Middle School Boys

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berry, Robert Q., III

2008-01-01

This article is about 8 African American middle school boys who have experienced success in mathematics. Five themes emerged from the data: (a) early educational experiences, (b) recognition of abilities and how it was achieved, (c) support systems, (d) positive mathematical and academic identity, and (e) alternative identities. (Contains 4…

Task Design and Skill Level Perceptions of Middle School Students toward Competition in Dance-Related Active Gaming

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bernstein, Eve; Gibbone, Anne; Rukavina, Paul

2015-01-01

In this study, we drew upon McCaughtry, Tischler, and Flory's (2008) reconceptualized ecological framework to examine middle school students' perceptions (N = 391) of competition in physical education, specifically after participating in noncompetitive and competitive active gaming (AG) sessions. Chi-square tests of independence were computed on…

Promoting Teacher Adoption of Physical Activity Breaks in the Classroom: Findings of the Central Texas Catch Middle School Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delk, Joanne; Springer, Andrew E.; Kelder, Steven H.; Grayless, Megan

2014-01-01

Background: Research suggests that physical activity breaks (ABs) during class increase students' physical activity levels and provide an academic benefit. This study evaluates a 3-year intervention aimed at encouraging teacher AB use. Methods: Thirty central Texas middle schools were assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: training-only…

Gender-Based Education: Why It Works at the Middle School Level.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perry, William C.

1996-01-01

To counter gender bias effects and improve student learning, staff at a Virginia middle school decided to group eighth-grade students by gender for math and science instruction. Girls felt freer to speak out. Grade point averages in gender-based science and math classes for both girls and boys were higher than in coeducational classes. (MLH)

An Observational Study of Early Heterosexual Interaction at Middle School Dances

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pellegrini, Anthony D.; Long, Jeffery D.

2007-01-01

In this longitudinal, observational study of heterosexual interaction at middle school dances we examined the degree to which boys' and girls' groups became more gender integrated over time. The results show groups became more integrated over time with the pattern differing by gender. Boys had a relatively low level of contact with girls over the…

The Nature of Student Predictions and Learning Opportunities in Middle School Algebra

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kasmer, Lisa Anne; Kim, Ok-Kyeong

2012-01-01

In this article, we describe how using prediction during instruction can create learning opportunities to enhance the understanding and doing of mathematics. In doing so, we characterize the nature of the predictions students made and the levels of sophistication in students' reasoning within a middle school algebra context. In this study, when…

Sustaining Breakthrough Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franklin, Josephine

2013-01-01

This article tells the story of MetLife Foundation-NASSP Breakthrough Schools. The program's goals are to identify, recognize, and showcase the leadership and successful practices of middle level and high schools that serve large numbers of students living in poverty and that have high levels of student achievement or show evidence of dramatically…

Analysis of food irradiation education for elementary, middle, and high school students for three years in South Korea

PubMed Central

Choi, Yoonseok; Kim, Jaerok

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES The current South Korean government policy on food irradiation technology should be reformed based on an in-depth investigation of the communications aspect, because the issue is no longer of a technological nature, given the proven safety and efficacy of the processes. SUBJECTS/METHODS The target population of the education program consisted of elementary, middle, and high school students attending 310 schools in South Korea (2013: 63 schools, 2014: 104 schools, 2015: 143 schools). Data subjected to analysis were 13,327 pre-education and 12,641 post-education questionnaires received from 7,582 elementary, 2,671 middle, and 3,249 high school students who participated in the education program from May 2012 to April 2015 (n = 12,831), after the exclusion of inadequately filled-in questionnaires. RESULTS Analysis of the three-year educational effect trend was conducted by comparing levels of variables before and after food radiation education. The analysis yielded the finding that the post-education levels were significantly higher for all variables. That is, for interest in education, perception (necessity, safety, subjective knowledge, and information acquisition), objective knowledge, and attitude, with the sole exception of objective knowledge in 2013. CONCLUSIONS Given that post-education levels of perception, knowledge, and attitude concerning irradiated foods increased considerably compared to pre-education levels, behavior change should be induced by providing continuous education to enhance, these primary variables. PMID:27087909

Moving toward equitable, systemic science education reform: The synergy among science education and school-level reforms in an urban middle school

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelly, Mary Kathryn

The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the relationships among school-level and science education reform efforts and how, collectively, they contribute to the progress of equitable, systemic science education reform. A case study research design was employed to gather both qualitative and quantitative data between 1995 and 1999. The site of this study is a non-selective, urban middle school in a large district that participated in several reform efforts. These reforms include both efforts focused on school-level change and efforts focused on change in science teaching and learning. Its program incorporates aspects of several school-level reforms---from the underlying Paideia philosophy, to structural characteristics of middle schools, to site-based decision-making, to its status as a magnet school, to its participation as a professional development school. Further, the participation of all science teachers in the intensive, standards-based professional development offered by Ohio's systemic reform of mathematics and science created a critical mass of reform-oriented teachers who supported one another as they incorporated reform-based practices into their teaching. The interplay of the reform efforts has manifested in a high level of science achievement in comparison to the school's district. Addressing the third component of O'Day and Smith's model for systemic reform, the need for school-level change to enable implementation of curriculum frameworks and aligned policies, this study illustrates two important points. First, the high-quality teacher professional development increased teachers' capacity to change their practices by enhancing their knowledge of and skills in implementing standards-based teaching practices. Second, because of the synchrony among the school-level reforms and between the school-level and science education reforms, the context of Webster provided a supportive environment in which lasting changes in science teaching and learning were implemented. Science education reform efforts were mediated by the school's context to create an environment in which the reform practices could be implemented and sustained. Using Kahle's (1998) Equity Metric, this study demonstrates that the synergy of the policies and practices of school-level and science education reforms can contribute to the progress of equitable, systemic science education reform.

School-Level Genetic Variation Predicts School-Level Verbal IQ Scores: Results from a Sample of American Middle and High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beaver, Kevin M.; Wright, John Paul

2011-01-01

Research has consistently revealed that average IQ scores vary significantly across macro-level units, such as states and nations. The reason for this variation in IQ, however, has remained at the center of much controversy. One of the more provocative explanations is that IQ across macro-level units is the result of genetic differences, but…

[Analysis on the neglected conditions and influence factors of middle school students aged 12 to 17 years old in rural areas of Shaanxi Province and Chongqing City].

PubMed

Zhong, Yin; Zhong, Zhaohui; Pan, Jianping; Li, Qunying; Zhong, Yun; Sun, Haoling

2015-09-01

10 learn about the neglected conditions and intuence factors of middle school students aged 12 to 17 years old in rural areas of Shaanxi Province and Chongqing City. The scale and evaluation method formulated in "The Normal Value of Evaluation on the Neglect of Middle School Students from 12 to 17 Years Old in Rural China" was adopted. 2257 respondents among which there were 1157 male students and 1,100 female students in the rural areas of Shaanxi Province and Chongqing City were selected according to the principle of multi-stage stratified cluster sampling. The severe degree of neglect was reflected through the indicator of neglect degree. The method of binary Logistic regression analysis was adopted to analyze the influence factors of neglect. Results The total neglect degree of respondents was (51. 80 ± 9. 06). The neglect degree of middle school students in the rural areas of Chongqing was (53. 21 ± 9. 03). The neglect degree of middle school students in the rural areas of Shaanxi was 50. 50 8. 90. The statistical significance was found in the difference between the two groups (U =6. 17, P <0. 01). The neglect degree of male students was (51. 93 ± 8. 67) while the neglect degree of female students was (51. 66 ± 9. 46). The statistical significance was not found in the difference between the two groups of total neglect degree of different sexes (U = 0. 60, P > 0. 05). The statistical significance was noticed in the differences of neglect degrees of middle school students in different grades at all levels (P <0. 05). The neglect degrees of junior three and senior three students were relatively high. Their total neglect degrees were (53. 54 ± 9. 70) and (53. 36 ± 8. 69) respectively. Except social neglect and safety neglect, there was statistical significance in the differences of neglect degrees of students with different family backgrounds at all levels (P <0. 01). The neglect degree of middle school students in a remarried family was the highest. The total neglect degree was (56. 92 ± 8. 83). The factors influencing the neglect of middle school students were shown in the result of Logistic regression analysis, including the educational level of their fathers, whether they had a separate room, family types, whether the working places of their parents changed in one year, whether the incomes of their parents decreased in one year, their relationship with their parents and the relationship between their parents. The neglected conditions of middle school students in the rural areas of Shaanxi Province and Chongqing City are relatively severe and the factors influencing the neglect of children include the educational level of their fathers, whether they have a separate room, family types, whether the working places of their parents changed in one year, whether the incomes of their parents decrease in one year, their relationship with their parents and the relationship between their parents.

School Partnerships and Clinical Preparation at the Middle Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howell, Penny B.; Carpenter, Jan; Jones, Jeanneine P.

2013-01-01

This article describes how three universities approach middle level teacher preparation through partnerships and clinical experiences. The authors share the structures of their programs and the role of their partnerships in the clinical preparation of their candidates. They also discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by…

Sustaining a Nonlinear Integrative Learning Context: Middle Level Teachers' Perspectives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, Richard; And Others

1997-01-01

Explored how middle level integrativist teachers working in a conventional school district sustain their commitment to integrativist learning. Used ethnographic interviewing, which uncovered four themes in these teachers' perspectives: (1) the very different nature of relationships among teachers and with students; (2) struggles with instructional…

Promoting Multi-Site Collaborative Inquiry: Initial Efforts and Challenges.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rafferty, Cathleen D.

This paper explores perspectives, issues, and experiences related to initiating collaborative inquiry across multiple levels and sites, based on school-university partnerships developed between Indiana State University (ISU) and 10 professional development schools (five elementary schools, one middle school, and four high schools). Principles…

Smoking and its risk factors in Chinese elementary and middle school students: a nationally representative sample study.

PubMed

Zhang, Xinghui; Li, Yajun; Zhang, Qin; Lu, Furong; Wang, Yun

2014-05-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of smoking in a nationally representative sample of Chinese elementary and middle school students and to investigate its risk factors from families and schools. The data were from the National Children's Study of China (NCSC), in which 24,013 fourth- to ninth-grade students were recruited from 100 counties in 31 provinces in China. Chi-square tests and one-way ANOVAs were used to analyze the relationships between smoking and the risk factors. Logistic regressions were used to calculate odds ratios. The prevalence of ever smokers and current smokers were 19.0% and 5.4%. Focusing on current smokers, boys, middle school students, rural students, boarding students, non-only children and those owning parents with low educational levels reported smoking significantly more than girls, elementary school students, urban students, non-boarding students, only children and those owning parents with high educational levels. Lower trust and support from teachers and higher parent-child conflict positively predicted both smoking and smoking frequency. Lower trust and support from classmates was associated with higher possibility of smoking. However, higher trust and support from classmates was associated with higher smoking frequency. Teacher smoking and friend smoking were only predictive of smoking, but not of smoking frequency. Boys, middle school students, rural students, boarding students, non-only children and those owning parents with low educational levels need special attention. The most risk factors for smoking and smoking frequency were lower trust and support from teachers and higher parent-child conflict. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender and Middle School Science: An Examination of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors Affecting Achievement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Austin, Jennifer

Gender differences in middle school science were examined utilizing a mixed-methods approach. The intrinsic and extrinsic experiences of male and female non-gifted high-achieving students were investigated through the administration of the CAIMI, student interviews, teacher questionnaires, observations, and document examination. Male and female students were selected from a rural Northeast Georgia school district based on their high performance and high growth during middle school science. Eighty-three percent of the student participants were white and 17% were Hispanic. Half of the male participants and one third of the female participants were eligible for free and reduced meals. Findings revealed that male participants were highly motivated, whereas female participants exhibited varying levels of motivation in science. Both male and female students identified similar instructional strategies as external factors that were beneficial to their success. Due to their selection by both genders, these instructional strategies were considered to be gender-neutral and thereby useful for inclusion within coeducational middle school science classrooms.

School Counseling Faculty Perceptions and Experiences Preparing Elementary School Counselors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodman-Scott, Emily; Watkinson, Jennifer Scaturo; Martin, Ian; Biles, Kathy

2016-01-01

School counselors' job roles and preferences reportedly vary by educational level (i.e., elementary, middle and high school); however, several organizations, such as the American School Counselor Association, conceptualize and recommend school counseling practice and preparation through a K-12 lens. Little is known about how or if school…

Alcohol and Other Drug Use in Middle School: The Interplay of Gender, Peer Victimization, and Supportive Social Relationships

PubMed Central

Wormington, Stephanie V.; Anderson, Kristen G.; Tomlinson, Kristin L.; Brown, Sandra A.

2015-01-01

The current study examined the impact of supportive social relationships (i.e., teacher support, adult support, school relatedness) and peer victimization on middle school students’ substance use. Over 3,000 middle school students reported on alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use, supportive social relationships, and instances in which they were the victim of aggressive behavior. Mixed-effects logit regression analyses revealed complementary patterns of results across types of substances. Students who perceived high levels of social support were less likely to report alcohol and drug use initiation, particularly at low levels of peer victimization. Gender moderated the negative effect of peer victimization, with highly victimized boys most likely to report alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. Results indicated a complex interplay of social influences and moderating variables in predicting early onset alcohol and other drug use, one that researchers should consider when studying adolescents’ decisions to use alcohol and other drugs. PMID:26294803

Toward Disciplinary Literacy: Dilemmas and Challenges in Designing History Curriculum to Support Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duhaylongsod, Leslie; Snow, Catherine E.; Selman, Robert L.; Donovan, M. Suzanne

2015-01-01

In this article, Leslie Duhaylongsod, Catherine E. Snow, Robert L. Selman, and M. Suzanne Donovan describe the principles behind the design of curricular units that offer disciplinary literacy support in the subject of history for middle school students who represent a wide range of reading levels, and for their teachers, whose own subject matter…

An Action Research Study of Barriers to Differentiated Instruction in Reading for Georgia Middle School Students in the Inclusive Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boston, Alicia

2017-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to explore middle school inclusion teacher perceptions to overcome barriers to successful DI implementation in reading for students with special needs. Inclusion reading teachers are faced with the challenge of providing classroom instruction to students with varying abilities, levels, and…

Coming from Behind: A "Catch-up" Philosophy in Education. The Story of Carver Middle School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markham, Robert M.; Shelly, Paul

Because of the high number of at-risk students at Carver Middle School (Meridian, Mississippi), the principal developed several programs to bring student achievement to the level commensurate with other students around the nation. The Early Bird Program is a Chapter One program of individualized work in math, reading, and language arts classes to…

The Effects of Maternal Employment on the Attitudes, Work Expectations, and Self-Esteem of Urban and Suburban Middle School Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinelski, Kristin; Markowitz, Jessie; Chambliss, Catherine

This study investigated the effects of maternal employment on beliefs and attitudes of suburban and urban middle school students in addition to their comparative levels of self-esteem. A 5-part survey, including demographic information, beliefs about consequences of maternal employment of children; information about the mother's work status;…

Philosophy behind and Pros & Cons of Various Grade Configurations. Research Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Karen

2003-01-01

The most common configuration for the middle level is for grades 6-8 to be housed together. Although not a common configuration, there are some ninth grade only campuses sprinkled throughout the United States. Many of these schools were designed to address overcrowding issues either at the middle or high school while some were designed to help…

Music videos, pro wrestling, and acceptance of date rape among middle school males and females: an exploratory analysis.

PubMed

Kaestle, Christine Elizabeth; Halpern, Carolyn Tucker; Brown, Jane D

2007-02-01

Exposure to televised music videos and pro wrestling were associated with rape acceptance (lower levels of agreeing with the statement "forcing a partner to have sex is never OK") among males, but not females, in a sample of 904 middle school students (controlling for overall television exposure, parenting style, and demographics).

Enjoyment Fosters Engagement: The Key to Involving Middle School Students in Physical Education and Physical Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pharez, Emily S.

2016-01-01

This article describes the challenges faced by a middle school teacher who inherited a recreation-based physical education program in which students had been accustomed to choosing what they wanted to do. Stressing the importance of implementing a standards-based program in which students of all skill levels and activity preferences were able to…

Teaching Statistics in Middle School Mathematics Classrooms: Making Links with Mathematics but Avoiding Statistical Reasoning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Savard, Annie; Manuel, Dominic

2015-01-01

Statistics is a domain that is taught in Mathematics in all school levels. We suggest a potential in using an interdisciplinary approach with this concept. Thus the development of the understanding of a situation might mean to use both mathematical and statistical reasoning. In this paper, we present two case studies where two middle school…

The Effects of Diagnosis, Remediation and Locus of Control on Achievement, Retention, and Attitudes of Middle School Science Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saunders, Ramona L.; Yeany, Russell H.

Reported is a study designed to determine the effects of diagnostic testing followed by prescribed remediation on the immediate and retained science achievement of middle school students, and to determine if effects of treatment were consistent across students' race and locus of control (LOC) levels. Three intact seventh-grade science classes were…

A Value-Added Study of Teacher Spillover Effects across Four Core Subjects in Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuan, Kun

2015-01-01

This study examined the existence, magnitude, and impact of teacher spillover effects (TSEs) across teachers of four subject areas (i.e., mathematics, English language arts [ELA], science, and social studies) on student achievement in each of the four subjects at the middle school level. The author conducted a series of value-added (VA) analyses,…

Reading Fluency Interventions for Middle School Students with Academic and Behavioral Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hilsmer, Amanda Strong; Wehby, Joseph H.; Falk, Katherine B.

2016-01-01

The research base on how to effectively intervene to improve the reading fluency of students with academic and behavioral disabilities at the middle school level does not provide a strong support for evidence- based practices with this age group. The purpose of this study was to extend the body of research on reading fluency interventions to…

Physical Oceanography: Project Earth Science. Material for Middle School Teachers in Earth Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ford, Brent A.; Smith, P. Sean

This book is one in a series of Earth science books and contains a collection of 18 hands-on activities/demonstrations developed for the middle/junior high school level. The activities are organized around three key concepts. First, students investigate the unique properties of water and how these properties shape the ocean and the global…

Influencing Social Capital in Times of Change: A Three Pronged Approach to Instructional Coaching at the Middle School Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwarting, Joann

2014-01-01

This mixed methods participatory action research study explored how an instructional coach influenced a state mandated curriculum adoption at a Title 1 urban middle school. The purpose of this study was to identify ways in which an instructional coach supported a veteran staff during the adoption of new curriculum standards. The instructional…

Promoting Gender Equity in Middle and Secondary School Sports Programs. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Priest, Laurie; Summerfield, Liane M.

This digest provides background information about gender equity in sports and physical activity as well as specific strategies for achieving equity at the middle and secondary school levels. The paper begins by describing gender equitable sports programs as ones in which either boys or girls would be pleased to accept as its own the program of the…

"I Have Shakespeare in My Blood": Reading Intervention with Middle School Boys

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guenther, Leah

2017-01-01

This research investigates the impact of teaching Shakespeare to below-grade-level readers in an English Language Arts classroom on Chicago's South Side. The students studied are five middle school boys who were observed over a two-year course of study under the same teacher who, after finding success with this method, found herself asking, how is…

Use of Explicit Instruction and Double-Dosing to Teach Ratios, Proportions, and Percentages to At-Risk Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piper, Lisa; Marchand-Martella, Nancy; Martella, Ronald

2010-01-01

The purpose of this action research was to determine the level of improvement of middle school students who were low performers in a mathematics class (N = 8) and who received "explicit instruction" with "double dosing" compared to their peer group who received normal instruction (N = 49). Results showed that at-risk…

In Search of Coherence: To What Extent Is the Level of Congruence between Daily Actions and Espousals of Middle School Principals?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tesauro, Michele Blanche

2012-01-01

Research discloses that principals' effectiveness influences student success (Stronge, 2008). This study examined the extent of congruence between the daily activities and espousals of four middle school principals, and the extent their daily activities were artifacts of their values and beliefs about leadership. Also, this study examined if…

Algebra Matters: An Ethnographic Study of Successful African American Male Algebra 1 Students in a Suburban Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirkwood, Kirk

2012-01-01

Alarming statistics reveal that African American male students are encountering long-standing challenges in K-12 mathematics. However, few studies have explored the phenomena associated with African American males and K-12 mathematics education, particularly at the middle school level in the context of an Algebra 1 course of study. The purpose of…

Assessing Learning Progression of Energy Concepts across Middle School Grades: The Knowledge Integration Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Hee-Sun; Liu, Ou Lydia

2010-01-01

We use a construct-based assessment approach to measure learning progression of energy concepts across physical, life, and earth science contexts in middle school grades. We model the knowledge integration construct in six levels in terms of the numbers of ideas and links used in student-generated explanations. For this study, we selected 10 items…

Middle School Youth: Satisfaction with and Responses to a Dating Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elias-Lambert, Nada; Black, Beverly; Sharma, Yasoda

2010-01-01

This study examined how group composition influences students' level of satisfaction with a dating violence and sexual assault prevention program. A 10- to 12-session program was presented to 396 urban African American middle school students in mixed- and same-gender groups. Both males and females were significantly more satisfied with the…

The Effects of Math Acceleration in Middle School at the High School Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dossenbach, Chris Payton

2017-01-01

The purpose of this mixed-methods capstone is to investigate the effectiveness of the math acceleration initiative that began in the studied school district in 2009 and the impact the initiative has had on mathematics enrollment at the high school level. This research project followed cohorts of students during the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 school…

The long-term impact of a math, science and technology program on grade school girls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sullivan, Sandra Judd

The purpose of this study was to determine if a math, science, and technology intervention program improved grade school girls' attitudes and stereotypes toward science and scientists, as well as participation levels in science-related activities, two years after their participating in the program. The intervention program evaluated was Operation SMART, developed by Girls Incorporated. Participants were recruited from the 6th and 7th grades from two public middle schools in Northern California. One hundred twenty-seven girls signed up for the survey and were assigned to either the SMART group (previous SMART participants) or Non-SMART group (no previous experience with SMART). The survey consisted of five parts: (1) a background information sheet, (2) the Modified Attitudes Toward Science Inventory, (3) the What Do You Do? survey, (4) the Draw-A-Scientist Test-Revised, and (5) a career interests and role models/influencer survey. Results indicated that there were no significant differences between the SMART and Non-SMART groups on any of the test measures. However, middle school attended did have a significant effect on the outcome variables. Girls from Middle School A reported more positive attitudes toward science, while girls from Middle School B reported higher participation levels in extracurricular science activities. Possible explanations for these findings suggest too much time had passed between treatment effect and time of measurement as well as the strong influence of teacher and school environment on girls' attitudes and stereotypes. Recommendations for future research are discussed.

Mouthguard usage by middle and high school student-athletes in Houston, Texas.

PubMed

Miller, Michael B; Johnson, Cleverick D; Cooley, Ralph A; Sharp, Holly; Servos, Thomas A

2016-01-01

This survey recorded utilization levels of stock and custom mouthguards among middle and high school athletes in a US metropolitan area and gathered data on the prevalence of traumatic injuries that have occurred as a consequence of school-based athletic competition. The data also included reasons for the athletes' noncompliance. A 23-question, online survey form was developed. A geographically diverse list of public and private schools in the Houston metropolitan area was identified and included 30 public middle schools, 32 public high schools, 8 private middle schools, and 10 private high schools. The sports surveyed were baseball, basketball, field hockey, football, lacrosse, soccer, softball, volleyball, and wrestling. Only 1 private middle school participated. Only 5 of 32 public high schools and 1 private high school participated, representing response rates of 16% and 10%, respectively. Overall, there were 503 responses, and 56% of the respondents did not have a mouthguard. Among athletes who owned a mouthguard, most (70%) had stock versions purchased in a retail store, while 11% had a custom mouthguard fabricated by a dentist, and 19% had both types. The most frequent reasons cited for not wearing a mouthguard were forgetting to use it and a lack of comfort. The injury rates reported by respondents in the stock and custom mouthguard groups were 26% and 9%, respectively. A consistent, concerted effort by local dental societies should be aimed at school administrators and coaches to encourage enforcement or reinforcement of mouthguard usage policies among high school athletes, but, ultimately, parents need to step up to protect their children.

Home Economics/Health Grades 6-12. Program Evaluation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Des Moines Public Schools, IA. Teaching and Learning Div.

Home economics programs are offered to students in grades 6-12 in the Des Moines INdependent Community School District (Iowa). Programs at the middle school level are exploratory, leading to occupational training in family and consumer science, child care, food service, and textile and fashion arts at the high school level. Health education…

Arts-Infused Learning in Middle Level Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lorimer, Maureen Reilly

2011-01-01

To address arts education disparities in middle level schools, this paper explores evidence that infusing the visual and performing arts into language arts, math, science, and history/social studies courses is a pedagogical approach that meets the developmental needs of early adolescents and fosters a relevant, challenging, integrative, and…

Lab Report Blues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diaz, Andrew

2004-01-01

For middle school students, writing a formal lab report can be challenging. For middle level teachers, reading students lab reports can be overwhelming. After grading report after report with incomplete procedures, incorrect graphs, and missing conclusions, the author's frustration level was at an all-time high. Ready to try anything, he thought,…

Remediation of Content/Skill Deficiencies in Middle Level Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Price, John L.; And Others

A remediation approach developed by the Vilonia public schools (Arkansas) to remediate content/skill deficiencies in middle level students resulted from three conditions: state laws and regulations regarding minimum competency testing; more awareness of problems with at-risk students; and recognition of the need to reach students academically…

Preventive Neuromuscular Training for Young Female Athletes: Comparison of Coach and Athlete Compliance Rates

PubMed Central

Sugimoto, Dai; Mattacola, Carl G.; Bush, Heather M.; Thomas, Staci M.; Foss, Kim D. Barber; Myer, Gregory D.; Hewett, Timothy E.

2017-01-01

Context: Fewer athletic injuries and lower anterior cruciate ligament injury incidence rates were noted in studies of neuromuscular-training (NMT) interventions that had high compliance rates. However, several groups have demonstrated that preventive NMT interventions were limited by low compliance rates. Objective: To descriptively analyze coach and athlete compliance with preventive NMT and compare the compliance between study arms as well as among school levels and sports. Design: Randomized, controlled clinical trial. Setting: Middle and high school athletic programs. Participants or Other Participants: A total of 52 teams, comprising 547 female athletes, were randomly assigned to the experimental or control group and followed for 1 athletic season. Intervention(s): The experimental group (n = 30 teams [301 athletes]: 12 basketball teams [125 athletes], 6 soccer teams [74 athletes], and 12 volleyball teams [102 athletes]) participated in an NMT program aimed at reducing traumatic knee injuries through a trunk-stabilization and hip-strengthening program. The control group (n = 22 teams [246 athletes]: 11 basketball teams [116 athletes], 5 soccer teams [68 athletes], and 6 volleyball teams [62 athletes]) performed a resistive rubber-band running program. Main Outcome Measure(s): Compliance with the assigned intervention protocols (3 times per week during the preseason [mean = 3.4 weeks] and 2 times per week in-season [mean = 11.9 weeks] of coaches [coach compliance] and athletes [athlete compliance]) was measured descriptively. Using an independent t test, we compared coach and athlete compliance between the study arms. A 2-way analysis of variance was calculated to compare differences between coach and athlete compliance by school level (middle and high schools) and sport (basketball, soccer, and volleyball). Results: The protocols were completed at a mean rate of 1.3 ± 1.1 times per week during the preseason and 1.2 ± 0.5 times per week in-season. A total of 88.4% of athletes completed 2/3 of the intervention sessions. Coach compliance was greater in the experimental group than in the control group (P = .014). Coach compliance did not differ by sport but was greater at the high school than the middle school (P = .001) level. Athlete compliance did not differ by study arm, sport, or school level. Conclusions: Athletes received instruction in about 50% of each protocol. Nearly 90% of athletes performed more than 2/3 of the assigned NMT interventions. The assigned intervention was performed more often in the experimental arm compared with the control arm. Coaches at the high school level complied with the given protocol more than middle school coaches did. Athletes complied well with the protocol, but coaches did not, especially at the middle school level. PMID:27977300

Preventive Neuromuscular Training for Young Female Athletes: Comparison of Coach and Athlete Compliance Rates.

PubMed

Sugimoto, Dai; Mattacola, Carl G; Bush, Heather M; Thomas, Staci M; Foss, Kim D Barber; Myer, Gregory D; Hewett, Timothy E

2017-01-01

 Fewer athletic injuries and lower anterior cruciate ligament injury incidence rates were noted in studies of neuromuscular-training (NMT) interventions that had high compliance rates. However, several groups have demonstrated that preventive NMT interventions were limited by low compliance rates.  To descriptively analyze coach and athlete compliance with preventive NMT and compare the compliance between study arms as well as among school levels and sports.  Randomized, controlled clinical trial.  Middle and high school athletic programs. Participants or Other Participants: A total of 52 teams, comprising 547 female athletes, were randomly assigned to the experimental or control group and followed for 1 athletic season.  The experimental group (n = 30 teams [301 athletes]: 12 basketball teams [125 athletes], 6 soccer teams [74 athletes], and 12 volleyball teams [102 athletes]) participated in an NMT program aimed at reducing traumatic knee injuries through a trunk-stabilization and hip-strengthening program. The control group (n = 22 teams [246 athletes]: 11 basketball teams [116 athletes], 5 soccer teams [68 athletes], and 6 volleyball teams [62 athletes]) performed a resistive rubber-band running program.  Compliance with the assigned intervention protocols (3 times per week during the preseason [mean = 3.4 weeks] and 2 times per week in-season [mean = 11.9 weeks] of coaches [coach compliance] and athletes [athlete compliance]) was measured descriptively. Using an independent t test, we compared coach and athlete compliance between the study arms. A 2-way analysis of variance was calculated to compare differences between coach and athlete compliance by school level (middle and high schools) and sport (basketball, soccer, and volleyball).  The protocols were completed at a mean rate of 1.3 ± 1.1 times per week during the preseason and 1.2 ± 0.5 times per week in-season. A total of 88.4% of athletes completed 2/3 of the intervention sessions. Coach compliance was greater in the experimental group than in the control group (P = .014). Coach compliance did not differ by sport but was greater at the high school than the middle school (P = .001) level. Athlete compliance did not differ by study arm, sport, or school level.  Athletes received instruction in about 50% of each protocol. Nearly 90% of athletes performed more than 2/3 of the assigned NMT interventions. The assigned intervention was performed more often in the experimental arm compared with the control arm. Coaches at the high school level complied with the given protocol more than middle school coaches did. Athletes complied well with the protocol, but coaches did not, especially at the middle school level.

[Preschool familial environment and academic difficulties: A 10-year follow-up from kindergarten to middle school].

PubMed

Câmara-Costa, H; Pulgar, S; Cusin, F; Dellatolas, G

2016-02-01

The persistence of academic difficulties from childhood through adulthood has led researchers to focus on the identification of the early factors influencing children's subsequent achievement in order to improve the efficient screening of children who might be at risk of school failure. The foundations of academic achievement can be accurately traced back to the preschool years prior to children's entry in formal schooling and are largely influenced by environmental determinants. Importantly, some environmental conditions act as early risk factors undermining children's later academic achievement due to the well-established relation between underachievement and exposure to moderate to high levels of environmental risk. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the longitudinal effects of environment-level factors (sociodemographic and family characteristics) and early risk exposure at kindergarten on children's subsequent academic achievement at the end of middle school (grade 9). The sample of analysis comprised 654 kindergarteners aged 5-6 years (2001-2002 school year) followed through the end of middle school when they were aged 14-15 years (2010-2011 school year). At kindergarten, assessment included questionnaire-based measures of sociodemographic and family background characteristics. These included an original set of information pertaining to family background including parental nationality, education level, history of reading difficulties, type of early childcare, family situation, family size, and language-based bedtime routines, as well as individual-level factors such as children's first language, medical history, language delay, birth weight, age of walking onset, and gestation period. At grade 9, outcome measures were composed of children's results in the national evaluations performed at the end of middle school ("Diplôme National du Brevet"), or history of repetition for a second year of the same class. The results indicated that all family background characteristics at kindergarten were related to later academic outcomes at grade 9. From the original set of family characteristics, parental educational level, family situation, language-based bedtime routines, and type of early childcare significantly predicted later academic achievement at grade 9. Moreover, a multiple risk index score aggregating these specific family characteristics, together with three individual-level factors (gender, medical history, and language delay) was robustly and positively associated with an increased likelihood of school failure at the end of middle school. Unique to our study was the finding relative to the longitudinal association over a 10-year span of language-based bedtime routines with children's academic performance at the end of middle school. These findings underline the importance of including family background information in early surveillance procedures in order to improve the efficient screening of children who might be at risk of academic underachievement. Importantly, some of these contextual factors represent environmental characteristics that can be reversed early in life through appropriate and informed support to families. Moreover, the present work has important implications regarding the early detection of children who are at familial risk of underachievement, allowing the activation and promotion of adequate intervention strategies early in children's educational trajectories. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

School Refusal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wimmer, Mary

2008-01-01

School attendance is an ongoing concern for administrators, particularly in middle level and high school. Frequent absences affect student learning, test scores, and social development. Absenteeism is often the result of emotional disorders, such as anxiety or depression. Administrators who understand the causes of school refusal behavior and are…

Dosage effects of a preventive social-emotional learning intervention on achievement loss associated with middle school transition.

PubMed

Rosenblatt, Jennifer L; Elias, Maurice J

2008-11-01

A number of studies have documented a normative decline in academic achievement across the transition from elementary school to middle or junior high school. The current study examined the effectiveness of varying levels of a social-emotional learning intervention, Talking with TJ, in limiting achievement loss across transition. Data were gathered on 154 students during their fifth and sixth grade years in an urban, low socio-economic school district. Students participated in the Talking with TJ program over their fifth grade years, and curriculum fidelity in individual classrooms was evaluated. Changes in grade point average were assessed across the middle school transition. Overall, students showed a significant decline in GPA across the transition. Students in classrooms where higher dosages of intervention were delivered showed significantly smaller drops in GPA across transition than did students in lower dosage classrooms. Data on differential program effectiveness among demographic groups and along varying levels of baseline emotional intelligence also are presented. Editors' Strategic Implications: The authors present promising findings for a school transition program, link dosage to effects, and raise interesting theoretical questions about the relationships between social-emotional learning and academic growth and achievement.

Predicting early adolescent gang involvement from middle school adaptation.

PubMed

Dishion, Thomas J; Nelson, Sarah E; Yasui, Miwa

2005-03-01

This study examined the role of adaptation in the first year of middle school (Grade 6, age 11) to affiliation with gangs by the last year of middle school (Grade 8, age 13). The sample consisted of 714 European American (EA) and African American (AA) boys and girls. Specifically, academic grades, reports of antisocial behavior, and peer relations in 6th grade were used to predict multiple measures of gang involvement by 8th grade. The multiple measures of gang involvement included self-, peer, teacher, and counselor reports. Unexpectedly, self-report measures of gang involvement did not correlate highly with peer and school staff reports. The results, however, were similar for other and self-report measures of gang involvement. Mean level analyses revealed statistically reliable differences in 8th-grade gang involvement as a function of the youth gender and ethnicity. Structural equation prediction models revealed that peer nominations of rejection, acceptance, academic failure, and antisocial behavior were predictive of gang involvement for most youth. These findings suggest that the youth level of problem behavior and the school ecology (e.g., peer rejection, school failure) require attention in the design of interventions to prevent the formation of gangs among high-risk young adolescents.

Response to Intervention with Secondary School Students with Reading Difficulties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaughn, Sharon; Fletcher, Jack M.

2012-01-01

The authors summarize evidence from a multiyear study with secondary students with reading difficulties on (a) the potential efficacy of primary-level (Tier 1), secondary-level (Tier 2), and tertiary-level (Tier 3) interventions in remediating reading difficulties with middle school students, (b) the likelihood of resolving reading disabilities…

Resolving Conflicts. Lawyers Helping Young People Become Good Citizens.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Bar Association, Chicago, IL. Special Committee on Youth Education for Citizenship.

Organized around the theme of conflict resolution, this booklet provides teachers and lawyers with classroom materials for elementary grades K-3 (Level A), intermediate grades 4-6 (Level B), middle school grades 6-8 (Level C), and high school grades 9-12 (Level D). In addition, each level contains pages for the lawyer (marked by the scales of…

Sources of Confidence in School Community Councils

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nygaard, Richard

2010-01-01

Three Utah middle level school community councils participated in a qualitative strengths-based process evaluation. Two of the school community councils were identified as exemplary, and the third was just beginning to function. One aspect of the evaluation was the source of school community council members' confidence. Each school had unique…

Relations between Student Perceptions of Their School Environment and Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gietz, Carmen; McIntosh, Kent

2014-01-01

This study examined student perceptions of their school environment (specifically, safety and inclusion in the school, experiences being bullied, and clear expectations for behaviour) and their relation with academic achievement at the school level. Participants were students in 969 elementary schools and 73 middle schools who took part in a…

Exploration: An Important Middle Level Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brewer, Warren W.

1985-01-01

Describes a middle school program in Wisconsin that has a curriculum based on basic skills and provides exposure to special areas such as art, business, education, foreign language, music, home economics, physical education, and industrial education. (MD)

Teacher Perception of Principals' Leadership Traits and Middle School Math and Science Teachers' Job Satisfaction: A Causal-Comparative and Correlational Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cousar, Theresa Ann

2017-01-01

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine middle school teachers' job satisfaction (low vs. high) and how teachers perceive principals' leadership traits. The study used a causal-comparative and correlational design. The teachers were divided into two job satisfaction level groups. Teacher perception of principal leadership traits for…

Initial Evidence for the Reliability and Validity of the Student Risk Screening Scale for Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors at the Middle School Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Kathleen Lynne; Oakes, Wendy Peia; Carter, Erik W.; Lambert, Warren E.; Jenkins, Abbie B.

2013-01-01

We reported findings of an exploratory validation study of a revised universal screening instrument: the Student Risk Screening Scale--Internalizing and Externalizing (SRSS-IE) for use with middle school students. Tested initially for use with elementary-age students, the SRSS-IE was adapted to include seven additional items reflecting…

Let's Poem: The Essential Guide to Teaching Poetry in a High-Stakes, Multimodal World (Middle through High School). Language & Literacy Practitioners Bookshelf

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dressman, Mark

2010-01-01

This cutting-edge guide presents multiple approaches to teaching poetry at the middle and high school levels. The author provides field-tested activities with detailed how-to instructions, as well as advice for how educators can "justify" their teaching within a high-stakes curriculum environment. "Let's Poem" will show pre- and inservice teachers…

The Way We Do the Things We Do: A Survey of Middle-School Choral Educators' Sight-Singing Attitudes and Influences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nichols, Bryan

2013-01-01

This study explored the rationale for sight-singing instructional choices of chorus teachers at the middle school level and sought to determine teachers' commitment to teaching music literacy. Three research questions formed the basis of the study: (1) what is the prevalence of sight-singing instruction in choral music classes, (2) what is…

Analysis of Scientific Attitude, Computer Anxiety, Educational Internet Use, Problematic Internet Use, and Academic Achievement of Middle School Students According to Demographic Variables

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bekmezci, Mehmet; Celik, Ismail; Sahin, Ismail; Kiray, Ahmet; Akturk, Ahmet Oguz

2015-01-01

In this research, students' scientific attitude, computer anxiety, educational use of the Internet, academic achievement, and problematic use of the Internet are analyzed based on different variables (gender, parents' educational level and daily access to the Internet). The research group involves 361 students from two middle schools which are…

The Relationship between Classroom Environment and the Learning Style Preferences of Gifted Middle School Students and the Impact on Levels of Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rayneri, Letty J.; Gerber, Brian L.; Wiley, Larry P.

2006-01-01

Inconsistent performance by gifted students has been a source of frustration for both parents and educators for decades. Several studies on gifted under achievement point to a connection between student learning styles and classroom performance.This study examined the learning styles of gifted middle school students, student perceptions of the…

The effect of science-technology-society issue instruction on the attitudes of female middle school students toward science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mullinnix, Debra Lynn

An assessment of the science education programs of the last thirty years reveals traditional science courses are producing student who have negative attitudes toward science, do not compete successfully in international science and mathematics competitions, are not scientifically literate, and are not interested in pursuing higher-level science courses. When the number of intellectually-capable females that fall into this group is considered, the picture is very disturbing. Berryman (1983) and Kahle (1985) have suggested the importance of attitude both, in terms of achievement in science and intention to pursue high-level science courses. Studies of attitudes toward science reveal that the decline in attitudes during grades four through eight was much more dramatic for females than for males. There exists a need, therefore, to explore alternative methods of teaching science, particularly in the middle school, that would increase scientific literacy, improve attitudes toward science, and encourage participation in higher-level science courses of female students. Yager (1996) has suggested that science-technology-society (STS) issue instruction does make significant changes in students' attitudes toward science, stimulates growth in science process skills, and increases concept mastery. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect STS issue instruction had on the attitudes of female middle school students toward science in comparison to female middle school students who experience traditional science instruction. Another purpose was to examine the effect science-technology-society issue instruction had on the attitudes of female middle school students in comparison to male middle school students. The pretests and the posttests were analyzed to examine differences in ten domains: enjoyment of science class; usefulness of information learned in science class; usefulness of science skills; feelings about science class in general; attitudes about what took place in the science classroom; overall response to science class; perception of encouragement to enroll in science electives; future plans to enroll in science electives; reasons for not enrolling in science electives; and perception of restraints in achieving future goals.

Parental attachment as a mediator between parental social support and self-esteem as perceived by Korean sports middle and high school athletes.

PubMed

Kang, Sangwook; Jeon, Hyunsoo; Kwon, Sungho; Park, Seungha

2015-02-01

This study examined whether parental attachment mediates the relationship between parental social support and self-esteem in Korean middle and high school athletes. 591 sports athletes attending middle and high schools that specialize in sport volunteered. Parental social support and parental attachment had a significant positive effect on self-esteem; parental attachment had a greater effect on self-esteem. In the structural relationship, direct effects of parental social support on self-esteem were weak, but indirect effects through parental attachment were strong. Therefore, parental attachment complementally mediated the relationship between parental social support and self-esteem. Metric invariance was supported for groups categorized by sex, region, and school level, confirming that the model could be applied to various groups.

Accessibility Over Availability: Associations Between the School Food Environment and Student Fruit and Green Vegetable Consumption

PubMed Central

O'Malley, Patrick M.; Johnston, Lloyd D.

2014-01-01

Abstract Background: No national studies have examined associations between (1) school food availability and accessibility and (2) secondary student fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption. This article uses 5 years of nationally representative data from secondary school students to examine associations between the school food environment and student fruit and green vegetable consumption. Methods: From 2008 to 2012, cross-sectional, nationally representative data from US middle and high school students were collected annually on self-reported fruit and green vegetable consumption. Each year, data from administrators at each relevant school were collected on food item availability (any venue) and accessibility (total number of school sources). Data were obtained from 10,254 eighth-grade students in 317 schools and 18,898 tenth- and 12th-grade students in 518 schools. Associations were estimated by multi-level models controlling for student- and school-level characteristics. Results: Availability showed minimal association with student consumption. Candy/regular-fat snack accessibility was associated negatively with middle school fruit consumption. Salad bar availability and accessibility were positively associated with middle school green vegetable consumption; FV accessibility was associated positively with high school fruit and green vegetable consumption. Significant associations were consistent across student racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Conclusions: Forthcoming USDA nutrition standards for school foods and beverages sold outside of reimbursable meal programs should result in the removal of school candy/regular-fat snacks. In deciding which items to make available under the new standards, schools should consider increasing the number of FV sources—including salad bars—thereby potentially increasing student FV consumption. PMID:24872011

The Effects of School-Level Victimization on Self-Blame: Evidence for Contextualized Social Cognitions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schacter, Hannah L.; Juvonen, Jaana

2015-01-01

The current study examined school-level victimization as a moderator of associations between peer victimization and changes in 2 types of self-blaming attributions, characterological and behavioral, across the first year of middle school. These associations were tested in a large sample (N = 5,991) of ethnically diverse adolescents from fall to…

Using Heart Rate Monitors in Research on Fitness Levels of Children in Physical Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strand, Brad; Reeder, Steve

1993-01-01

Demonstrates the use of heart rate monitors (HRMs) in fitness research and examines heart rate intensity levels of middle school students while they participated in a variety of physical education activities throughout a school year. Research shows the HRM has considerable potential in assessing fitness achievements in school-age children. (GLR)

Epidemiology of Basketball, Soccer, and Volleyball Injuries in Middle-School Female Athletes

PubMed Central

Barber Foss, Kim D.; Myer, Greg D.; Hewett, Timothy E.

2014-01-01

Background An estimated 30 to 40 million school children participate in sports in the United States; 34% of middle-school participants become injured and seek medical treatment at an annual cost close to $2 billion. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the injury incidence and rates in female athletes in the middle-school setting during the course of 3 seasons. Methods Female basketball, soccer, and volleyball players were recruited from a single county public school district in Kentucky consisting of 5 middle schools. A total of 268 female athletes (162 basketball, 26 soccer, and 80 volleyball) participated. Athletes were monitored for sports-related injury and number of athlete exposures (AEs) by an athletic trainer. Injury rates were calculated for specific types of injuries within each sport. Injury rates for games and practices were also calculated and compared for each sport. Results A total of 134 injuries were recorded during the 3 sport seasons. The knee was the most commonly injured body part (99 injuries [73.9%]), of which patellofemoral dysfunction (31.3%), Osgood-Schlatter disease (10.4%), and Sinding-Larsen-Johansson/patella tendinosis (9%) had the greatest incidence. The ankle was the second most commonly injured body part, accounting for 16.4% of all injuries. The overall rates of injury by sport were as follows: soccer, 6.66 per 1000 AEs; volleyball, 3.68 per 1000 AEs; and basketball, 2.86 per 1000 AEs. Conclusions Female middle-school athletes displayed comparable injury patterns to those seen in their high-school counterparts. Future work is warranted to determine the potential for improved outcomes in female middle-school athletes with access to athletic training services. Clinical Relevance As the participation levels and number of injuries continue to rise, middle-school athletes demonstrate an increasing need for medical services provided by a certified athletic trainer. PMID:24875981

Commercialism in US elementary and secondary school nutrition environments: trends from 2007 to 2012.

PubMed

Terry-McElrath, Yvonne M; Turner, Lindsey; Sandoval, Anna; Johnston, Lloyd D; Chaloupka, Frank J

2014-03-01

Schools present highly desirable marketing environments for food and beverage companies. However, most marketed items are nutritionally poor. To examine national trends in student exposure to selected school-based commercialism measures from 2007 through 2012. Annual nationally representative cross-sectional studies were evaluated in US public elementary, middle, and high schools with use of a survey of school administrators. School-based commercialism, including exclusive beverage contracts and associated incentives, profits, and advertising; corporate food vending and associated incentives and profits; posters/advertisements for soft drinks, fast food, or candy; use of food coupons as incentives; event sponsorships; and fast food available to students. Changes over time in school-based commercialism as well as differences by student body racial/ethnic distribution and socioeconomic status. Although some commercialism measures-especially those related to beverage vending-have shown significant decreases over time, most students at all academic levels continued to attend schools with one or more types of school-based commercialism in 2012. Overall, exposure to school-based commercialism increased significantly with grade level. For 63.7% of elementary school students, the most frequent type of commercialism was food coupons used as incentives. For secondary students, the type of commercialism most prevalent in schools was exclusive beverage contracts, which were in place in schools attended by 49.5% of middle school students and 69.8% of high school students. Exposure to elementary school coupons, as well as middle and high school exclusive beverage contracts, was significantly more likely for students attending schools with mid or low (vs high) student body socioeconomic status. Most US elementary, middle, and high school students attend schools where they are exposed to commercial efforts aimed at obtaining food or beverage sales or developing brand recognition and loyalty for future sales. Although there have been significant decreases over time in many of the measures examined, the continuing high prevalence of school-based commercialism calls for, at minimum, clear and enforceable standards on the nutritional content of all foods and beverages marketed to youth in school settings.

Improving Secondary School Students' Achievement using Intrinsic Motivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Albrecht, Erik; Haapanen, Rebecca; Hall, Erin; Mantonya, Michelle

2009-01-01

This report describes a program for increasing students' intrinsic motivation in an effort to increase academic achievement. The targeted population consisted of secondary level students in a middle to upper-middle class suburban area. The students of the targeted secondary level classes appeared to be disengaged from learning due to a lack of…

[Sub-health status of middle school teachers and its correlation analysis with occupational stress].

PubMed

Chang, W J; Shao, H M; Zhi, X Y; Xu, J; Xie, J

2017-08-20

Objective: To study the distribution of sub-health and occupational stress as well as their correlation among middle school teachers in Tianjin, then provide evidences for prevention and control of the status of sub-health. Methods: A total of 3 522 middle school teachers from six districts of Tianjin were recruited with stratified cluster sampling strategy for the investigation of Sub-Health Measurement Scale version 1.0 (SHMS V1.0) and Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised Edition (OSI-R) . Results: Detection rate of sub-health status among Tianjin middle school teachers was 58.55%. Men had significantly lower sub-health detection rate (55.19%) than women (59.71%) . Sub-health detection rate increased with age ( P <0.05) , the sub-health detection rate among middle school teachers more than 50 years old was the highest (66.84%) . The mean score of OSI-R was 403.18±41.80 with the scores of 176.00±21.05, 103.17±17.53, and 124.02±20.28 for ORQ, PSQ, PRQ, respectively, which showed significantly difference compared with the occupational stress norm of China ( P <0.001) . The mean scores of OSI-R, ORQ, PSQ, PRQ in different health status were significantly different ( P <0.001) . The partial correlation analysis between the scores of sub-health and occupational stress of middle school teachers showed that the scores of occupational role and personal strain were negatively correlated with the scores of sub-health state ( P < 0.001) , while, there was significantly positive correlation between the scores of personal resource and the scores of sub-health state ( P <0.001) . Conclusion: Sub-health detection rate of middle school teachers in Tianjin is higher. Effective measures should be taken to appropriately mitigate the occupational stress level of middle school teachers, increase personal resources, and scientific and effective health guidance and education should be strengthened.

Narrative Counseling for Professional School Counselors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nafziger, Jacinta; DeKruyf, Lorraine

2013-01-01

This article introduces narrative counseling concepts and techniques for professional school counselors. The authors provide a case study of narrative school counseling with an elementary student struggling with selective mutism. Examples also demonstrate how a narrative approach could be used at elementary, middle, and high school levels within…

Opportunities for extracurricular physical activity in North Carolina middle schools.

PubMed

Edwards, Michael B; Kanters, Michael A; Bocarro, Jason N

2011-07-01

This study's purpose was to assess the opportunities for North Carolina adolescents to be physically active in extracurricular middle school environments and to compare opportunities across community types. Data were analyzed based on the results of an electronic questionnaire distributed to a sample of 431 schools with a response rate of 75.4% (N = 325). Nearly all schools offered interscholastic sports while fewer than half offered intramurals or noncompetitive activities to students. "Open gym" was offered at only 35% of schools, while 24% of schools offered extracurricular activities to students with disabilities. Overall, 43.4% of schools offered special transportation to students who participated in some extracurricular physical activities. Schools in rural areas generally offered fewer programs and had fewer supports than schools located in more urbanized areas. Over two-thirds of rural schools offered no extracurricular programs other than interscholastic sports. Schools can be important settings for physical activity. North Carolina's middle schools and its rural schools in particular, are falling short in efforts to provide extracurricular physical activity programming recommended by researchers and policy groups. Lower accessibility to extracurricular physical activities may partially contribute to higher levels of physical inactivity found in the state.

Proximity of fast food restaurants to schools: do neighborhood income and type of school matter?

PubMed

Simon, Paul A; Kwan, David; Angelescu, Aida; Shih, Margaret; Fielding, Jonathan E

2008-09-01

To investigate the proximity of fast food restaurants to public schools and examine proximity by neighborhood income and school level (elementary, middle, or high school). Geocoded school and restaurant databases from 2005 and 2003, respectively, were used to determine the percentage of schools with one or more fast food restaurants within 400 m and 800 m of all public schools in Los Angeles County, California. Single-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) models were run to examine fast food restaurant proximity to schools by median household income of the surrounding census tract and by school level. Two-factor ANOVA models were run to assess the additional influence of neighborhood level of commercialization. Overall, 23.3% and 64.8% of schools had one or more fast food restaurants located within 400 m and 800 m, respectively. Fast food restaurant proximity was greater for high schools than for middle and elementary schools, and was inversely related to neighborhood income for schools in the highest commercial areas. No association with income was observed in less commercial areas. Fast food restaurants are located in close proximity to many schools in this large metropolitan area, especially high schools and schools located in low income highly commercial neighborhoods. Further research is needed to assess the relationship between fast food proximity and student dietary practices and obesity risk.

A longitudinal analysis of the effects of socioeconomic factors, foreign media, and attitude toward appearance on general and central adiposity in Chinese adolescents

PubMed Central

Felicitas, Jamie Q.; Tanenbaum, Hilary C.; Li, Yawen; Chou, Chih-Ping; Palmer, Paula H.; Spruijt-Metz, Donna; Reynolds, Kim D.; Johnson, C. Anderson; Xie, Bin

2015-01-01

This paper explores the longitudinal effects of socioeconomic factors (i.e., parent education and family income level), foreign media, and attitude toward appearance on general and central adiposity among Chinese adolescents. A longitudinal analysis was performed using data from the China Seven Cities Study, a health promotion and smoking prevention study conducted in seven cities across Mainland China between 2002 and 2005. Participants included 5,020 middle and high school students and their parents. Explanatory variables included foreign media exposure, attitude toward appearance, parent education, and family income. Three-level, random-effect models were used to predict general adiposity (i.e., body mass index) and central adiposity (i.e., waist circumference). The Generalized Estimating Equation approach was utilized to determine the effect of explanatory variables on overweight status. Among girls, foreign media exposure was significantly negatively associated with general adiposity over time (β = − 0.06, p = 0.01 for middle school girls; β = − 0.06, p = 0.03 for high school girls). Attitude toward appearance was associated with lesser odds of being overweight, particularly among high school girls (OR = 0.86, p < 0.01). Among boys, parental education was significantly positively associated with general adiposity (β = 0.62, p < 0.01 for middle school boys; β = 0.37, p = 0.02 for high school boys) and associated with greater odds of being overweight (OR = 1.55, p < 0.01 for middle school boys; OR = 1.26, p = 0.04 for high school boys). Across all gender and grade levels, family income was significantly negatively associated with central adiposity over time. Interventions addressing Chinese adolescent overweight/obesity should consider these factors as potential focus areas. PMID:26279973

A Study of Grade Level and Gender Differences in Divergent Thinking among 8th and 11th Graders in a Mid-Western School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roue, Leah Christine

2011-01-01

This research study compared gender and grade level differences in divergent thinking among middle school and high school students in the Midwest, in an attempt to determine whether gender or grade level-based differences exist in divergent thinking. The instrument used was based on the Wallach and Kogan Creativity Test (WKCT). There were 166…

Building the Capacity of School Leaders and Teachers to Implement Reform at All Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2010

2010-01-01

Leaders of successful high schools, middle grades schools and technology centers are strengthening their skills and involving the entire school in plans to raise student achievement. The best school leaders establish an environment of continuous progress in which teachers and leaders work together to upgrade curriculum and instruction, examine…

Development and Testing of an Initial Model of Curricular Leadership Culture in Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Jerry

2007-01-01

Effective school studies, for the most part, have focused on different individual school-level independent variables influencing student achievement and have largely neglected examining contextual variables within the school or school community that may evolve as a result of responding to statewide accountability pressures, including examining how…

"Just let me play!" - understanding constraints that limit adolescent sport participation.

PubMed

Casper, Jonathan M; Bocarro, Jason N; Kanters, Michael A; Floyd, Myron F

2011-01-01

Organized sport is viewed as a viable medium for promoting more physical activity among youth. However, participation in youth sport declines significantly among both boys and girls during their middle school years. This study examined middle school students' perceived constraints to sport participation. Middle school students from 4 schools (6th-8th grade, N = 2465) completed a web based survey (97.3% response rate). Descriptive analysis, t tests, and ANOVA were used to assess extent of perceived constraints and differences among demographic and sport participation level subgroups. The most salient constraint perceived by respondents was time, while knowledge was perceived as the lowest among the overall sample. Significant (P < .01) differences in perceived constraints were found among all comparisons groups. Girls, Latinos, lower SES students, and students who did not play sports reported more constraints than respective comparisons groups. The sociodemographic characteristics of middle school students appear to be a significant factor in their perception of constraints to sport participation. Identifying constraints associated with sport participation can enable policy-makers and administrators to be more deliberate in channeling resources.

Public School Uniforms: Effect on Perceptions of Gang Presence, School Climate, and Student Self-Perceptions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wade, Kathleen Kiley; Stafford, Mary E.

2003-01-01

Examined the relationship between public school uniforms and student self-worth and student and staff perceptions of gang presence and school climate. Surveys of middle school students and teachers indicated that although students' perceptions did not vary across uniform policy, teachers from schools with uniform policies perceived lower levels of…

Educational Intervention/Case Study: Implementing an Elementary-Level, Classroom-Based Media Literacy Education Program for Academically At-Risk Middle-School Students in the Non-Classroom Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Draper, Michele; Appregilio, Seymour; Kramer, Alaina; Ketcherside, Miranda; Campbell, Summer; Stewart, Brandon; Rhodes, Darson; Cox, Carol

2015-01-01

Media literacy education teaches youth to critically examine the influence of media messages on health and substance use behavior. A small group of low-achieving middle school students at high risk for substance abuse attending an afterschool academic remediation program received a media literacy intervention intended for elementary students in a…

Effects of Type of Exploratory Strategy and Prior Knowledge on Middle School Students' Learning of Chemical Formulas from a 3D Role-Playing Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Ming-Puu; Wong, Yu-Ting; Wang, Li-Chun

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the type of exploratory strategy and level of prior knowledge on middle school students' performance and motivation in learning chemical formulas via a 3D role-playing game (RPG). Two types of exploratory strategies-RPG exploratory with worked-example and RPG exploratory without…

What are Middle School Students Talking About During Clicker Questions? Characterizing Small-Group Conversations Mediated by Classroom Response Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barth-Cohen, Lauren A.; Smith, Michelle K.; Capps, Daniel K.; Lewin, Justin D.; Shemwell, Jonathan T.; Stetzer, MacKenzie R.

2016-02-01

There is a growing interest in using classroom response systems or clickers in science classrooms at both the university and K-12 levels. Typically, when instructors use this technology, students are asked to answer and discuss clicker questions with their peers. The existing literature on using clickers at the K-12 level has largely focused on the efficacy of clicker implementation, with few studies investigating collaboration and discourse among students. To expand on this work, we investigated the question: Does clicker use promote productive peer discussion among middle school science students? Specifically, we collected data from middle school students in a physical science course. Students were asked to answer a clicker question individually, discuss the question with their peers, answer the same question again, and then subsequently answer a new matched-pair question individually. We audio recorded the peer conversations to characterize the nature of the student discourse. To analyze these conversations, we used a grounded analysis approach and drew on literature about collaborative knowledge co-construction. The analysis of the conversations revealed that middle school students talked about science content and collaboratively discussed ideas. Furthermore, the majority of conversations, both ones that positively and negatively impacted student performance, contained evidence of collaborative knowledge co-construction.

Enhancing inferential abilities in adolescence: new hope for students in poverty

PubMed Central

Gamino, Jacquelyn F.; Motes, Michael M.; Riddle, Russell; Lyon, G. Reid; Spence, Jeffrey S.; Chapman, Sandra B.

2014-01-01

The ability to extrapolate essential gist through the analysis and synthesis of information, prediction of potential outcomes, abstraction of ideas, and integration of relationships with world knowledge is critical for higher-order learning. The present study investigated the efficacy of cognitive training to elicit improvements in gist reasoning and fact recall ability in 556 public middle school students (grades seven and eight), vs. a sample of 357 middle school students who served as a comparison group, to determine if changes in gist reasoning and fact recall were demonstrated without cognitive training. The results showed that, in general, cognitive training increased gist reasoning and fact recall abilities in students from families in poverty as well as students from families living above poverty. However, the magnitude of gains in gist reasoning varied as a function of gender and grade level. Our primary findings were that seventh and eighth grade girls and eighth grade boys showed significant increases in gist reasoning after training regardless of socioeconomic status (SES). There were no significant increases in gist reasoning or fact recall ability for the 357 middle school students who served as a comparison group. We postulate that cognitive training in middle school is efficacious for improving gist reasoning ability and fact recall in students from all socioeconomic levels. PMID:25505393

Enhancing inferential abilities in adolescence: new hope for students in poverty.

PubMed

Gamino, Jacquelyn F; Motes, Michael M; Riddle, Russell; Lyon, G Reid; Spence, Jeffrey S; Chapman, Sandra B

2014-01-01

The ability to extrapolate essential gist through the analysis and synthesis of information, prediction of potential outcomes, abstraction of ideas, and integration of relationships with world knowledge is critical for higher-order learning. The present study investigated the efficacy of cognitive training to elicit improvements in gist reasoning and fact recall ability in 556 public middle school students (grades seven and eight), vs. a sample of 357 middle school students who served as a comparison group, to determine if changes in gist reasoning and fact recall were demonstrated without cognitive training. The results showed that, in general, cognitive training increased gist reasoning and fact recall abilities in students from families in poverty as well as students from families living above poverty. However, the magnitude of gains in gist reasoning varied as a function of gender and grade level. Our primary findings were that seventh and eighth grade girls and eighth grade boys showed significant increases in gist reasoning after training regardless of socioeconomic status (SES). There were no significant increases in gist reasoning or fact recall ability for the 357 middle school students who served as a comparison group. We postulate that cognitive training in middle school is efficacious for improving gist reasoning ability and fact recall in students from all socioeconomic levels.

Individual and School Predictors of Middle School Aggression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reis, Janet; Trockel, Mickey; Mulhall, Peter

2007-01-01

Hierarchical linear modeling is used to assess individual student, family, and school predictors of aggression in 111,662 students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. Nine measures of problem-solving strategies, quality of family and peer interaction, and perceptions of school climate are analyzed at the individual student level. Eight measures…

Principals' Perceptions of School Counselor Roles and Satisfaction with School Counseling Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beesley, Denise; Frey, Lisa L.

2006-01-01

This study surveyed principals (N = 303) across the nation about their perceptions of school counselor roles and satisfaction with counseling services. Results from this exploratory study revealed that principals reported overall satisfaction with counseling services, although satisfaction varied across levels (elementary, middle school/junior…

78 FR 34385 - Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-07

... elementary, middle, and high school levels: health education, physical education, health services, mental... Physical Education 685 1 40/60 and Activity. District Health Services... 685 1 40/60 District Nutrition... School Recruitment Script.. 821 1 60/60 School Health Education.... 640 1 20/60 School Physical Education...

Teachers' Perception of African American Middle School Girls' Interest in Mathematics and Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Best, Bonnie M.

Research into African American female underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields has become an area of interest due to the fact that a majority of African American middle school females do not possess the high levels of mathematics and science knowledge because of social and cultural barriers both inside and outside school that challenge their academic success. The purpose of this qualitative interpretative phenomenological study was to explore teachers' shared, lived experiences of teaching mathematics and science to African American middle school girls. Delgado and Stefancic's critical race theory, Pratt-Clarke's critical race feminism, and Baker-Miller's relational-cultural theory were used to guide this study. Research questions focused on the perceptions and experiences of teachers' lived experiences teaching mathematics and science to African American middle school females. Criterion, purposive, and maximum variation sampling techniques were used to recruit 10 teachers who have 3 or more years' experience teaching African American middle school girls. Semistructured face-to-face interviews were the primary data collection source. First cycle and second cycle coding methods were used to support the analysis of this study. Findings suggest that there is a connection between a positive student-teacher relationship and academic success. The results of this study contribute to positive social change by providing empirical evidence policymakers and teachers can use to improve the mathematics and science instruction and practices that are needed to meet the needs of African American middle school females and reduce the underrepresentation and underachievement of African American females in mathematics and science.

Curriculum Guidelines for Exceptional Children: EMR 1970-71 Revision.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Escambia County Board of Public Instruction, Pensacola, FL.

This document provides curriculum guides for teaching educable mentally retarded middle school (prevocational level) and high school (vocational level) students in Escambia County, Florida. It includes a definition of mental retardation, characteristics of mentally handicapped (MH) children, a mental age reference chart, and suggestions for…

The Relationship between Readability Level of Mississippi's Middle Schools' Websites and Seventh Grade Language Arts MCT2 Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pickard, Anna Marlene Graves

2011-01-01

Today's educators face the unprecedented challenge of increasing achievement for all students. One response has been to increase and improve parent involvement and school-to-home communication through the use of school websites. The quantitative section of this study analyzed the readability grade level of the website as it relates to state test…

Grade-Level Differences in Future-Oriented Self-Concept during Early Adolescence: Potential Relevance to School Nursing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoddard, Sarah A.; Pierce, Jennifer; Schmidt, Carissa J.

2016-01-01

The middle school and early high school years are a time of significant development, including an increasing ability to envision oneself in the future. Little is known about how adolescents' future-oriented self-concept (i.e., possible selves) differs across grade levels, although this knowledge may aid in establishing rapport with students and…

Examining the Relationships between the Level of Schools for Being Professional Learning Communities and Teacher Professionalism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cansoy, Ramazan; Parlar, Hanifi

2017-01-01

The objective of this study is to examine the relationships between the levels of schools for being professional learning communities and teacher professionalism based on teachers' perceptions. The participants were a total of 543 teachers working at elementary, middle and high schools in the Eyüp District of Istanbul. The data were gathered…

Middle Level Leadership... and All That Jazz!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinney, Patti; Tomlin, Dru

2013-01-01

Much like a Jazz group, successful middle level schools are also founded on elements of improvisation, collaboration, teamwork, and responsive communication. Just as the director of the jazz group must have a solid foundation of music theory, the skills to bring out the best in the players, and an attitude that allows others to shine, those who…

Drawing on the Layers of a Partnership to Prepare Middle Level Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rintamaa, Margaret; Howell, Penny B.

2017-01-01

The University of Kentucky (UK) and the University of Louisville (UL) are located approximately 90 miles from each other in Kentucky. They are the only two research-intensive institutions in the state, and both have middle level teacher education programs preparing candidates in school-embedded clinical sites. Both teacher preparation programs are…

Fostering an Adolescent-Centered Community Responsive to Student Needs: Lessons Learned and Suggestions for Middle Level Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellerbock, Cheryl R.; Kiefer, Sarah M.

2014-01-01

Young adolescents have unique basic and developmental needs. Middle level educators are best able to reach and teach young adolescents when they understand students' needs and when the school environment, including its organizational structures and teacher practices, are responsive to these needs. Findings from a recently conducted qualitative…

Middle Level Managers' Quality of Leadership and Good Governance, and Organizational Performance of Wolaita Sodo University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shibru, Sintayehu; Bibiso, Mesfin; Ousman, Kedir

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between middle level managers' quality of leadership and good governance, and organization performance of Wolaita Sodo University. The study employed descriptive survey method and used quantitative approach. College/school Deans, Department heads and Coordinators were source of data.…

WWC Quick Review of the Report "Charter School Performance in Los Angeles Unified School District: A District and Neighborhood Matched Comparison Analysis"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2008

2008-01-01

The study examined whether charter schools have higher growth in student achievement than traditional public schools. The study analyzed data on 79 charter schools and 593 traditional public elementary, middle, and high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District from 2005-06 to 2006-07. School-level academic achievement was measured using…

Stuck in the Middle: Strategies to Engage Middle-Level Learners. Newsletter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maday, Traci

2008-01-01

Keeping middle school students focused and engaged in the classroom is a challenge amid the physical, intellectual, emotional, and social changes that young people experience during this phase of their lives. Youth aged 11 to 13 years are characterized by a growing desire to think and act independently while at the same time caring about being…

"The Second We Stop Growing We Are Dead": Examining a Middle Grades Social Studies Professional Dyad

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gradwell, Jill M.; DiCamillo, Lorrei

2013-01-01

Teacher collaboration is an important part of professional growth (Coburn, 2001; DuFour, 2004b; Grossman, Wineburg, & Woolworth, 2001; Little, 2002) and has been found to be a key element in highly successful schools (McEwin & Greene, 2010). Additionally, the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE), formerly National Middle School…

An Analysis of Approaches to Goal Setting in Middle Grades Personalized Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeMink-Carthew, Jessica; Olofson, Mark W.; LeGeros, Life; Netcoh, Steven; Hennessey, Susan

2017-01-01

This study investigated the goal-setting approaches of 11 middle grades teachers during the first year of their implementation of a statewide, personalized learning initiative. As an increasing number of middle level schools explore personalized learning, there is an urgent need for empirical research in this area. Goal setting is a critical…

Parental aggression as a predictor of boys’ hostile attribution across the transition to middle school

PubMed Central

Yaros, Anna; Lochman, John E.; Wells, Karen C.

2015-01-01

Aggression among youth is public health problem that is often studied in the context of how youth interpret social information. Social cognitive factors, especially hostile attribution biases, have been identified as risk factors for the development of youth aggression, particularly across the transition to middle school. Parental behaviors, including parental aggression to children in the form of corporal punishment and other aggressive behavior, have also been linked to aggressive behavior in children at these ages. Despite the important role played by these two risk factors, the connection between the two has not been fully studied in the literature. This study examined the link between parental aggression and children’ hostile attributions longitudinally among a diverse sample of 123 boys as they entered middle school. Results support acceptance of a model in which parental aggression to children prior to entering middle school predicted children’s hostile attributions after the transition to middle school above and beyond that which was predicted by previous levels of hostile attributions. As expected, hostile attributions also predicted change in parent- and teacher-rated child aggression. These findings provides important evidence of the role that parental behavior plays in youth social cognition at this critical age, which has implications for understanding the development of aggressive behavior. PMID:27647945

Effect of Retention in Elementary Grades on Transition to Middle School

PubMed Central

Im, Myung Hee; Hughes, Jan H.; Kwok, Oi-man; Puckett, Stevie; Cerdia, Carissa Analise

2013-01-01

The authors investigated the effects of retention in grades 1 to 5 on students’ reading and math achievement, teacher-rated engagement, and student-reported school belonging in middle school. From a multiethnic sample (N = 784) of children who scored below the median on a test of literacy in grade 1, an average of 75 students subsequently retained in grades 1 to 5 were matched with an average of 299 continuously promoted students on the basis of propensity to be retained in the elementary grades. A total of 20 imputed datasets were analyzed, all of which showed good balance across the 67 baseline covariates used to calculate propensity scores. The hypothesis that retained students, who are “old for grade” when they make the transition to middle school, would have a more difficult transition to middle school than promoted peers was tested with 3-level, piecewise growth modeling. Piece 1 included assessments prior to the transition to middle school, and piece 2 included assessments after the transition. Retained and continuously promoted students did not differ on any of the outcome measures during the year prior to transition, nor did they differ in their post-transition trajectories. Discrepancies between these results and results of prior research are discussed in terms of demographic and generational differences as well as differences in methodological rigor. PMID:23816229

Putting an End to Lonely Street.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Katz, Claudia Anne

1994-01-01

Discusses how portfolios can assist middle-school teachers in placing graduating students in English class at the high school level. Illustrates issues involved by using the example of Elvis Presley completing his portfolio. (RS)

An ecological systems approach to bullying behaviors among middle school students in the United States.

PubMed

Lee, Chang-Hun

2011-05-01

The aim of this study is to identify an ecological prediction model of bullying behaviors. Based on an ecological systems theory, this study identifies significant factors influencing bullying behaviors at different levels of middle and high school. These levels include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. More specifically, the ecological factors investigated in this multilevel analysis are individual traits, family experiences, parental involvement, school climate, and community characteristics. Using data collected in 2008 from 485 randomly selected students in a school district, this study identifies a best-fitting structural model of bullying behavior. Findings suggest that the ecological model accounted for a high portion of variance in bullying behaviors. All of the ecological systems as well as individual traits were found to be significant influences on bullying behaviors either directly or indirectly.

College Readiness Indicators. Bulletin. Issue 25

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cromwell, Ashley M.; McClarty, Katie Larsen; Larson, Sarah J.

2013-01-01

This paper outlines current student-level indicators at the high school and middle school levels that predict college success. In this bulletin, indicators are divided into three categories: assessment scores (e.g., SAT® exam scores), transcript attributes (e.g., course rigor), and additional indicators (e.g., attendance) that impact achievement.

Test Anxiety: Do Gender and School-Level Matter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Utkun

2017-01-01

The study investigated differences in students' reported overall test anxiety before, during, or after test taking among two school-levels and gender. Differences among three test anxiety components (thoughts, off-task behaviors, and autonomic reactions) were also examined. Participants were 725 primary (349 females, 376 males) and 375 middle (180…

Aviation Curriculum Guide for Middle School Level, Secondary School Level.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dye, Aimee

This curriculum guide consists of activities and experiences which are organized into four sections by curricular area. These areas (and the major topic areas considered) are: (1) language arts (listening, speaking, and viewing; reading comprehension; media center skills); (2) mathematics (aircraft instruments and aviation applications of…

Elementary School Achievement Profiles, Portland Public Schools. A School-by-School Report of Basic Skills Test Results and School/Student/Staff Data. School Year 1985-86.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Portland Public Schools, OR. Dept. of Research, Evaluation, and Testing.

This report contains Portland Achievement Levels Tests results for the 63 elementary schools, 16 middle schools, and 1 special program school in the Portland (Oregon) School District for the 1985-86 school year. Results in reading, language usage, and mathematics are reported for children in grades 3 to 8. Each school data page presents the…

School Turnaround in North Carolina: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis. Working Paper 156

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heissel, Jennifer A.; Ladd, Helen F.

2016-01-01

This paper examines the effect of school turnaround in North Carolina elementary and middle schools. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that turnaround led to a drop in average school-level math and reading passing rates and an increased concentration of low-income students in treated schools. We use teacher survey data to examine…

Starting Time and School Life: Reflections from Educators and Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kubow, Particia K; Wahlstrom, Kyla L.; Bemis, Amy E.

1999-01-01

Using teacher surveys and focus groups, a University of Minnesota study examined the effects of changing school starting times on school operations at all levels and on the community. The least desirable start time was 9:40 a.m. at middle schools. Later schedules benefited high school students. No one schedule can accommodate everyone. (MLH)

School Ethnicity and Governance Influences on Work Absence of Teachers and School Administrators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenblatt, Zehava; Shirom, Arie

2006-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the extent to which school ethnic affiliation (Jewish vs. Arab) and site-based management affected the absence of teachers and school administrators. Research Design: Background individual and organization-level data on the population of elementary and middle-school teachers (52, 056 teachers at 2,…

The Effects of the Mississippi Curriculum Test: Second Edition: A Study on the Teacher Morale and Teacher Efficacy of Seventh and Eighth Grade Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willis, Mario

2014-01-01

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects that high-stakes tests have on middle school teachers' morale and teachers' efficacy in the state of Mississippi. The participants in this study were teachers in the areas of language arts, mathematics, and science at the middle school level. The researcher used a correlational design,…

Data on Enacted Curriculum Study: Summary of Findings Experimental Design Study of Effectiveness of DEC Professional Development Model in Urban Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blank, Rolf K.

2004-01-01

The purpose of the three-year CCSSO study was to design, implement, and test the effectiveness of the Data on Enacted Curriculum (DEC) model for improving math and science instruction. The model was tested by measuring its effects with a randomly selected sample of ?treatment? schools at the middle grades level as compared to a control group of…

A Strategy for Improving US Middle School Student Mathematics Word Problem Solving Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, Valerie L.

2004-01-01

U.S. middle school students have difficulty understanding and solving mathematics word problems. Their mathematics performance on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS) is far below their international peers, and minority students are less likely than high socioeconomic status (SES) White/Asian students to be exposed to higher-level mathematics concepts. Research literature also indicates that when students use both In-School and Out-of-School knowledge and experiences to create authentic mathematics word problems, student achievement improves. This researcher developed a Strategy for improving mathematics problem solving performance and a Professional Development Model (PDM) to effectively implement the Strategy.

Epidemiology as a liberal art: from graduate school to middle school, an unfulfilled agenda.

PubMed

Bracken, Michael B

2014-03-01

Calls by Lilienfeld, Fraser, and others some three decades ago to introduce epidemiology into undergraduate college education remain largely unfulfilled. Consideration of epidemiology as a "liberal art" has also led to exploring possibilities for introducing epidemiology into early education: to high and even middle schools. Adding epidemiology to school curricula should help educate the public to understand science-based evidence concerning the causes and treatments of disease, help inoculate them against a tsunami of biased and fraudulent media messaging, and permit advancing postgraduate education in epidemiology to even higher levels of scholarship. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Physical activity breaks and facilities in US secondary schools

PubMed Central

Hood, Nancy E.; Colabianchi, Natalie; Terry-McElrath, Yvonne M.; O’Malley, Patrick M.; Johnston, Lloyd D.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND Research on physical activity breaks and facilities (indoor and outdoor) in secondary schools is relatively limited. METHODS School administrators and students in nationally representative samples of 8th (middle school) and 10th/12th grade (high school) students were surveyed annually from 2008-09 through 2011-12. School administrators reported information about physical activity breaks and facilities. Students self-reported height, weight, and physical activity. RESULTS The prevalence of physical activity breaks and indoor and outdoor facilities (dichotomized by median split) differed significantly by region of the country, school size, student race/ethnicity, and school socioeconomic status (SES). Breaks were associated with lower odds of overweight (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.91, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.83-1.00) and obesity (AOR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.75-0.99) among middle school students. Among low-SES middle school students and schools, higher indoor facilities were associated with lower rates of overweight and obesity. Among high school students, higher indoor and outdoor facilities were associated with 19%-42% higher odds of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. CONCLUSIONS Physical activity breaks and school facilities may help to address high rates of overweight/obesity and low physical activity levels among secondary students, especially lower-SES students. Students in all schools should have equal access to these resources. PMID:25274169

The Privatization of Education in Argentina.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naradowski, Mariono; Andrada, Myrian

2001-01-01

Describes historical and current trends in Argentina's private and public primary- and secondary-school enrollment levels and policy reasons behind changes, including deregulation of private schools. Evaluates research analyzing impact of increased private-school enrollment; argues middle- and high-income students are opting out of public schools…

Trajectories of Social Withdrawal from Middle Childhood to Early Adolescence

PubMed Central

Oh, Wonjung; Bowker, Julie C.; Booth-LaForce, Cathryn; Rose-Krasnor, Linda; Laursen, Brett

2013-01-01

Heterogeneity and individual differences in the developmental course of social withdrawal were examined longitudinally in a community sample (N=392). General Growth Mixture Modeling (GGMM) was used to identify distinct pathways of social withdrawal, differentiate valid subgroup trajectories, and examine factors that predicted change in trajectories within subgroups. Assessments of individual (social withdrawal), interactive (prosocial behavior), relationship (friendship involvement, stability and quality, best friend’s withdrawal and exclusion/victimization) and group- (exclusion/victimization) level characteristics were used to define growth trajectories from the final year of elementary school, across the transition to middle school, and then to the final year of middle school (fifth-to-eighth grades). Three distinct trajectory classes were identified: low stable, increasing, and decreasing. Peer exclusion, prosocial behavior, and mutual friendship involvement differentiated class membership. Friendlessness, friendship instability, and exclusion were significant predictors of social withdrawal for the increasing class, whereas lower levels of peer exclusion predicted a decrease in social withdrawal for the decreasing class. PMID:18193479

Trajectories of social withdrawal from middle childhood to early adolescence.

PubMed

Oh, Wonjung; Rubin, Kenneth H; Bowker, Julie C; Booth-LaForce, Cathryn; Rose-Krasnor, Linda; Laursen, Brett

2008-05-01

Heterogeneity and individual differences in the developmental course of social withdrawal were examined longitudinally in a community sample (N = 392). General Growth Mixture Modeling (GGMM) was used to identify distinct pathways of social withdrawal, differentiate valid subgroup trajectories, and examine factors that predicted change in trajectories within subgroups. Assessments of individual (social withdrawal), interactive (prosocial behavior), relationship (friendship involvement, stability and quality, best friend's withdrawal and exclusion/victimization) and group- (exclusion/victimization) level characteristics were used to define growth trajectories from the final year of elementary school, across the transition to middle school, and then to the final year of middle school (fifth-to-eighth grades). Three distinct trajectory classes were identified: low stable, increasing, and decreasing. Peer exclusion, prosocial behavior, and mutual friendship involvement differentiated class membership. Friendlessness, friendship instability, and exclusion were significant predictors of social withdrawal for the increasing class, whereas lower levels of peer exclusion predicted a decrease in social withdrawal for the decreasing class.

Listening to Their Voices: Middle Schoolers' Perspectives of Life in Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steinberg, Mary Anne; McCray, Erica D.

2012-01-01

This article examines middle schoolers' perspectives on their lives in middle school. Fifteen middle school students from three middle schools in the Southeast region of the United States participated in a basic qualitative study using focus groups at their schools where they were asked the central question, "If you could change one thing at…

High stress, lack of sleep, low school performance, and suicide attempts are associated with high energy drink intake in adolescents.

PubMed

Kim, So Young; Sim, Songyong; Choi, Hyo Geun

2017-01-01

Although an association between energy drinks and suicide has been suggested, few prior studies have considered the role of emotional factors including stress, sleep, and school performance in adolescents. This study aimed to evaluate the association of energy drinks with suicide, independent of possible confounders including stress, sleep, and school performance. In total, 121,106 adolescents with 13-18 years olds from the 2014 and 2015 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey were surveyed for age, sex, region of residence, economic level, paternal and maternal education level, sleep time, stress level, school performance, frequency of energy drink intake, and suicide attempts. Subjective stress levels were classified into severe, moderate, mild, a little, and no stress. Sleep time was divided into 6 groups: < 6 h; 6 ≤ h < 7; 7 ≤ h < 8; 8 ≤ h < 9; and ≥ 9 h. School performance was classified into 5 levels: A (highest), B (middle, high), C (middle), D (middle, low), and E (lowest). Frequency of energy drink consumption was divided into 3 groups: ≥ 3, 1-2, and 0 times a week. The associations of sleep time, stress level, and school performance with suicide attempts and the frequency of energy drink intake were analyzed using multiple and ordinal logistic regression analysis, respectively, with complex sampling. The relationship between frequency of energy drink intake and suicide attempts was analyzed using multiple logistic regression analysis with complex sampling. Higher stress levels, lack of sleep, and low school performance were significantly associated with suicide attempts (each P < 0.001). These variables of high stress level, abnormal sleep time, and low school performance were also proportionally related with higher energy drink intake (P < 0.001). Frequent energy drink intake was significantly associated with suicide attempts in multiple logistic regression analyses (AOR for frequency of energy intake ≥ 3 times a week = 3.03, 95% CI = 2.64-3.49, P < 0.001). Severe stress, inadequate sleep, and low school performance were related with more energy drink intake and suicide attempts in Korean adolescents. Frequent energy drink intake was positively related with suicide attempts, even after adjusting for stress, sleep time, and school performance.

High stress, lack of sleep, low school performance, and suicide attempts are associated with high energy drink intake in adolescents

PubMed Central

Kim, So Young; Sim, Songyong

2017-01-01

Objective Although an association between energy drinks and suicide has been suggested, few prior studies have considered the role of emotional factors including stress, sleep, and school performance in adolescents. This study aimed to evaluate the association of energy drinks with suicide, independent of possible confounders including stress, sleep, and school performance. Methods In total, 121,106 adolescents with 13–18 years olds from the 2014 and 2015 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey were surveyed for age, sex, region of residence, economic level, paternal and maternal education level, sleep time, stress level, school performance, frequency of energy drink intake, and suicide attempts. Subjective stress levels were classified into severe, moderate, mild, a little, and no stress. Sleep time was divided into 6 groups: < 6 h; 6 ≤ h < 7; 7 ≤ h < 8; 8 ≤ h < 9; and ≥ 9 h. School performance was classified into 5 levels: A (highest), B (middle, high), C (middle), D (middle, low), and E (lowest). Frequency of energy drink consumption was divided into 3 groups: ≥ 3, 1–2, and 0 times a week. The associations of sleep time, stress level, and school performance with suicide attempts and the frequency of energy drink intake were analyzed using multiple and ordinal logistic regression analysis, respectively, with complex sampling. The relationship between frequency of energy drink intake and suicide attempts was analyzed using multiple logistic regression analysis with complex sampling. Results Higher stress levels, lack of sleep, and low school performance were significantly associated with suicide attempts (each P < 0.001). These variables of high stress level, abnormal sleep time, and low school performance were also proportionally related with higher energy drink intake (P < 0.001). Frequent energy drink intake was significantly associated with suicide attempts in multiple logistic regression analyses (AOR for frequency of energy intake ≥ 3 times a week = 3.03, 95% CI = 2.64–3.49, P < 0.001). Conclusion Severe stress, inadequate sleep, and low school performance were related with more energy drink intake and suicide attempts in Korean adolescents. Frequent energy drink intake was positively related with suicide attempts, even after adjusting for stress, sleep time, and school performance. PMID:29135989

Effects of same-sex versus coeducational physical education on the self-perceptions of middle and high school students.

PubMed

Lirgg, C D

1993-09-01

The purpose of this field experiment was to investigate the effects of attending either a coeducational or a same-sex physical education class on several self-perception variables. Middle and high school youth who had previously been in coeducational classes were assigned to either a same-sex or a new coeducational physical education class for a 10-lesson unit of basketball. Analyses were conducted at both the group and the individual levels. Self-perception variables examined included perceived self-confidence of learning basketball, perceived usefulness of basketball, and perceived gender-appropriateness of basketball. Results of hierarchical linear model group level analyses indicated that the variability in groups for self-confidence could be explained by grade, class type, and the interaction between gender and class type. At the individual level, multivariate results showed that, after the unit, males in coeducational classes were significantly more confident in their ability to learn basketball than males in same-sex classes. Also, males in same-sex classes decreased in confidence from pretreatment to posttreatment. Perceived usefulness of basketball emerged as the strongest predictor of self-confidence for learning basketball for both genders. In general, middle school students preferred same-sex classes, whereas high school students preferred coeducational classes.

Investment in Human Capital. Schooling Supply Constraints in Rural Ghana.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lavy, Victor

This paper hypothesizes that the cost differential between primary school and middle or secondary schooling will affect household decisions to invest in any one schooling level in Ghana. Human capital investment is usually modeled in an intertemporal optimization framework in which households or individuals maximize the present value of life-time…

School Social Workers' Experiences with Youth Suicidal Behavior: An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singer, Jonathan B.; Slovak, Karen

2011-01-01

No published studies have explored school social workers (SSWs) experiences with, or beliefs and attitudes about, working with suicidal youths at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. The authors surveyed SSWs (N = 399) who were members of the 11-state Midwest Council on School Social Workers. Results indicated significant SSW…

Redesigning the Role of Deputy Heads in Norwegian Schools--Tensions between Control and Autonomy?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abrahamsen, Hedvig

2018-01-01

A substantial body of research emphasises school leadership as a major influence on quality improvement in schools. Although numerous studies have identified the importance of the principal, fewer studies have examined the middle management level within schools, the deputy heads and assistant principals. Influenced by international trends, local…

Factors Associated with High School Exit Exam Outcomes among Homeless High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uretsky, Mathew C.; Stone, Susan

2016-01-01

Little is known about academic performance among homeless high school students, although correlates of academic performance are well documented among their peers in the elementary and middle school grades. This study explores the relationship between student-level demographic and academic performance indicators (for example, grade point average…

Exploring the Evolving Professional Identity of Novice School Counselors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bamgbose, Olamojiba Omolara

2017-01-01

The study employed a grounded theory approach to explore the evolving professional identity of novice school counselors. Participants, who are currently employed as school counselors at the elementary, middle, or high school level with 1-4 years' experience, were career changers from other helping professions and graduates from an intensive school…

Public Higher Education Performance Accountability Framework Report: Goal--College Readiness Measure: Levels in English and Mathematics. Commission Report 07-24

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California Postsecondary Education Commission, 2007

2007-01-01

As part of its work in developing a performance accountability framework for higher education, the Commission conducted an analysis of student performance on standardized tests at the high school and middle school levels. National test results show that California is behind most other states in giving its students a high school education of the…

The effects of hands-on-science instruction on the science achievement of middle school students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiggins, Felita

Student achievement in the Twenty First Century demands a new rigor in student science knowledge, since advances in science and technology require students to think and act like scientists. As a result, students must acquire proficient levels of knowledge and skills to support a knowledge base that is expanding exponentially with new scientific advances. This study examined the effects of hands-on-science instruction on the science achievement of middle school students. More specifically, this study was concerned with the influence of hands-on science instruction versus traditional science instruction on the science test scores of middle school students. The subjects in this study were one hundred and twenty sixth-grade students in six classes. Instruction involved lecture/discussion and hands-on activities carried out for a three week period. Specifically, the study ascertained the influence of the variables gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on the science test scores of middle school students. Additionally, this study assessed the effect of the variables gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on the attitudes of sixth grade students toward science. The two instruments used to collect data for this study were the Prentice Hall unit ecosystem test and the Scientific Work Experience Programs for Teachers Study (SWEPT) student's attitude survey. Moreover, the data for the study was treated using the One-Way Analysis of Covariance and the One-Way Analysis of Variance. The following findings were made based on the results: (1) A statistically significant difference existed in the science performance of middle school students exposed to hands-on science instruction. These students had significantly higher scores than the science performance of middle school students exposed to traditional instruction. (2) A statistically significant difference did not exist between the science scores of male and female middle school students. (3) A statistically significant difference did not exist between the science scores of African American and non-African American middle school students. (4) A statistically significant difference existed in the socioeconomic status of students who were not provided with assisted lunches. Students with unassisted lunches had significantly higher science scores than those middle school students who were provided with assisted lunches. (5) A statistically significant difference was not found in the attitude scores of middle school students who were exposed to hands-on or traditional science instruction. (6) A statistically significant difference was not found in the observed attitude scores of middle school students who were exposed to either hands-on or traditional science instruction by their socioeconomic status. (7) A statistically significant difference was not found in the observed attitude scores of male and female students. (8) A statistically significant difference was not found in the observed attitude scores of African American and non African American students.

An Analysis of Activities in Saudi Arabian Middle School Science Textbooks and Workbooks for the Inclusion of Essential Features of Inquiry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aldahmash, Abdulwali H.; Mansour, Nasser S.; Alshamrani, Saeed M.; Almohi, Saeed

2016-12-01

This study examines Saudi Arabian middle school science textbooks' coverage of the essential features of scientific inquiry. All activities in the middle school science textbooks and workbooks were analyzed by using the scientific inquiry `essential features' rubric. The results indicated that the essential features are included in about 59 % of the analyzed science activities. However, feature 2, `making learner give priority to evidence in responding to questions' and feature 3, `allowing learner to formulate explanations from evidence' appeared more frequently than the other three features (feature 1: engaging learner in scientifically oriented questions, feature 4: helping learner connect explanations to scientific knowledge, and feature 5: helping learner communicate and justify explanations to others), whether in the activities as a whole, or in the activities included in each of the four science domains (physical science, Earth science, life science and chemistry). These features are represented in almost all activities. This means that almost all activities in the middle school science textbooks and the workbooks include features 2 and 3. Meanwhile, the mean level of inclusion of the five essential features of scientific inquiry found in the middle school science textbooks and workbooks as a whole is 2.55. However, results found for features 1, 4, 5 and for in-level inclusion of the inquiry features in each of the science domains indicate that the inclusion of the essential inquiry features is teacher-centred. As a result, neither science textbooks nor workbooks provide students with the opportunity or encouragement to develop their inquiry skills. Consequently, the results suggest important directions for educational administrators and policy-makers in the preparation and use of science educational content.

Images of Polar Bears and Penguins, Storms, Deforestation and More - Middle School Students Perceptions of Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gopal, S.; Melaas, E. K.; Malmrose, M.; Mullokandov, A.

2014-12-01

Global change studies aim to foster a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of global change on planet Earth. The study of global change presents a rich domain of inquiry, exploration, and discovery at all grade levels. The main objective of this exploratory study was to assess middle school students' perceptions of global change as part of their participation in the NSF GK12 program called GLACIER (Global Change Initiative - Education and Research) during the academic year 2012-13. The middle schools are located in the Metro Boston area. As part of the program, participating students were asked to draw pictures of their perceptions and ideas on global change. The drawings of 150 children, ages 11 to 13, were qualitatively analyzed. The analysis focused on (a) the type of concepts children chose to convey, (b) the specific context of the global change described (polar bears in floating glaciers), (c) students direct representation of anthropocentric impacts (such as pollution or deforestation), and (d) the match between students concepts and the recent IPCC reports. About 20% of the students focused on the iconic imagery of the melting glaciers and impact on animals such as penguins and polar bears, more than 25% focused on natural disasters (such as storms, sea level changes) while 30% focused on urban problems. These concepts are matched with the recent IPCC report. These results are notable and suggest students in middle schools understand the varied dimensions of global change and the role of human activities in bringing about change. Students' perspectives may help in developing a suitable curriculum using existing science standards to discuss this significant topic in middle school classrooms. In addition, students' drawings illustrate their perception of the coupled human and natural systems.

Learning to Teach at the Middle Level: Translating Policy into Promise in New York State

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerstenblatt, Julie

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the response of colleges and schools of education to the newly created (2004) New York State middle childhood teacher certificate (Grades 5-9). The study explored different approaches to the translation and application of State policy at the college/university level. Defining exactly what the field…

The Effectiveness of a CBI Program for Teaching Problem Solving Skills to Middle Level Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langholz, Judith; Smaldino, Sharon E.

This study focuses on the effectiveness of "Solutions Unlimited," a computer software program developed to teach problem solving to middle level students. Fifty-one fourth, fifth, and sixth graders (21 girls and 30 boys) attending a private school in a small mid-west community were the subjects for this experiment; none had received…

Connecting the Past to the Present in the Middle-Level Classroom: A Comparative Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Sarah

2014-01-01

This comparative case study examines the manner in which 2 middle-level social studies teachers established connections between the past and the present within their curriculums. The teachers who participated in this project worked in different school districts: one teaching a 7th-grade U.S. History curriculum and the other teaching a 6th-grade…

Teaching climate change: Pressures and practice in the middle school science classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crayne, Jennifer A.

What are middle school science teachers teaching their students about climate change? And why? This qualitative study examined the experience of middle school science teachers from western Oregon, finding that while participating teachers accept the science of climate change and express concern about it, many teachers are reluctant to make the topic a priority in their classrooms. When they do include the subject, teachers frequently address "both sides." They also report that students have persistent doubts and misconceptions about climate change. What accounts for these trends? I argue that the way teachers address climate change is a result of complex interactions between structural pressures, emotional pressures, and cultural pressures. I conclude that, in order to promote the inclusion of sound climate science instruction in public schools, advocates of climate change education need to address challenges at all these levels: structural, emotional, and cultural.

Social Consequences of Academic Teaming in Middle School: The Influence of Shared Course-Taking on Peer Victimization

PubMed Central

Echols, Leslie

2014-01-01

This study examined the influence of academic teaming (i.e., sharing academic classes with the same classmates) on the relationship between social preference and peer victimization among 6th grade students in middle school. Approximately 1,000 participants were drawn from 5 middle schools that varied in their practice of academic teaming. A novel methodology for measuring academic teaming at the individual level was employed, in which students received their own teaming score based on the unique set of classmates with whom they shared academic courses in their class schedule. Using both peer- and self-reports of victimization, the results of two path models indicated that students with low social preference in highly teamed classroom environments were more victimized than low preference students who experienced less teaming throughout the school day. This effect was exaggerated in higher performing classrooms. Implications for the practice of academic teaming were discussed. PMID:25937668

Serving the Community. Lawyers Helping Young People Become Good Citizens. I'm the People--It's about Citizenship and You.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Bar Association, Chicago, IL. Special Committee on Youth Education for Citizenship.

Organized around the theme of community service, this booklet provides teachers and lawyers with classroom materials for elementary grades K-3 (Level A), intermediate grades 4-6 (Level B), middle school grades 6-8 (Level C), and high school grades 9-12 (Level D). In addition, each level contains pages for the lawyer (marked by the scales of…

An International Look at Educating Young Adolescents. The Handbook of Research in Middle Level Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mertens, Steven B., Ed; Anfara, Vincent A., Ed.; Roney, Kathleen, Ed.

2009-01-01

Studies like the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) have compared the performance of U.S. middle grade students (i.e., eighth graders) to those in other countries. In relation to middle grade schools, 20 countries outperformed the United States in mathematics and nine countries scored above the U.S. in science. The intent of…

A study of the continuum of integration of mathematics content with science concepts at the middle school level in West Virginia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meisel, Edna Marie

The purpose of this study was to examine the practices and perceptions of regular education seventh grade middle school mathematics teachers in West Virginia concerning the integration of mathematics objectives with science concepts. In addition, this study also emphasized the use of integrated curriculum continuum models to study mathematics teachers' practices and perceptions for teaching mathematics objectives in connection with science concepts. It was argued that the integrated curriculum continuum model can be used to help educators begin to form a common definition of integrated curriculum. The population was described as the regular education seventh grade middle school mathematics teachers in West Virginia. The entire population (N = 173) was used as the participants in this study. Data was collected using an integrated curriculum practices and perceptions survey constructed by the researcher. This was a descriptive study that incorporated the Chi Square statistic to show trends in teacher practices and perceptions. Also, an ex post facto design, that incorporated the Mann-Whitney U statistic, was used to compare practices and perceptions between teachers grouped according to factors that influence teaching practices and perceptions. These factors included teaching certificate endorsement and teacher professional preparation. Results showed that the regular education seventh grade middle school mathematics teachers of West Virginia are teaching mathematics objectives mainly at a discipline-based level with no formal attempt for integration with science concepts. However, these teachers perceived that many of the mathematics objectives should be taught at varying levels of integration with science concepts. It was also shown that teachers who experienced professional preparation courses that emphasized integrated curriculum courses did teach many of the mathematics objectives at higher levels of integration with science than those teachers who did not experience integrated curriculum courses.

School-level factors associated with increased fruit and vegetable consumption among students in California middle and high schools.

PubMed

Gosliner, Wendi

2014-09-01

This study assessed associations between selective school-level factors and students' consumption of fruits and vegetables at school. Better understanding of school factors associated with increased produce consumption is especially important, as students are served more produce items at school. This cross-sectional study included 5439 seventh- and ninth-grade students from 31 schools in California in 2010. Multilevel regression models estimated whether the odds of consuming fruits or vegetables at school among students eating the school lunch were associated with the length of the lunch period, quality/variety of produce options, or other factors. A longer lunch period was associated with increased odds of a student eating fruits (odds ratio [OR] = 1.40) and vegetables (OR = 1.54) at school. Better fruit quality increased the odds of a student consuming fruit (OR = 1.44). Including a salad bar and involving students in food service decisions increased a student's odds of consuming vegetables (OR = 1.48 and OR = 1.34, respectively). This study suggests that institutional factors in schools are positively associated with middle and high school students' consumption of produce items at school. Additional efforts to structure school meal environments to enhance students' consumption of produce items can benefit students' nutrition and health. © 2014, American School Health Association.

Examination of the Relationship between TEOG Score Transition (from Basic to Secondary Education), Self-Confidence, Self-Efficacy and Motivation Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Usta, H. Gonca

2017-01-01

The relationship between individuals' academic success, motivation and self-confidence and self-efficacy levels cannot be ignored. The aim of this study is to develop and test a theoretical model considering the relationship between academic motivation, self-confidence and self-efficacy levels in transition from middle school to high school. For…

Modelling the Effects of Principal Leadership and School Capacity on Teacher Professional Learning in Hong Kong Primary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hallinger, Philip; Lu, Jiafang

2014-01-01

Over the past 30 years, school principals have been exhorted to articulate a clear vision as a key tool for stimulating the improvement of teaching and learning in their schools. Over the past decade, as school systems have sought to distribute leadership more broadly within schools, the same imperative has applied to middle-level leaders. Indeed,…

Police at School: A Brief History and Current Status of School Resource Officers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiler, Spencer C.; Cray, Martha

2011-01-01

The school resource officer (SRO) program began in the United States in the early to mid-1950s, however, the program did not gain prominence until the 1990s in response to various school shootings. According to national data, SROs can be found in 35 percent of school across America, regardless of level (elementary, middle, or high school),…

[Discriminating power of socio-demographic and psychological variables on addictive use of cellular phones among middle school students].

PubMed

Lee, Haejung; Kim, Myoung Soo; Son, Hyun Kyung; Ahn, Sukhee; Kim, Jung Soon; Kim, Young Hae

2007-10-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the degrees of cellular phone usage among middle school students and to identify discriminating factors of addictive use of cellular phones among sociodemographic and psychological variables. From 123 middle schools in Busan, potential participants were identified through stratified random sampling and 747 middle school students participated in the study. The data was collected from December 1, 2004 to December 30, 2004. Descriptive and discriminant analyses were used. Fifty seven percent of the participants were male and 89.7% used cellular phones at school. The participants were grouped into three groups depending on the levels of the cellular phone usage: addicted (n=117), dependent (n=418), non-addicted (n=212). Within the three groups, two functions were produced and only one function was significant, discriminating the addiction group from non-addiction group. Additional discriminant analysis with only two groups produced one function that classified 81.2% of the participants correctly into the two groups. Impulsiveness, anxiety, and stress were significant discriminating factors. Based on the findings of this study, developing intervention programs focusing on impulsiveness, anxiety and stress to reduce the possible addictive use of cellular phones is suggested.

Students to Race Solar-Powered Model Cars

Science.gov Websites

hotel and the NREL Visitors Center. The SERF is the silver-colored building one-eighth mile past the teams Eagle Valley Middle School Two teams Fountain Middle School One team Hayden Middle School Two teams Kunsmiller Middle School One team Little Elementary Two teams Lyons Middle School Two teams Maple

Nebraska State Plan Career Education Project. Final Performance Report for Period Ending June 30, 1977.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nebraska State Dept. of Education, Lincoln.

The Nebraska state career education plan was developed to assist individuals in developing essential educational and career skills for responsible functioning. The plan, linking the school and work world, extends chronologically: elementary level--career awareness, middle/junior high school level--career exploration, and senior high school…

Associations between Socio-Motivational Factors, Physical Education Activity Levels and Physical Activity Behavior among Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ning, Weihong; Gao, Zan; Lodewyk, Ken

2012-01-01

This study examined the relationships between established socio-motivational factors and children's physical activity levels daily and during physical education classes. A total of 307 middle school students (149 boys, 158 girls) from a suburban public school in the Southern United States participated in this study. Participants completed…

Classroom Drama and Theatre: A Guide to Curriculum Planning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Last, Ellen

This state guide to curriculum planning is designed to provide direction to teachers, administrators, and curriculum specialists for developing programs in informal drama and theatre. For each school level (preschool, elementary, middle, and high school) the following topics or concepts are discussed in terms of the student at that level: informal…

Teacher Support and Engagement in Math and Science: Evidence from the High School Longitudinal Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly, Sean; Zhang, Yuan

2016-01-01

Supportive teacher-student relationships are associated with increased levels of engagement and higher levels of achievement. Yet, studies also show that higher achieving students typically receive the most encouragement. Moreover, many studies of teacher-student relationships pertain to elementary and middle school students; by the time students…

34 CFR 200.56 - Definition of “highly qualified teacher.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... areas of the basic elementary school curriculum; or (3) At the public middle and high school levels, demonstrate a high level of competency by— (i) Passing a rigorous State test in each academic subject in which... teacher— (1) Receives high-quality professional development that is sustained, intensive, and classroom...

34 CFR 200.56 - Definition of “highly qualified teacher.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... areas of the basic elementary school curriculum; or (3) At the public middle and high school levels, demonstrate a high level of competency by— (i) Passing a rigorous State test in each academic subject in which... teacher— (1) Receives high-quality professional development that is sustained, intensive, and classroom...

34 CFR 200.56 - Definition of “highly qualified teacher.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... areas of the basic elementary school curriculum; or (3) At the public middle and high school levels, demonstrate a high level of competency by— (i) Passing a rigorous State test in each academic subject in which... teacher— (1) Receives high-quality professional development that is sustained, intensive, and classroom...

34 CFR 200.56 - Definition of “highly qualified teacher.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... areas of the basic elementary school curriculum; or (3) At the public middle and high school levels, demonstrate a high level of competency by— (i) Passing a rigorous State test in each academic subject in which... teacher— (1) Receives high-quality professional development that is sustained, intensive, and classroom...

34 CFR 200.56 - Definition of “highly qualified teacher.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... areas of the basic elementary school curriculum; or (3) At the public middle and high school levels, demonstrate a high level of competency by— (i) Passing a rigorous State test in each academic subject in which... teacher— (1) Receives high-quality professional development that is sustained, intensive, and classroom...

Intermediate Decoding Skills. NetNews. Volume 4, Number 4

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LDA of Minnesota, 2004

2004-01-01

Intermediate decoding refers to word analysis skills that are beyond a beginning, one-syllable level as described in an earlier NetNews issue, yet are just as important for building adult level reading proficiency. Research from secondary settings indicates that struggling readers in middle school or high school programs often read between the…

Best Practice in Middle-School Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliveira, Alandeom W.; Wilcox, Kristen C.; Angelis, Janet; Applebee, Arthur N.; Amodeo, Vincent; Snyder, Michele A.

2013-03-01

Using socio-ecological theory, this study explores best practice (educational practices correlated with higher student performance) in middle-school science. Seven schools with consistently higher student performance were compared with three demographically similar, average-performing schools. Best practice included instructional approaches (relevance and engagement, inquiry, differentiated instruction, collaborative work, moderate amounts of homework, and integration of language literacy and science) and administrative practices (nurturing a climate of opportunity to succeed in science, offering professional development based on data and dialogue, engaging teachers in standards-based curriculum revision and alignment, and recruiting the right fit of teacher). It is argued that best practice entails multiple levels of teaching and administrative praxis that together form a school-wide socio-ecological system conducive to higher performance.

Present Imperfect

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arth, Alfred; Ashford, Anne; Jenkins, Jaynellen Behre; Burns, Jim; Kane, Tom; Mitchell, Kenneth; Shepard, David A.; Toepfer, Conrad; Wheeler, Kathleen

2004-01-01

An interesting educational phenomenon is occurring across the United States in relation to middle grades education. Many middle level educators and parents are asking, "What's wrong with our school?" Sometimes their concerns are supported by such comments as "We don't seem to be going anywhere" and "Our students do not…