Middle-School Students' Understanding of the Equal Sign: The Books They Read Can't Help

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNeil, Nicole M.; Grandau, Laura; Knuth, Eric J.; Alibali, Martha W.; Stephens, Ana C.; Hattikudur, Shanta; Krill, Daniel E.

2006-01-01

This study examined how 4 middle school textbook series (2 skills-based, 2 Standards-based) present equal signs. Equal signs were often presented in standard operations equals answer contexts (e.g., 3 + 4 = 7) and were rarely presented in nonstandard operations on both sides contexts (e.g., 3 + 4 = 5 + 2). They were, however, presented in other…

School Organizational Contexts, Teacher Turnover, and Student Achievement: Evidence From Panel Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kraft, Matthew A.; Marinell, William H.; Shen-Wei Yee, Darrick

2016-01-01

We study the relationship between school organizational contexts, teacher turnover, and student achievement in New York City (NYC) middle schools. Using factor analysis, we construct measures of four distinct dimensions of school climate captured on the annual NYC School Survey. We identify credible estimates by isolating variation in…

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…

Comparing the Contexts of Middle-Grade Schools, Their Instructional Practices, and Their Outcomes: A Regression Discontinuity Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ali, Elias; Heck, Ronald H.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study is to describe an alternative means of estimating school effectiveness, referred to as an "absolute year" of schooling and demonstrate its usefulness as a measure of school effectiveness in the middle grades. More specifically, the study investigated (a) whether the absolute schooling effect in math and reading outcomes…

Reforming Middle Schools: Focus on Continuity, Social Connectedness, and Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juvonen, Jaana

2007-01-01

This article provides a brief historical context and analysis of current middle school reform efforts to promote student engagement by facilitating social relationships. International comparisons of perceived social climate are presented to assess whether sense of belonging and support are lacking in American schools. Research documenting…

The Michigan Context and Performance Report Card: Public Elementary & Middle Schools, 2013

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spalding, Audrey

2013-01-01

The Michigan Context and Performance Report Card measures school performance by adjusting standardized test scores to account for student background. Comparing schools using unadjusted test scores ignores the significant relationship between academic performance and student socioeconomic background--a dynamic outside a school's control. The…

International Education in a National Context: Introducing the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme in Dutch Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Visser, Alderik

2010-01-01

Some bilingual secondary schools in the Netherlands have introduced or are introducing the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP).The implementation of this international scheme at (semi-) public national Dutch schools proves anything but unproblematic. Based on a series of questionnaires filled out by school managers and…

A Defense of Using Pop Media in the Middle-School Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Witkin, Mitzi

1994-01-01

Discusses the ways that middle school English teachers can use popular teen culture within the context of general English instruction. Suggests bringing television, film, comics, advice columns, and teen magazines into the English classroom. (HB)

Shifting Attendance Trajectories from Middle to High School: Influences of School Transitions and Changing School Contexts

PubMed Central

Benner, Aprile D.; Wang, Yijie

2014-01-01

In the current study, we examine patterns of school attendance across middle and high school with a diverse sample of 8,908 students (48% female; 54% Latino, 31% White, 13% African American, 2% Asian American). Attendance declined from middle through high school, but this overall pattern masked important variations. In total, 44% of students maintained their attendance trajectories from middle to high school (11% stable high, 19% high-decreasing, 10% mid-decreasing, 4% low-decreasing), and shifting attendance trajectories often signaled greater school disengagement (38% shifted to poorer attendance trajectories, 18% experienced improved attendance trajectories). Transition experiences, school structural characteristics, and the divergence between students’ middle and high schools provided insights into which students recovered, becoming more engaged in high school versus those who became more disconnected. Implications for identifying and intervening with disengaged youth are discussed. PMID:24364827

Middle-Class School Choice in Urban Spaces: The Economics of Public Schooling and Globalized Education Reform. Routledge Research in Education Policy and Politics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowe, Emma E.

2016-01-01

"Middle-class School Choice in Urban Spaces" examines government funded public schools from a range of perspectives and scholarship in order to examine the historical, political and economic conditions of public schooling within a globalized, post-welfare context. In this book, Rowe argues that post-welfare policy conditions are…

To Have and to Have Not: The Socioeconomics of Charter Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bancroft, Kim

2009-01-01

This year-long ethnographic study analyzed three California charter middle schools: one served mostly low-income, urban African American students; the second served students from working class Latino families; and the third served a middle class, predominantly White suburb. The study illustrates how socioeconomic context of a charter school's…

School as a Context of Early Adolescents' Academic and Social-Emotional Development: A Summary of Research Findings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roeser, Robert W.; Eccles, Jacquelynne S.; Sameroff, Arnold J.

2000-01-01

Examined how young adolescents perceived the opportunities provided by middle school teachers and staff and how such opportunities related to changes in academic and social-emotional functioning over time. Found that specific instructional, interpersonal, and organizational dimensions of middle school life were associated in important ways with…

Building Critical Community in Middle School Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dowdy, Josh; Dore, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

Research pertaining to institutions of public education reveals that curricular structures often function to produce and reproduce systemic inequalities. The following personal statement outlines a middle school teacher's attempt to address social reproduction in public education. By situating issues of inequity within a local context of…

Supporting Teachers' Management of Middle School Social Dynamics: The Scouting Report Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farmer, Thomas W.; Chen, Chin-Chih; Hamm, Jill V.; Moates, Meredith M.; Mehtaji, Meera; Lee, David; Huneke, Michelle R.

2016-01-01

This describes the "scouting report" as an approach that social and behavior intervention specialists can use to help middle-level teachers create social contexts that support productive social roles and relationships of students with disabilities. Building from research on early adolescent social dynamics and context-based interventions…

Presence in Context: Teachers' Negotiations with the Relational Environment of School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stieha, Vicki; Raider-Roth, Miriam

2012-01-01

This inquiry research builds on the theory of presence in teaching (Rodgers and Raider-Roth 2006) adding nuanced understandings of how school contexts play into teachers' abilities to support students' learning. Findings are drawn from multiple interviews with five veteran middle school teachers, teachers' written work, and field observations.…

Factors Associated with Adolescent Physical Activity during Middle School Physical Education: A One-Year Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Senne, Terry; Rowe, David; Boswell, Boni; Decker, James; Douglas, Shaun

2009-01-01

The purpose of this descriptive component of a larger, exploratory case study was to examine associations among lesson contexts, teacher behaviors, and adolescent physical activity over a year of physical education (PE) at one school. Middle school students (n = 206) and their PE teachers (n = 4) were observed twice-weekly across one academic…

Middle School Drum Ensemble: An Unlikely Experience in Classroom Democracy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barbre, James

2013-01-01

Though music has a long and successful history within education, it is often one of the first sacrificial lambs when school budgets tighten. Over the course of an academic year, a documentary film sought to tell the story of an American middle school drum ensemble. The context of this group provided an ideal way to examine the nature of student…

Middle School Science: Working in a Confused Context.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berns, Barbara Brauner; Swanson, Judy

This paper presents the stories of two urban middle school science teachers, both identified as leaders in their districts. Both bring substantial expertise to science education, though neither has experienced optimal conditions for flourishing as teacher leaders. One teacher has strong content knowledge and a deep understanding of standards. The…

Formal and Informal Context Factors as Contributors to Student Engagement in a Guided Discovery-Based Program of Game Design Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reynolds, Rebecca; Chiu, Ming Ming

2013-01-01

This paper explored informal (after-school) and formal (elective course in-school) learning contexts as contributors to middle-school student attitudinal changes in a guided discovery-based and blended e-learning program in which students designed web games and used social media and information resources for a full school year. Formality of the…

Classroom Debates in Middle School Social Studies: Moving from Personal Attacks to Evidence and Reasoning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duhaylongsod, Leslie

2017-01-01

Using transcripts of 6 classroom debates that took place in 4 urban schools, the present study takes a closer look at what middle school students do during classroom debates in the context of a social studies curriculum designed to support student argumentation in debate. Two coding schemes were used to analyze student comments in the transcripts:…

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…

The Italian Middle School in a Deregulation Era: Modernity through Path-Dependency and Global Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mincu, Monica E.

2015-01-01

In the current context of intensified moves towards educational deregulation, the configuration of the Italian middle school and its relationship to education governance is an interesting case. Historically, it represents a unique example of the successful "decision-making" model of the welfarist era. Despite some internal constraints,…

Mentoring and Argumentation in a Game-Infused Science Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gould, Deena L.; Parekh, Priyanka

2018-01-01

Engaging in argumentation from evidence is challenging for most middle school students. We report the design of a media-based mentoring system to support middle school students in engaging in argumentation in the context of a game-infused science curriculum. Our design emphasizes learners apprenticing with college student mentors around the…

Using the SIOP Model to Improve Middle School Science Instruction. CREATE Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Himmel, Jennifer; Short, Deborah J.; Richards, Catherine; Echevarria, Jana

2009-01-01

This brief provides an overview of the SIOP Model and highlights how teachers can develop content and language objectives, emphasize key vocabulary, promote interaction, and incorporate effective review and assessment techniques within the context of middle school science. It provides research-based examples and strategies in order to illustrate…

Looking for a Struggle: Exploring the Emotions of a Middle School Reader

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Triplett, Cheri Foster

2004-01-01

The purpose of this case study was to explore a middle school student's emotions in the tutoring context in order to better understand the "struggles"faced by a struggling reader. Through cognitive explanations of emotions, the researcher identified aspects of tutoring that influenced Mitchell's feelings of enjoyment, pride, and success. These…

Profiles of Social Communicative Competence in Middle School Children with Asperger Syndrome: Two Case Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bellon-Harn, Monica L.; Harn, William E.

2006-01-01

Among characteristics of children diagnosed with Asperger syndrome (AS) are difficulties in social communication. This study describes the social communicative competence of two middle school children with AS participating in conversations in three different situational contexts. The conversations were transcribed and submitted to three kinds of…

Problematic Situations in the Lives of Urban African American Middle School Students: A Qualitative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrell, Albert D.; Erwin, Elizabeth H.; Allison, Kevin W.; Meyer, Aleta; Sullivan, Terri; Camou, Suzanne; Kliewer, Wendy; Esposito, Layla

2007-01-01

Qualitative methods were used to identify problem situations encountered by adolescents in urban middle schools serving a predominantly African American student population. Interviews focusing on identifying problem situations and the context in which they occur were conducted with 60 adolescents including students and peer mediators at middle…

Sustaining Inquiry-Based Teaching Methods in the Middle School Science Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Amy Fowler

2012-01-01

This dissertation used a combination of case study and phenomenological research methods to investigate how individual teachers of middle school science in the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) program sustain their use of inquiry-based methods of teaching and learning. While the overall context for the cases was the AMSTI…

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.

Latino Students' Transition to Middle School: Role of Bilingual Education and School Ethnic Context.

PubMed

Hughes, Jan N; Im, MyungHee; Kwok, Oi-Man; Cham, Heining; West, Stephen G

2015-09-01

Participants were 204 academically at-risk Latino students recruited into a study when in first grade and followed for 9 years. Using piecewise latent growth curve analyses, we investigated trajectories of teacher-rated behavioral engagement and student-reported school belonging during elementary school and middle school and the association between trajectories and enrollment in bilingual education classes in elementary school and a change in school ethnic congruence across the transition to middle school. Overall, students experienced a drop in school belonging and behavioral engagement across the transition. A moderating effect of ethnic congruence on bilingual enrollment was found. A decline in ethnic congruence was associated with more positive trajectories for students previously enrolled in bilingual classes but more negative trajectories for non-bilingual students.

Latino Students' Transition to Middle School: Role of Bilingual Education and School Ethnic Context

PubMed Central

Hughes, Jan N.; Im, MyungHee; Kwok, Oi-man; Cham, Heining; West, Stephen G.

2014-01-01

Participants were 204 academically at-risk Latino students recruited into a study when in first grade and followed for 9 years. Using piecewise latent growth curve analyses, we investigated trajectories of teacher-rated behavioral engagement and student-reported school belonging during elementary school and middle school and the association between trajectories and enrollment in bilingual education classes in elementary school and a change in school ethnic congruence across the transition to middle school. Overall, students experienced a drop in school belonging and behavioral engagement across the transition. A moderating effect of ethnic congruence on bilingual enrollment was found. A decline in ethnic congruence was associated with more positive trajectories for students previously enrolled in bilingual classes but more negative trajectories for non-bilingual students. PMID:26347591

A Descriptive Analysis of the Impact of Co-Teaching on the Reading/Language Arts and Math Achievement of Selected Middle School Students in a Middle Tennessee School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maultsby-Springer, Barbara Michelle

2009-01-01

This research examined the impact of collaborative teaching (co-teaching) on the Reading/Language Arts and Math achievement of Middle Tennessee students in grades 5-8, as measured by the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) Achievement test. Within the context of this study, the co-teaching model of instruction is defined as the…

Learning to Teach English Language Arts in Urban Middle Schools: A Cultural and Interactional Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buescher, Eileen M.

2017-01-01

This dissertation explores the experiences of middle childhood pre-service teachers (PST) across two academic years as they learn to teach English language arts to diverse students from conflicting sociocultural contexts. To help PSTs navigate the tensions across contexts, this study introduced culturally relevant (Ladson-Billings, 1995; 2014) and…

Exploring Rural Contexts with Digital Storytelling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wake, Donna G.

2012-01-01

This article describes rural middle school students' exploration of their identity and their rural contexts through the vehicle of digital storytelling. Participants included 40 7th and 40 9th grade students at two rural schools in the Southeast United States. Students worked in shared writing groups to create digital stories expressing their…

Measuring symptoms and functioning of youth with ADHD in middle schools.

PubMed

Evans, Steven W; Allen, Jessica; Moore, Sheryle; Strauss, Victoria

2005-12-01

The identification of reliable and valid means for evaluating the effectiveness of school-based treatments and completing diagnostic evaluations of middle school aged students are needed. The present study examined the inter-rater agreement of teacher ratings and the relationship between ratings and observational data in a middle school setting. The data are interpreted in the context of differences between a secondary and elementary school setting. Teacher ratings and observational data were collected regularly over the course of two academic years for middle school students diagnosed with ADHD. The results indicate low rates of inter-rater agreement as well as low rates of agreement between teachers and observational data, and between observational data collected in different classrooms. Inter-rater agreement was lowest in late fall and gradually increased over the second half of the year. Implications for conducting treatment outcome evaluations of school-based treatment programs and diagnostic evaluations are discussed.

Links Between Contexts and Middle to Late Childhood Social-Emotional Development.

PubMed

Duong, Jeffrey; Bradshaw, Catherine P

2017-12-01

Guided by the social-emotional learning (SEL) framework, we studied developmental trajectory patterns of five key competency outcomes spanning middle through late childhood: altruism, empathy, self-efficacy, aggression, and hyperactivity. We then assessed their links to middle childhood home, parental, and community contexts. Data from the Institute of Education Sciences' Social and Character Development Program, which comprised nearly 2,400 elementary school students who were followed from Grades 3 through 5, were analyzed using growth mixture modeling. Three trajectory groups emerged for each outcome, which were linked to childhood contexts. Positive parenting was associated with a lower likelihood of following a negative empathy trajectory among children. Neighborhood intergenerational closure promoted a stable self-efficacy trajectory. Residing in a high-risk community was linked to increasing normative beliefs about aggression. These findings suggest an important role of contexts in influencing childhood social-emotional development in the later elementary school years. © Society for Community Research and Action 2017.

Parental Aggression as a Predictor of Boys' Hostile Attribution across the Transition to Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yaros, Anna; Lochman, John E.; Wells, Karen

2016-01-01

Aggression among youth is a 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,…

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,…

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…

Middle School Mathematics Teachers' Reflection Activities in the Context of Lesson Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bozkurt, Erhan; Yetkin-Özdemir, Iffet Elif

2018-01-01

The aim of this case study is to define reflection activities of a lesson study group that consisted of three middle school mathematics teachers in Usak, Turkey. In the process, the participants worked in collaboration for about 5 months to implement three study lesson practices. The data were collected through observations in the reflection…

Using the News to Enhance Critical Thinking and Engagement in Middle and High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walters, Jessica

2017-01-01

This article describes the author's adaptation of Gallagher's (2009) Article of the Week approach to teaching students literacy skills using current events. The use of this unique instructional routine within the context of a Catholic middle school language arts classroom has proven successful for supporting students in developing critical…

Contextual Condition and Sightsinging Achievement of Middle School Choral Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lucas, Keitha V.

1994-01-01

Reports on a study of the influence of harmonic context on the sight-singing skill of middle school choral music students. Finds that students in the melody-only treatment group showed more improvement in sight-singing than those in the vocal-harmony group. Also finds no differences between the melody-only and the piano-harmony groups. (CFR)

The Content and Nature of Reflective Teaching: A Case of an Expert Middle School Science Teacher.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moallem, Mahnaz

1997-01-01

Explores the practical view of reflective teaching as it was revealed in the activities and thinking processes of an expert middle school science teacher. Discusses differences between types of reflection, importance of self-analysis by teachers, effect of social context on reflection, and having the opportunity to reflect. (RS)

Introducing the Historical Thinking Practice of Contextualizing to Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kucan, Linda; Cho, Byeong-Young; Han, Hyeju

2017-01-01

This article describes the design of a social studies unit about the Johnstown Flood of 1889 with a particular emphasis on how specific unit resources engaged middle school students in learning about the geographical and historical context of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. We also report on how the resources supported the teaching and learning of the…

Prospective Middle School Mathematics Teachers' Knowledge of Linear Graphs in Context of Problem-Posing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kar, Tugrul

2016-01-01

This study examined prospective middle school mathematics teachers' problem-posing skills by investigating their ability to associate linear graphs with daily life situations. Prospective teachers were given linear graphs and asked to pose problems that could potentially be represented by the graphs. Their answers were analyzed in two stages. In…

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…

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…

It is not just the poor kids: the use of AAE forms by African-American school-aged children from middle SES communities.

PubMed

Horton-Ikard, RaMonda; Miller, Jon F

2004-01-01

This study examined the production of African-American English (AAE) forms produced by 69 school-aged African-American children from middle socio-economic status (SES) communities to determine if age would influence: (a) the number of different types of AAE tokens and (b) the rate of dialect. Descriptive data revealed that there were more than 20 AAE morpho-syntactic forms collectively used by the children. The findings also indicated that factors of age, gender, and sampling context interacted in a variety of ways to influence these children's production of the number of different types of AAE tokens, and the rate of dialect. Readers should have (1) an increased awareness about the use of AAE forms in school-age children from middle SES homes; (2) a greater understanding of how the production of AAE might be influenced by age, gender, and sampling context.

No safe haven: locations of harassment and bullying victimization in middle schools.

PubMed

Perkins, H Wesley; Perkins, Jessica M; Craig, David W

2014-12-01

Given that adolescent bullying victimization is a significant concern for secondary education and adolescent development, identifying school contexts in which victimization is most likely to occur is salient. An anonymous online survey assessed the prevalence of being harassed or bullied in various locations within 20 middle schools (grades 5-9) in New Jersey and New York (N = 10,668). Seven types of bullying-related victimization (teased in an unfriendly way, called hurtful names, physically abused, excluded from a group to hurt feelings, belongings taken/damaged, threatened to be hurt, and negative rumors spread) were examined in 7 locations where each type of victimization could occur (classroom, lunchroom, hallways, gym, playground, bus, or bathroom). Prevalence of victimization types ranged from 4% to 38% depending on location. Prevalence of overall victimization was equal or greater in classrooms compared with other school locations (highest prevalence rates in hallways, classrooms, and lunchrooms), regardless of school demographic characteristics. Victimization in classrooms compared with other school settings was most highly associated with feelings of being unsafe. Vigilant attention to bullying is needed across all school environments and especially in the classroom context, which may mistakenly be perceived as a more protected area. Indeed, middle school classrooms are not safe havens. © 2014, American School Health Association.

The Role of the Scientific Discovery Narrative in Middle School Science Education: An Experimental Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arya, Diana J.; Maul, Andrew

2012-01-01

In an experimental study (N = 209), the authors compared the effects of exposure to typical middle-school written science content when presented in the context of the scientific discovery narrative and when presented in a more traditional nonnarrative format on 7th and 8th grade students in the United States. The development of texts was…

Exclusion, Engagement and Identity Construction in a Socioeconomically Diverse Middle School Wind Band Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoffman, Adria Rachel

2012-01-01

The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the wind band classroom as a social context and examine its influence on middle-school students' identity constructions. The integration of sociologically based identity theory and social identity theory from social psychology suggested by Deaux and Martin as well as Stets and Burke proved…

Designing Spatial Visualisation Tasks for Middle School Students with a 3D Modelling Software: An Instrumental Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turgut, Melih; Uygan, Candas

2015-01-01

In this work, certain task designs to enhance middle school students' spatial visualisation ability, in the context of an instrumental approach, have been developed. 3D modelling software, SketchUp®, was used. In the design process, software tools were focused on and, thereafter, the aim was to interpret the instrumental genesis and spatial…

School Inspections in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Explaining Impact and Mechanisms of Impact

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ehren, Melanie C. M.; Eddy-Spicer, David; Bangpan, Mukdarut; Reid, Andy

2017-01-01

Many efforts to implement and improve school inspections have been modelled on examples from high-income countries, and many studies on the effectiveness of such systems have also only been carried out in these countries. However, local contexts in low- and middle-income countries are very different from those in developed countries, and findings…

Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties among Middle School Students in Oman: An Examination of Prevalence Rate and Gender Differences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emam, Mahmoud Mohamed; Kazem, Ali Mahdi; Al-Zubaidy, Abdulqawi Salim

2016-01-01

Children with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBDs) began to receive considerable attention in several countries in the Middle East and North Africa region including Oman. In the Omani context, there is lack of valid assessment instruments which can be used to obtain information on EBDs in schools. The current study used the Arabic…

Art Animates: Ideas Inspired by a University-Sponsored Summer Arts Academy for Middle and High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Danker, Stephanie; French, Kelley

2016-01-01

Art can provide a vehicle for animating learning. Teachers bring ideas to life through curriculum, while artists realize their ideas through images, often translating between forms, media and spaces. This paper describes the context, content and format of a residential Summer Arts Academy for gifted and talented middle and high school students,…

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…

Parental Involvement in Middle School: A Meta-Analytic Assessment of the Strategies That Promote Achievement

PubMed Central

Hill, Nancy E.; Tyson, Diana F.

2009-01-01

Early adolescence is often marked by changes in school context, family relationships, and developmental processes. In the context of these changes, academic performance often declines, while at the same time the long-term implications of academic performance increase. In promoting achievement across elementary and secondary school levels, the significant role of families, family-school relations, and parental involvement in education has been highlighted. Although there is a growing body of literature focusing on parental involvement in education during middle school, this research has not been systematically examined to determine which types of involvement have the strongest relation with achievement. The authors conducted a meta-analysis on the existing research on parental involvement in middle school to determine whether and which types of parental involvement are related to achievement. Across 50 studies, parental involvement was positively associated with achievement, with the exception of parental help with homework. Involvement that reflected academic socialization had the strongest positive association with achievement. Based on the known characteristics of the developmental stage and tasks of adolescence, strategies reflecting academic socialization are most consistent with the developmental stage of early adolescence. PMID:19413429

Boys' Music? School Context and Middle-School Boys' Musical Choices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bennetts, Kathleen Scott

2013-01-01

This article focusses primarily on the findings relating to the musical participation of boys in one Melbourne school. As part of a project that investigated boys' attitudes and participation at fifty-one schools, several contextual features were identified that set "Balton Boys" High School' apart from other participating schools,…

Validating Common Measures of Self-Efficacy and Career Attitudes within Informal Health Education for Middle and High School Students.

PubMed

Peterman, Karen; Withy, Kelley; Boulay, Rachel

2018-06-01

A common challenge in the evaluation of K-12 science education is identifying valid scales that are an appropriate fit for both a student's age and the educational outcomes of interest. Though many new scales have been validated in recent years, there is much to learn about the appropriate educational contexts and audiences for these measures. This study investigated two such scales, the DEVISE Self-Efficacy for Science scale and the Career Interest Questionnaire (CIQ), within the context of two related health sciences projects. Consistent patterns were found in the reliability of each scale across three age groups (middle school, high school, early college) and within the context of each project. As expected, self-efficacy and career interest, as measured through these scales, were found to be correlated. The pattern of results for CIQ scores was also similar to that reported in other literature. This study provides examples of how practitioners can validate established measures for new and specific contexts and provides some evidence to support the use of the scales studied in health science education contexts.

Rescuing a Small Village School in the Context of Rural Change in Hungary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kovacs, Katalin

2012-01-01

The paper discusses local responses to schooling policy in the context of the uneven differentiation and sharp social polarisation of the Hungarian countryside. Counter-urbanisation, on the one hand, has brought affluent urban middle classes to suburban spaces, on the other hand, peripheral areas are becoming impoverished with high unemployment,…

The Relative Value of Growth in Math Fact Skills across Late Elementary and Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Peter M.; Parker, David C.; Zaslofsky, Anne F.

2016-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the importance of growth in math fact skills within the context of overall math proficiency. Data for 1,493 elementary and middle school students were included for analysis. Regression models were fit to examine the relative value of math fact fluency growth, prior state test performance, and a fall…

Perceptions of School Climate as a Function of Bullying Involvement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nickerson, Amanda B.; Singleton, Demian; Schnurr, Britton; Collen, Mary Helen

2014-01-01

From a social-ecological perspective, bullying exists within the larger context of school climate. In this study, 2,240 middle and high school students participated in a districtwide effort to assess the prevalence and effects of bullying and cyberbullying, as well as perceptions of school climate. Students reported positive school climate…

"Egg-Streme" Egg Crashes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Lauren; Lyden, Sarah; Fitzallen, Noleine

2016-01-01

Context based learning (CBL) is a powerful tool that utilises areas of student interest framed in meaningful contexts to foster development of new skills and understanding. For middle school students, engineering activities that relate to real-world problems provide suitable CBL contexts for acquiring conceptual scientific and mathematical…

Making Sense of School Leaders' Sense-Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ganon-Shilon, Sherry; Schechter, Chen

2017-01-01

Effective education reform depends on its successful realization by the school leadership carrying out the reform. School principals and middle leaders in the 21st century re-examine their traditional role so as to understand complexities and ambiguities characterizing their various responsibilities within the context of school reform. As critical…

Factual accuracy and the cultural context of science in popular media: Perspectives of media makers, middle school students, and university students on an entertainment television program.

PubMed

Szu, Evan; Osborne, Jonathan; Patterson, Alexis D

2017-07-01

Popular media influences ideas about science constructed by the public. To sway media productions, public policy organizations have increasingly promoted use of science consultants. This study contributes to understanding the connection from science consultants to popular media to public outcomes. A science-based television series was examined for intended messages of the creator and consulting scientist, and received messages among middle school and non-science university students. The results suggest the consulting scientist missed an opportunity to influence the portrayal of the cultural contexts of science and that middle school students may be reading these aspects uncritically-a deficiency educators could potentially address. In contrast, all groups discussed the science content and practices of the show, indicating that scientific facts were salient to both media makers and audiences. This suggests popular media may influence the public knowledge of science, supporting concerns of scientists about the accuracy of fictional television and film.

Students' Experiences of Home--School Dissonance: The Role of School Academic Culture and Perceptions of Classroom Goal Structures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kumar, Revathy

2006-01-01

This paper examines stability and change during the elementary-to-middle school transition, focusing on adolescents' experiences of home--school dissonance because of real or perceived differences between home/self and values within the school context. Relationships were hypothesized between exacerbation and amelioration of dissonance, middle…

Predicting Early Academic Failure in High School from Prior Academic Achievement, Psychosocial Characteristics, and Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Casillas, Alex; Robbins, Steve; Allen, Jeff; Kuo, Yi-Lung; Hanson, Mary Ann; Schmeiser, Cynthia

2012-01-01

The authors examined the differential effects of prior academic achievement, psychosocial, behavioral, demographic, and school context factors on early high school grade point average (GPA) using a prospective study of 4,660 middle-school students from 24 schools. The findings suggest that (a) prior grades and standardized achievement are the…

Correlates of Prosocial Behaviors of Students in Ethnically and Racially Diverse Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spivak, Asha Leah; White, Samantha Simmons; Juvonen, Jaana; Graham, Sandra

2015-01-01

This study examined the association between ethnicity-related context variables and the prosocial behavior of early adolescents in ethnically/racially diverse schools. Specifically, youths' perceptions of greater representation of same-ethnic peers at school, school support for ethnic diversity, and engagement in and valuing cross-ethnic contact…

Students' Accuracy of Measurement Estimation: Context, Units, and Logical Thinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, M. Gail; Gardner, Grant E.; Taylor, Amy R.; Forrester, Jennifer H.; Andre, Thomas

2012-01-01

This study examined students' accuracy of measurement estimation for linear distances, different units of measure, task context, and the relationship between accuracy estimation and logical thinking. Middle school students completed a series of tasks that included estimating the length of various objects in different contexts and completed a test…

Mandarin-Speaking Children's Speech Recognition: Developmental Changes in the Influences of Semantic Context and F0 Contours.

PubMed

Zhou, Hong; Li, Yu; Liang, Meng; Guan, Connie Qun; Zhang, Linjun; Shu, Hua; Zhang, Yang

2017-01-01

The goal of this developmental speech perception study was to assess whether and how age group modulated the influences of high-level semantic context and low-level fundamental frequency ( F 0 ) contours on the recognition of Mandarin speech by elementary and middle-school-aged children in quiet and interference backgrounds. The results revealed different patterns for semantic and F 0 information. One the one hand, age group modulated significantly the use of F 0 contours, indicating that elementary school children relied more on natural F 0 contours than middle school children during Mandarin speech recognition. On the other hand, there was no significant modulation effect of age group on semantic context, indicating that children of both age groups used semantic context to assist speech recognition to a similar extent. Furthermore, the significant modulation effect of age group on the interaction between F 0 contours and semantic context revealed that younger children could not make better use of semantic context in recognizing speech with flat F 0 contours compared with natural F 0 contours, while older children could benefit from semantic context even when natural F 0 contours were altered, thus confirming the important role of F 0 contours in Mandarin speech recognition by elementary school children. The developmental changes in the effects of high-level semantic and low-level F 0 information on speech recognition might reflect the differences in auditory and cognitive resources associated with processing of the two types of information in speech perception.

The Social Contexts of Bullying and Victimization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parault, Susan J.; Davis, Heather A.; Pellegrini, Anthony D.

2007-01-01

This article examines the amount of middle school students' bullying and nonbullying behaviors observed in three less-structured school venues: the monthly school dance, the cafeteria, and the locker/hall area. Two questions guided our analysis: (a) How do students' bullying and victimization behaviors and nonbullying social behaviors vary by…

How (and How Much) Do Schools Matter? Variation in K-8th Grade Achievement Trajectories in a National Sample

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwartz, Kate; Cappella, Elise; Scott, Marc; Seidman, Edward; Kim, Ha Yeon

2015-01-01

The current study extends research on the transition to early adolescence and middle grade schools by examining students' achievement trajectories from school entry through 8th grade in a national sample, and beginning to disassociate the role of school context and school grade configuration in achievement trajectories. Data were drawn from the…

Principals as Leaders of School and Community Revitalization: A Phenomenological Study of Three Urban Schools in Morocco

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elmeski, Mohammed

2015-01-01

This article explores leadership of place in the context of three urban middle schools in Morocco. School reform means that principals are changing from agents of authority to leaders with school improvement responsibilities. This shift in mission can be stressful for principals who are called to lead, but are often constrained by bureaucratic and…

Academic Vulnerability and Resilience during the Transition to High School: The Role of Social Relationships and District Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langenkamp, Amy G.

2010-01-01

The transition to high school is a critical stage in students' academic trajectories and can be especially difficult for middle school students who struggle academically. Starting high school on a low academic track and with low academic performance often leads to dropping out of high school. This study investigates what might protect academically…

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…

You're the New Principal? Considering First Steps toward Improvement at Sparrow Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peck, Craig; Clarida, Brian

2016-01-01

In the contemporary context, demands for rapid school turnaround meet the reality of increased principal turnover. Therefore, it is crucial to help aspiring school leaders hone their problem-solving skills. This case provides readers with an opportunity to diagnose issues of concern at a struggling school, and then prescribe several initial…

Average Revisited in Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watson, Jane; Chick, Helen

2012-01-01

This paper analyses the responses of 247 middle school students to items requiring the concept of average in three different contexts: a city's weather reported in maximum daily temperature, the number of children in a family, and the price of houses. The mixed but overall disappointing performance on the six items in the three contexts indicates…

Not just black and white: peer victimization and the intersectionality of school diversity and race.

PubMed

Fisher, Sycarah; Middleton, Kyndra; Ricks, Elizabeth; Malone, Celeste; Briggs, Candyce; Barnes, Jessica

2015-06-01

Although bullying is a prevalent issue in the United States, limited research has explored the impact of school diversity on types of bullying behavior. This study explores the relationship between school diversity, student race, and bullying within the school context. The participants were African American and Caucasian middle school students (n = 4,581; 53.4% female). Among the participants, 89.4% were Caucasian and 10.6% were African American. The research questions examined the relationship between school diversity, student race and bullying behaviors, specifically race-based victimization. The findings suggested that Caucasian middle school students experience more bullying than African American students generally, and specifically when minorities in school settings. Caucasian students also experienced almost three times the amount of race-based victimization than African American students when school diversity was held constant. Interestingly, African American students experienced twice the amount of race-based victimization than Caucasian students when in settings with more students of color. The present study provides insight into bullying behaviors across different contexts for different races and highlights the need to further investigate interactions between personal and environmental factors on the bulling experiences of youth.

An Architecture Design Project: "Building" Understanding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bush, Sarah B.; Albanese, Judith; Karp, Karen S.; Karp, Matthew

2017-01-01

Middle school students need relevant, meaningful contexts to apply emerging mathematical ideas. In this project, through the context of an architecture investigation, seventh-grade students engaged in mathematics involving area, surface area, volume, ratios and proportional thinking, number sense, and technology integration. Students, working in…

Curricular Factors in Middle School Teachers' Motivation to Become and Remain Effective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daniels, Erika

2017-01-01

Research in education and psychology contributes to an understanding of how educators create contexts for learning that encourage intrinsic motivation and increase academic achievement. In this article, the researcher investigated how middle level teachers define effectiveness and identified what factors influence their motivation, both positively…

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.

Peer Contexts: Do Old for Grade and Retained Peers Influence Student Behavior in Middle School?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muschkin, Clara G.; Glennie, Elizabeth; Beck, Audrey N.

2014-01-01

Background: Many school systems have ended social promotion by implementing accountability systems where students who fail academic assessments are retained in grade. Additionally, some parents have delayed their children's entry into school, believing that older students have an advantage. While research has examined outcomes for students who…

The Inspirited Nature of Mindful Curricular Enactment's Community (Re)Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macintyre Latta, Margaret; Schnellert, Leyton; Ondrik, Kim; Sasges, Murray

2017-01-01

Intertwining case study with practitioner inquiry, a research team seeks language for the conduct of mindful curricular enactment in an alternative public middle school. The school is committed to valuing students' narratives of experience, the resources all bring to the school, and the given particularities of contexts, subject matter, and…

Learning as Community Service: Thinking with New Media

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Janette; Gadanidis, George

2010-01-01

This paper is exploratory in nature and our research goal is to develop a conceptualization of "learning as community service" in a new media context. The setting for the study is an after-school program involving middle school children in a First Nations community. In the after-school program, children developed knowledge about (1) their…

Autobiographical Narratives of Important School Events and College Students' Current Academic Engagement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karabenick, Stuart A.; Brackney, Barbara E.; Dansky, Jeffrey; Schippers, John; Smith, Stephanie; Stephens, Sarah; Hicks, Brian

This study examined relationships between college students' (n=94) recall of important school-related events and the students' current academic engagement. Autobiographical narratives were coded for time period (e.g., middle school), theme (e.g., achievement), context (e.g., academics, sports), and the presence of goal-directed content (e.g.,…

Technology in Support of Argument Construction in School Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evagorou, Maria; Avraamidou, Lucy

2008-01-01

In this theoretical article the authors discuss the role of technology tools in supporting students' argument construction within the context of middle and high school science. In the first part of the article they focus on the theoretical underpinnings for studying argumentation in school science and report on the difficulties associated with…

Between-Context Variability of the Effect of Schooling on Cognitive Development: Evidence from the Middle East

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jabr, Dua; Cahan, Sorel

2015-01-01

This study contributes to the investigation of the variability of the schooling effect on cognitive development between educational systems and its underlying factors, by focusing on 3 cases differing in the characteristics assumed to affect the magnitude of the schooling effect (the quality of the schooling and students' mean ability to benefit…

A Time Profile of Mathematics in a "Gap Year" in Irish Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prendergast, Mark; O'Meara, Niamh

2016-01-01

The Irish education system is unique in an international context as it sets aside a full school year for a transition and youth development programme in the middle of secondary education. The Transition Year (TY) programme is an optional, full time programme offered in the majority of secondary schools. Each school designs its own programme,…

Positive Behavior Support in Secondary Schools: A Practical Guide. Practical Intervention in the Schools Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Ellie L.; Caldarella, Paul; Richardson, Michael J.; Young, K. Richard

2011-01-01

This much-needed guide shows how to implement positive behavior support (PBS) strategies in secondary settings, using a three-tiered approach. The authors adapt the core ideas of PBS to the developmental context of adolescence and the organizational structures of middle schools and junior and senior high schools. With an emphasis on data-based…

Difficulties in learning and teaching statistics: teacher views

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koparan, Timur

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to define teacher views about the difficulties in learning and teaching middle school statistics subjects. To serve this aim, a number of interviews were conducted with 10 middle school maths teachers in 2011-2012 school year in the province of Trabzon. Of the qualitative descriptive research methods, the semi-structured interview technique was applied in the research. In accordance with the aim, teacher opinions about the statistics subjects were examined and analysed. Similar responses from the teachers were grouped and evaluated. The teachers stated that it was positive that middle school statistics subjects were taught gradually in every grade but some difficulties were experienced in the teaching of this subject. The findings are presented in eight themes which are context, sample, data representation, central tendency and dispersion measure, probability, variance, and other difficulties.

The role of sex, self-perception, and school bonding in predicting academic achievement among middle class African American early adolescents.

PubMed

Eisele, Heather; Zand, Debra H; Thomson, Nicole Renick

2009-01-01

To date, little research has addressed within-group variables as predictors of academic achievement among middle-class African American youth. The present study helped fill this gap by investigating the role of sex, self-perceptions, and school bonding as predictors of academic success among 174 middle class early adolescent boys (n = 91) and girls residing in a large Midwestern city. Results of a path analysis indicated that gender identity fully mediated the relationship between biological sex and adolescents' perceptions of peer acceptance. Perceptions of peer acceptance were positively related to perceptions of behavior, which, in turn, were related to school bonding. School bonding was then related to academic achievement. The findings are discussed within the context of helping educators to better meet students' educational needs.

Emotional Responses to Bullying among Japanese Adolescents: Gender, Context, and Incidence Visibility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aoyama, Ikuko; Yanagida, Takuya; Wright, Michelle F.

2018-01-01

Bullying can occur with differing levels of visibility (e.g., public or private) and in various contexts (e.g., face-to-face or online). This study examined 474 Japanese middle-school students' emotional responses to public versus private bullying scenarios in face-to-face and digital contexts. After reading four hypothetical bullying vignettes,…

Sense Making in the Context of Algebraic Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palatnik, Alik; Koichu, Boris

2017-01-01

This article concerns student sense making in the context of algebraic activities. We present a case in which a pair of middle-school students attempts to make sense of a previously obtained by them position formula for a particular numerical sequence. The exploration of the sequence occurred in the context of two-month-long student research…

Norwegian Superintendents as Mediators of Change Initiatives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paulsen, Jan Merok

2014-01-01

The underlying theoretical argument in this article views municipal school superintendents in the Nordic context as middle managers in organizational theory terminology. Empirical support for this discussion emerges from national data collected among Norwegian school superintendents in 2009. Findings show that the actual work and leadership…

Eliciting Mathematics Interest: New Directions for Context Personalization and Example Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Høgheim, Sigve; Reber, Rolf

2017-01-01

Building on common assumptions in theories of interest and mathematics education, this experimental study examined the effect of context personalization based on individual preferences, group personalization, and example choice with preselected popular examples on middle school students' situational interest and performance in mathematics.…

Doing History: Investigating with Children in Elementary and Middle Schools. 3rd Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levstik, Linda S.; Barton, Keith C.

2005-01-01

This book offers a unique perspective on history instruction in the elementary and middle grades. Through case studies of teachers and students in diverse classrooms and from diverse backgrounds, the text shows children engaging in authentic historical investigations, often in the context of an integrated social studies curriculum. The authors…

Strengthening Individual Identity in the Group Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorvine, Benjamin; Karam, Eli; Eovaldi, Marina

2008-01-01

The struggles and often compelling social dramas of middle school may be either long-forgotten or intentionally blocked by adulthood, but many middle schoolers could benefit from guidance during this difficult period of their lives. This article presents the rationale, along with the basic contours, of a six-session program that has been developed…

Bilingual Latino Middle Schoolers on Languaging and Racialization in the US

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hesson, Sarah

2016-01-01

This dissertation explores bilingual Latino middle schoolers' articulated understandings of their language practices as well as the links between language practices and processes of racialization and discrimination in the US. The research was conducted in the context of an after-school program whose explicit aim was to not only document students'…

Negotiating a Research Protocol for Studying School-Based Gay and Lesbian Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donelson, Randal; Rogers, Theresa

2004-01-01

The nature of public schooling, particularly at the early and middle childhood levels, makes designing critical qualitative studies around gay and lesbian issues in the school context problematic at best. This article provides a retrospective dialogue between an associate professor and her then Ph.D. candidate advisee that reflects on the tension…

Bullying and Victimization among Boys and Girls in Middle School: The Influence of Perceived Family and School Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wienke Totura, Christine M.; MacKinnon-Lewis, Carol; Gesten, Ellis L.; Gadd, Ray; Divine, Katherine P.; Dunham, Sherri; Kamboukos, Dimitra

2009-01-01

The present study examines the mechanisms by which students' perceptions of family and school experiences moderate the association between their emotionality and their habitual involvement in bullying and victimization. The authors hypothesize that students with internalizing and/or externalizing difficulties are less likely to be categorized as…

A Day at the Museum: The Impact of Field Trips on Middle School Science Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitesell, Emilyn Ruble

2016-01-01

Field trips are an important feature of the United States' education system, although in the current context of high-stakes tests and school accountability, many schools are shifting resources away from enrichment. It is critical to understand how field trips and other informal learning experiences contribute to student test scores, but little…

Who Wants to Learn More Science? The Role of Elementary School Science Experiences and Science Self-Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aschbacher, Pamela R.; Ing, Marsha

2017-01-01

Background/Context: Much science education reform has been directed at middle and high school students; however, earlier experiences in elementary school may well have an important impact on young people's future science literacy and preparation for possible STEM careers. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This study explores the…

Teachers' Attunement to Students' Peer Group Affiliations as a Source of Improved Student Experiences of the School Social-Affective Context following the Middle School Transition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamm, Jill V.; Farmer, Thomas W.; Dadisman, Kimberly; Gravelle, Maggie; Murray, Allen R.

2011-01-01

A randomized control trial examined the impact of a professional development program on rural teachers' attunement to student social dynamics, and the influence of teacher attunement on students' school experiences. In intervention schools serving Latino and White rural early adolescents, teachers (N = 14) received training on social dynamics and…

On the Success of Failure: A Reassessment of the Effects of Retention in the Primary Grades.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexander, Karl L.; And Others

This book describes the context of school retention and evaluates its effects by tracking the experiences of a large representative sample of Baltimore (Maryland) school children from first grade through middle school. The first chapter is a discussion of major issues of retention such as: (1) why the topic is often pushed aside in schools; (2)…

Examining the Role of Early Academic and Non-Cognitive Skills as Mediators of the Effects of City Connects on Middle School Academic Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Dwyer, Laura M.; Lee-St. John, Terrence; Raczek, Anastasia E.; Luna Bazaldua, Diego A.; Walsh, Mary

2016-01-01

Out-of-school factors can significantly impact students' readiness to learn and thrive in school. Research confirms that larger social structures and contexts beyond the school are critical, accounting for up to two-thirds of the variance in student achievement (Coleman et al., 1966; Rothstein, 2010; Phillips, Brooks-Gunn, Duncan, Klebanov, &…

Stress within a Bicultural Context for Adolescents of Mexican Descent.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romero, Andrea J.; Roberts, Robert E.

2003-01-01

Folkman and Lazarus's theory of stress and coping was used to develop a measure assessing the perceived stress within a bicultural context. Middle school students of Mexican descent (N=881) reported their perceived stress from intergenerational acculturation gaps, within-group discrimination, out-group discrimination, and monolingual stress.…

Preservice Teachers' Perceptions of Instant Messaging in Two Educational Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doering, Aaron; Lewis, Cynthia; Veletsianos, George; Nichols-Besel, Kristen

2008-01-01

Using an activity theory framework, we investigate how preservice teachers and middle school students utilized instant messaging in educational contexts and the impact of instant messaging on the development of community among preservice teachers. Qualitative results from six focus groups and two personal interviews indicate that instant messaging…

Scientific Reasoning in School Contexts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vellom, R. Paul; Anderson, Charles W.; Palincsar, Annemarie S.

This study investigates the fate of claims made by middle school science students working in collaborative groups in a multicultural urban classroom and the concomitant effects on engagement and understanding. Given problems of a complex and open-ended nature in a learning community setting, students were challenged to establish group positions…

Interrogating Recuperative Masculinity Politics in Schooling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lingard, Bob; Mills, Martin; Weaver-Hightower, Marcus B.

2012-01-01

This article focuses on the continuing impact of recuperative masculinity politics in the schooling of economically advantaged boys (elite and middle class); yet, it also indicates resistance to this politics. An understanding that the gender order is unstable and that variants of hegemonic masculinity continue to morph in the context of…

Teachers in Need of Space: The Content and Changing Context of Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mulholland, Rosie; McKinlay, Andy; Sproule, John

2017-01-01

To further understand differential perceptions of work and wellbeing this paper considers the influence of gender and years in current role (YCR). We surveyed 399 secondary school teachers (class teachers n = 185; middle managers n = 175 and senior managers n = 38) from the central belt of Scotland. Sixty-six per cent of middle managers reported…

Integrating Physics and Literacy Learning in a Physics Course for Prospective Elementary and Middle School Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Zee, Emily H.; Jansen, Henri; Winograd, Kenneth; Crowl, Michele; Devitt, Adam

2013-06-01

The ability to listen closely, speak clearly, write coherently, read with comprehension, and to create and critique media offerings in science contexts is essential for effective science teaching. How might instructors develop such abilities in a physics course for prospective elementary and middle school teachers? We describe here such a course, involving collaboration among physics, science education, and literacy faculty members and two graduate assistants. Meeting twice a week for 10 weeks, the course emphasized questioning, predicting, exploring, observing, discussing, writing, and reading in physical science contexts. We report common themes about aspects that fostered or hindered science and literacy learning, changes in views about science teaching and learning, and positive shifts in interest in science and intended teaching practices.

Overview of Project REAL and the Conceptual Foundations of the SEALS Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farmer, Thomas W.

2011-01-01

The early adolescent period and the transition to middle school is a foundational period that is as important to the outcomes of students' educational careers as is the transition into school. For many early adolescents, the changing contexts and demands of school are just as novel, the stresses are just as great, and the developmental stakes are…

"Give a Brotha a Break!": The Experiences and Dilemmas of Middle-Class African American Male Students in White Suburban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gordon, Beverly M.

2012-01-01

Background/Context: Today, in the era of the first African American president, approximately one third of all African Americans live in suburban communities, and their children are attending suburban schools. Although most research on the education of African American students, particularly males, focuses on their plight in urban schooling, what…

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…

Bullying among Refugee, Immigrant and Native Born Children in Elementary and Middle Schools: A Socio-Ecological Model Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lim, Seok Jeng Jane

2012-01-01

Systematic research into bullying has a short history of about 40 years. Investigations on school bullying within a multicultural context are especially limited. As schools in the 21st century grow more culturally diverse due to globalization and immigration, there is a need to look into bullying within this changing population. Specifically, the…

Self-regulation, motivation, and math achievement in middle school: variations across grade level and math context.

PubMed

Cleary, Timothy J; Chen, Peggy P

2009-10-01

The current study examined grade level, achievement group, and math-course-type differences in student self-regulation and motivation in a sample of 880 suburban middle-school students. Analysis of variance was utilized to assess group differences in student self-regulation and motivation, and linear regression analysis was used to identify variables that best predicted students' use of regulatory strategies. A key finding was that although seventh graders exhibited a more maladaptive self-regulation and motivation profile than sixth graders, achievement groups in seventh grade (high, moderate, low) were more clearly differentiated across both self-regulation and motivation than achievement groups in sixth grade. The pattern of achievement group differences also varied across math course type, as self-regulation and motivation processes more consistently differentiated achievement groups in advanced classes than regular math courses. Finally, task interest was shown to be the primary motivational predictor of students' use of regulatory strategies during math learning. The study highlights the importance of identifying shifting student motivation and self-regulation during the early middle school years and the potential role that context may have on these processes.

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

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.

Using the Delphi questionnaire technique to create a reading comprehension resource guide for middle school science teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wegner, Molly F.

As students begin middle school, they are expected to possess and apply a wide array of nonfiction reading strategies if they are to comprehend new concepts from nonfiction texts. Although strategies and resource guides for fiction reading are available, an effective nonfiction reading comprehension resource guide tailored to middle school science teachers is lacking. The conceptual framework guiding this study is based on schema theory that supports the use of prior knowledge as a foundation for learning. The purpose of this project study was to address this local problem by providing middle school science teachers with a user-friendly resource for nonfiction reading comprehension strategies in a science context. The research question examined nonfiction reading comprehension strategies that could supplement middle school science teachers' instructional practices to increase student comprehension in science, as reflected on the results of state standardized tests. This project study consulted science and language arts teachers using a Delphi questionnaire technique to achieve a consensus through multiple iterations of questionnaires. Science teachers identified 7 areas of concern as students read nonfiction texts, and language arts teachers suggested effective reading comprehension strategies to address these areas. Based on the consensus of reading comprehension strategies and review of literature, a resource guide for middle school science teachers was created. By improving reading comprehension in content areas, teachers may not only increase student learning, but also underscore the importance of literacy relating to life-long learning through future occupations, academic endeavors, and society as well.

An Analysis of Sixth Grade Pupil's Ability to Use Context Clues in Science and Social Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olson, Arthur V.

The ability of sixth-grade students to use context clues for identifying unknown words in science and social studies reading materials and the types of context clues most frequently used are examined. The 30 subjects from three white, middle-class urban schools missed 50 percent or more of the words on a prevocabulary test. The subjects read two…

Goal Contents and Goal Contexts: Experiments with Chinese Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Ze; Hu, Xiao Yong; Guo, Yong Yu

2013-01-01

Using samples of Chinese middle school students, the 2 experimental studies presented here examined the effects of goal content and goal context on test performance, free-choice engagement, and test anxiety within the framework of self-determination theory. Students' learning goals were induced as intrinsic or extrinsic with the learning contexts…

Exploring Prospective Teachers' Reflections in the Context of Conducting Clinical Interviews

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylan, Rukiye Didem

2018-01-01

This study investigated prospective mathematics teachers' reflections on the experience of designing and conducting one-to-one clinical interviews with middle school students in the context of an elective course on use of video in teacher learning. Prospective teachers were asked to write about weaknesses and strengths in student understanding as…

Female-Only Classes in a Rural Context: Self-Concept, Achievement, and Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Hope E.; Gresham, Jeanie; Williams, Michelle; Whitley, Claudia; Partin, Jimmy

2013-01-01

Two middle schools in rural east Texas implemented an optional, single-sex program. Although previous studies have documented the effects of single-sex instruction, and recent educational innovations have focused on its benefits, little research has investigated its effects in rural contexts. This study found that for rural populations, patterns…

Teaching and nature: Middle school science teachers' relationship with nature in personal and classroom contexts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ball, Nadine Butcher

2000-10-01

This qualitative study describes three middle-school science teachers' relationship-with-nature in personal and classroom contexts. Participating teachers had more than 7 years experience and were deemed exemplary practitioners by others. Interview data about personal context focused on photographs the teacher took representing her/his relationship-with-nature in daily life. Interview data for classroom context explored classroom events during three or more researcher observations. Transcripts were analyzed using a multiple-readings approach to data reduction (Gilligan, Brown & Rogers, 1990; Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 14, 141). Readings generated categorical information focused on portrayals of: nature; self; and relationship-with-nature. Categorical data were synthesized into personal and teaching case portraits for each teacher, and cross case themes identified. Participants indicated the portraits accurately represented who they saw themselves to be. Additional readings identified sub-stories by plot and theme. Narrative data were clustered to highlight elements of practice with implications for the relationship-with-nature lived in the classroom. These individual-scale moments were compared with cultural-scale distinctions between anthropocentric and ecological world views. Cross case themes included dimensions of exemplary middle-school science teaching important to teacher education and development, including an expanded conception of knowing and skillful use of student experience. Categorical analysis revealed each teacher had a unique organizing theme influencing their interpretation of personal and classroom events, and that nature is experienced differently in personal as opposed to teaching contexts. Narrative analysis highlights teachers' stories of classroom pets, dissection, and student dissent, illustrating an interplay between conceptual distinctions and personal dimensions during moments of teacher decision making. Results suggest teachers' competing commitments are resolved by balancing values in unique ways for the context. More productive resolutions involve transformation of the teacher's tensions so that competing goals better coexist. Foci helpful for teacher education and development are identified. Also discussed are complex ways cultural-scale world view is reproduced, or occasionally challenged, in the classroom life of three scientifically literate, skilled, and environmentally concerned teachers. The study concludes education in schools is more likely to reproduce than challenge elements of world view contributing to ecological decline.

Average: the juxtaposition of procedure and context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watson, Jane; Chick, Helen; Callingham, Rosemary

2014-09-01

This paper presents recent data on the performance of 247 middle school students on questions concerning average in three contexts. Analysis includes considering levels of understanding linking definition and context, performance across contexts, the relative difficulty of tasks, and difference in performance for male and female students. The outcomes lead to a discussion of the expectations of the curriculum and its implementation, as well as assessment, in relation to students' skills in carrying out procedures and their understanding about the meaning of average in context.

No Safe Haven: Locations of Harassment and Bullying Victimization in Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perkins, H. Wesley; Perkins, Jessica M.; Craig, David W.

2014-01-01

Background: Given that adolescent bullying victimization is a significant concern for secondary education and adolescent development, identifying school contexts in which victimization is most likely to occur is salient. Methods: An anonymous online survey assessed the prevalence of being harassed or bullied in various locations within 20 middle…

Longitudinal Consistency of Adolescent Ethnic Identification across Varying School Ethnic Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nishina, Adrienne; Bellmore, Amy; Witkow, Melissa R.; Nylund-Gibson, Karen

2010-01-01

The present study examined consistency and inconsistency in adolescents' ethnic identification (i.e., self-reported ethnicity) across the 6 middle-school semesters. The sample (N = 1,589, of whom 46% were boys and 54% were girls) included African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Caucasian/White, Latino/Latina, Mexican/Mexican American, and…

Civic Engagement in the Upper Elementary Grades: An Examination of Parent and Teacher Practices and Children's Civic Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Elizabeth Spalding

2012-01-01

This study examines civic identity (i.e., civic values and responsibility to community and to people) in middle childhood, a previously unexplored developmental period in the civic engagement literature, and how adults and socialization processes in the home and school contexts are associated with children's civic outcomes. Middle childhood is a…

Middle Attainers and 14-19 Progression in England: Half-Served by New Labour and Now Overlooked by the Coalition?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodgson, Ann; Spours, Ken

2014-01-01

In the context of the international problem of "early school leaving", this paper explores the issue of sustained participation in upper secondary education in England. It focuses in particular on the position of middle attainers, who constitute a large proportion of the cohort and whose progress will be vital in realising the…

Mentoring and Academic Performance of Black and Under-Resourced Urban Middle Grade Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Biggs, Shirley A.; Musewe, Lucas O.; Harvey, Jean P.

2014-01-01

Our study examines the impact of adult mentoring on Black, under-resourced, urban, middle grade students. First, we explore impact of mentoring on grades earned in the context of a comprehensive program which included one-on-one mentoring and an array of out-of-school enrichment activities. We also examine the nature of mentor-mentee engagement…

Life in the Great Lakes. Earth Systems - Education Activities for Great Lakes Schools (ES-EAGLS).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheaffer, Amy L., Ed.

This activity book is part of a series designed to take a concept or idea from the existing school curriculum and develop it in the context of the Great Lakes using teaching approaches and materials appropriate for students in middle and high school. The theme of this book is life in the Great Lakes. Students learn about shorebird adaptations,…

Great Lakes Shipping. Earth Systems - Education Activities for Great Lakes Schools (ES-EAGLS).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fortner, Rosanne W., Ed.

This activity book is part of a series designed to take a concept or idea from the existing school curriculum and develop it in the context of the Great Lakes using teaching approaches and materials appropriate for students in middle and high school. The theme of this book is Great Lakes shipping. Students learn about the connections between the…

Public School Teacher Use of Instructional Technology from an Organizational Culture Perspective: An Explanatory Case Study of Two Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spitzer, Bruce Alan; Stansbury, Susan

2004-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to study the organizational culture and context of two school sites in which instructional technology (IT) use by teachers is evident; to study what and who influences individual teacher preferences toward IT use; and to describe the relationship of Mary Douglas' (1982, 1989, 1992) grid and group…

Short-Term Persistence of "DSM-IV" ADHD Diagnoses: Influence of Context, Age, and Gender

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bauermeister, Jose J.; Bird, Hector R.; Shrout, Patrick E.; Chavez, Ligia; Ramirez, Rafael; Canino, Glorisa

2011-01-01

Objective: Little is known about the effect of social context and gender on persistence of "attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder" (ADHD) in children of early and middle school years. The study compared persistence of "DSM-IV" ADHD and ADHD not otherwise specified (NOS) over 2 years in two groups of Puerto Rican children.…

Cultural Learning Context as It Relates to Efficacy and the Mathematics Performance of African-American Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burrell, Jennifer O.

2012-01-01

Nearly 20 years of empirical work has demonstrated that cultural-asset focused learning environments can improve the academic performance of African-American students. One example is communal learning context, which shifts students' motivational primacy from the individual to the social group. Considering the critical role of efficacy beliefs in…

Intersection of Principles: How "This We Believe" and International Baccalaureate® Align

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dever, Robin; Raven, Sara

2017-01-01

Schools that teach within the context of the International Baccalaureate® (IB) Middle Years Program approach learning through a global lens. They focus on how subjects relate to a larger, international context and connect topics together so that students can have a deeper understanding of knowledge. To further support and promote this approach to…

Watershed Investigations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bodzin, Alec; Shive, Louise

2004-01-01

Investigating local watersheds presents middle school students with authentic opportunities to engage in inquiry and address questions about their immediate environment. Investigation activities promote learning in an investigations interdisciplinary context as students explore relationships among chemical, biological, physical, geological, and…

Land & Water Interactions in the Great Lakes. Earth Systems - Education Activities for Great Lakes Schools (ES-EAGLS).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheaffer, Amy L., Ed.

This activity book is part of a series designed to take a concept or idea from the existing school curriculum and develop it in the context of the Great Lakes using teaching approaches and materials appropriate for students in middle and high school. The subject of this book is land and water interactions. Students examine how the Great Lakes were…

Great Lakes Climate and Water Movement. Earth Systems - Education Activities for Great Lakes Schools (ES-EAGLS).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Heidi, Ed.; Sheaffer, Amy L., Ed.

This activity book is part of a series designed to take a concept or idea from the existing school curriculum and develop it in the context of the Great Lakes using teaching approaches and materials appropriate for students in middle and high school. The theme of this book is Great Lakes climate and water movement. Students learn about land-sea…

Conflict in Israel and the Middle East: Differing Perspectives. Fulbright-Hays Summer Seminars Abroad Program, 2000 (Egypt and Israel).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, Susan

This curriculum project is intended for studying nonviolent conflict resolution at the undergraduate and graduate level, but it could be adapted for high school classes. The project first presents an historical context of Israel to illuminate the present conflict in the Middle East. It then presents a series of vignettes that represent differing…

Relational Teaching with Black Boys: Strategies for Learning at a Single-Sex Middle School for Boys of Color

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Joseph Derrick

2016-01-01

Background/Context: Positive teacher-student relationships are critical for Black boys' learning across single-sex and coeducational environments. Limited attention to these relationships by school professionals is rooted in deficit-oriented conceptions of boyhood and Black masculinity. The popular message of deficiency and pathology is clear:…

What Is Happening in the Teaching of Writing?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Applebee, Arthur N.; Langer, Judith A.

2009-01-01

It has been almost 30 years since the last systematic look at writing instruction in middle schools and high schools in the United States (Applebee, Writing). Since that report, there have been a number of significant changes in the contexts in which teachers teach and in which their students learn to write. Stretching back to the 1969-70 school…

Trajectories of Parents' Experiences in Discovering, Reporting, and Living with the Aftermath of Middle School Bullying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, James Roger

2010-01-01

Bully victimization takes place within a social context of youths' parents, peers, teachers, school administrators, and community. Victims often rely on parents, educators, or peers for support. However, there is a gap in the literature in understanding parents' experiences of what occurs before, during, and after reporting bullying to school…

The Science@NASA Websites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koczor, Ronald J.; Phillips. Tony; Rose, M. Franklin (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The Science@NASA websites represent a significant stride forward in communicating NASA science to the general public via the Internet. Using a family of websites aimed at science-attentive adults, high school students, middle school students and educators, the Science@NASA activity presents selected stories of on-going NASA science, giving context to otherwise dry press releases and scientific reports.

Middle school children's game playing preferences: Case studies of children's experiences playing and critiquing science-related educational games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joseph, Dolly Rebecca Doran

The playing of computer games is one of the most popular non-school activities of children, particularly boys, and is often the entry point to greater facility with and use of other computer applications. Children are learning skills as they play, but what they learn often does not generalize beyond application to that and other similar games. Nevertheless, games have the potential to develop in students the knowledge and skills described by national and state educational standards. This study focuses upon middle-school aged children, and how they react to and respond to computer games designed for entertainment and educational purposes, within the context of science learning. Through qualitative, case study methodology, the game play, evaluation, and modification experiences of four diverse middle-school-aged students in summer camps are analyzed. The inquiry focused on determining the attributes of computer games that appeal to middle school students, the aspects of science that appeal to middle school children, and ultimately, how science games might be designed to appeal to middle school children. Qualitative data analysis led to the development of a method for describing players' activity modes during game play, rather than the conventional methods that describe game characteristics. These activity modes are used to describe the game design preferences of the participants. Recommendations are also made in the areas of functional, aesthetic, and character design and for the design of educational games. Middle school students may find the topical areas of forensics, medicine, and the environment to be of most interest; designing games in and across these topic areas has the potential for encouraging voluntary science-related play. Finally, when including children in game evaluation and game design activities, results suggest the value of providing multiple types of activities in order to encourage the full participation of all children.

Girls' Activity Levels and Lesson Contexts in Middle School PE: TAAG Baseline

PubMed Central

McKENZIE, THOMAS L.; CATELLIER, DIANE J.; CONWAY, TERRY; LYTLE, LESLIE A.; GRIESER, MIRA; WEBBER, LARRY A.; PRATT, CHARLOTTE A.; ELDER, JOHN P.

2008-01-01

Purpose To assess girls' physical activity (PA) in middle school physical education (PE) as it relates to field site, lesson context and location, teacher gender, and class composition. Methods We observed girls' PA levels, lesson contexts, and activity promotion by teachers in 431 lessons in 36 schools from six field sites participating in the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls. Interobserver reliabilities exceeded 90% for all three categories. Data were analyzed using mixed-model ANOVA with controls for clustering effects by field site and school. Results Mean lesson length was 37.3 (± 9.4) min. Time (13.9 ± 7.0 min) and proportion of lessons (37.9 ± 18.5%) spent in moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA), and time (4.8 ± 4.2 min) and proportion of lessons (13.1 ± 11.7%) in vigorous PA (VPA) differed by field site (P < 0.004). Lesson time for instructional contexts differed by field site, with overall proportions as follows: game play (27.3%), management (26.1%), fitness activities (19.7%), skill drills (12.1%), knowledge (10.6%), and free play (4.4%). Coed classes were 7.9 min longer than girls-only classes (P = 0.03). Although 27 s shorter, outdoor lessons were more intense (MVPA% = 45.7 vs 33.7% of lesson, P < 0.001) and provided 4.0 more MVPA minutes (P < 0.001). MVPA, VPA, and lesson contexts did not differ by teacher gender. There was little direct promotion of PA by teachers during lessons. Conclusions Substantial variation in the conduct of PE exists. Proportion of lesson time girls spent accruing MVPA (i.e., 37.9%) fell short of the Healthy People 2010 objective of 50%. Numerous possibilities exist for improving girls' PA in PE. PMID:16826019

Capitalizing on Web 2.0 in the Social Studies Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holcomb, Lori B.; Beal, Candy M.

2010-01-01

This paper focuses primarily on the integration of Web 2.0 technologies into social studies education. It documents how various Web 2.0 tools can be utilized in the social studies context to support and enhance teaching and learning. For the purposes of focusing on one specific topic, global connections at the middle school level will be the…

Adolescents' Media-Related Cognitions and Substance Use in the Context of Parental and Peer Influences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scull, Tracy M.; Kupersmidt, Janis B.; Parker, Alison E.; Elmore, Kristen C.; Benson, Jessica W.

2010-01-01

Two cross-sectional studies investigated media influences on adolescents' substance use and intentions to use substances in the context of exposure to parental and peer risk and protective factors. A total of 729 middle school students (n = 351, 59% female in Study 1; n = 378, 43% female in Study 2) completed self-report questionnaires. The sample…

Effect of Language Context on Ratings of Shy and Unsociable Behaviors in English Language Learner Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ash, Andrea C.; Rice, Mabel L.; Redmond, Sean M.

2014-01-01

Purpose: The primary goal of this study was to explore the effect of language context on the socially withdrawn behaviors of school-age-children who are English language learners (ELLs) from middle- to high-socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. This is one of the 1st studies to address the frequently confused concepts of shyness and…

'"I’m Not Going to Become No Rapper": Stereotypes as a Context of Ethnic and Racial Identity Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Way, Niobe; Hernandez, Maria G.; Rogers, Leoandra Onnie; Hughes, Diane L.

2013-01-01

Few studies examine how the macro context shapes ethnic or racial identity development during early adolescence. This analysis draws on interview data from 40 African American, Chinese American, Dominican American, and European American middle school students (6th through 8th grade) to explore how stereotypes inform adolescents' ethnic and racial…

Everyday Banality in a Documentary by Teenage Women: Between the Trivial and the Extreme. Schooling and Desiring in Contexts of Extreme Urban Poverty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grinberg, Silvia

2010-01-01

In this article, I offer some reflections on a video documentary workshop for students in the first year of middle school. The workshop, which was held in 2008, took place in a school in an area of extreme urban poverty in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina, specifically in one of the more and more common spaces usually called…

Interests and Conflicts: Exploring the Context for Early Implementation of a Dual Language Policy in One Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forman, Stephanie

2016-01-01

Dual language immersion program models represent a potentially effective way to serve growing numbers of English language learners (ELLs) in schools and districts. However, local challenges, such as interpersonal conflict, can impact the process of implementing dual language policies and programs, limiting the extent to which they are able to meet…

The Negative Consequences of becoming a Good Reader: Identity Theory as a Lens for Understanding Struggling Readers, Teachers, and Reading Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Leigh A.

2010-01-01

Background/Context: The majority of middle school students in U.S. schools are struggling readers and lack the reading abilities needed to successfully comprehend texts, complete reading-related assignments, and learn subject matter content. Researchers have suggested that struggling readers' comprehension abilities can be improved if their…

"Emboldened Bodies": Social Class, School Health Policy and Obesity Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Pian, Laura

2012-01-01

This paper examines the multiple ways in which health policy relating to obesity, diet and exercise is recontextualised and mediated by teachers and pupils in the context of social class in the UK. Drawing on a case study of a middle-class primary school in central England, the paper documents the complexity of the policy process, its uncertainty,…

The Laboratory of Museum Studies: Museality in the Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Latham, Kiersten F.

2017-01-01

As makerspaces and hackerspaces pop up in libraries and museums, one little lab sits in the middle of an Information School, but it is not a maker-space, a gallery, or a museum. The MuseLab, at the Kent State School of Information, is something else, something new--or perhaps something familiar, but situated in a different context, making it less…

Awareness as an Enactivist Framework for the Mathematical Learning of Teachers, Mentors and Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Preciado-Babb, Armando Paulino; Metz, Martina; Marcotte, Chenoa

2015-01-01

This paper explores the learning of both individuals and organizations within the context of a 3-year professional development program for mathematics and science teachers in a middle school. We propose to extend the notion of awareness from individuals to autonomous systems as a means to study the learning of teachers, mentors, the school, and…

"Diles la verdad": Deportation Policies, Politicized Funds of Knowledge, and Schooling in Middle Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gallo, Sarah; Link, Holly

2015-01-01

In this article, Sarah Gallo and Holly Link draw on a five-year ethnographic study of Latina/o immigrant children and their elementary schooling to examine the complexities of how children, teachers, and families in a Pennsylvania town navigate learning within a context of unprecedented deportations. Gallo and Link focus on the experiences and…

Characteristics of health-promoting schools from Iranian adolescents' point of view.

PubMed

Shahhosseini, Zohreh; Simbar, Masoumeh; Ramezankhani, Ali

2016-05-01

Although characteristics of health-promoting schools are mentioned in the World Health Organization guidelines, different countries need to design more details of indicators for assessing these schools according to their social and cultural context. The aim of this study was to investigate characteristics of health-promoting schools from Iranian adolescent girls' point of view. In this cross-sectional study, 2010 middle school and high school female adolescents were selected from randomly selected schools in Mazandaran province, Iran. They completed a self-completion questionnaire around their views about characteristics of health- promoting schools. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and an independent t-test. It is revealed that from Iranian adolescents' point of view the most important feature of health-promoting schools was the schools with no stressful exams and where notices are kindly given to students for their mistakes. The results suggest that there is a need for more measurable standards of health-promoting schools based on the socio-cultural context of both developing and developed countries.

Computerized Fortune Cookies--a Classroom Treat.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reissman, Rose

1996-01-01

Discusses the use of fortune cookie fortunes in a middle school class combined with computer graphics, desktop publishing, and word processing technology to create writing assignments, games, and discussions. Topics include cultural contexts, and students creating their own fortunes. (LRW)

Cultural Astronomy in Elementary and Secondary School

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jafelice, Luiz Carlos

2015-07-01

This work is addressed to educators and geography, science, biology and physics teachers who deal with elementary, middle and high school education. It discusses the importance of adopting the anthropological perspective regarding issues that are considered within the astronomy area. It also presents practical proposals for those who intend to introduce cultural astronomy in elementary, middle and high school education - from the beginning of the 1st grade in Elementary school to the end of the 3rd grade in Secondary school, in formal as well as in informal education. This work is proposed within the context of the holistic and transdisciplinary environmental education. Our approach values above all the experience and aims at a humanistic education that includes epistemological and cultural diversities. The suggested practical proposals can be also beneficially used to address works that include contents related to Brazilian indigenous and Afro-descent cultures in the school curriculum, as the new law requires. The guidelines presented here were tested in real school situations.

Mixed-grade rejection and its association with overt aggression, relational aggression, anxious-withdrawal, and psychological maladjustment.

PubMed

Bowker, Julie C; Etkin, Rebecca G

2014-01-01

The authors examined the associations between mixed-grade rejection (rejection by peers in a different school grade), anxious-withdrawal, aggression, and psychological adjustment in a middle school setting. Participants were 181 seventh-grade and 180 eighth-grade students (M age = 13.20 years, SD = 0.68 years) who completed peer nomination and self-report measures in their classes. Analyses indicated that in general, same- and mixed-grade rejection were related to overt and relational aggression, but neither type was related to anxious-withdrawal. Mixed-grade rejection was associated uniquely and negatively with self-esteem for seventh-grade boys, while increasing the loneliness associated with anxious-withdrawal. The results suggest that school-wide models of peer relations may be promising for understanding the ways in which different peer contexts contribute to adjustment in middle school settings.

Social Persuasions by Teachers as a Source of Student Self-Efficacy: The Moderating Role of Perceived Teacher Credibility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Won, Sungjun; Lee, Sun-Young; Bong, Mimi

2017-01-01

The primary purpose of this study was to ascertain whether the degree to which Korean middle school students perceived their teachers to be credible made a difference in the effectiveness of teachers' persuasion as a source of students' academic self-efficacy. In the contexts of both general school learning and a specific subject of Korean…

Vocational education paths, youth activities, and underage drinking in Russia: How early does the trouble start?

PubMed

Lushin, Viktor; Jaccard, James; Ivaniushina, Valeria; Alexandrov, Daniel

2017-07-01

Working-class educational paths tend to be associated with elevated drinking. Little research has examined whether disproportionate alcohol use among vocationally oriented youth begins before or after the start of their vocational education. The present study analyzes a large sample of Russian middle-school students (N=1269; mean age=14.9), comparing the patterns of drinking among middle-schoolers oriented towards vocational educational, and their peers who do not plan a vocational education path. Results suggest that the orientation towards vocational education is associated with disproportionately high alcohol involvement among Russian middle-school students, even before they enter vocational schools. We studied if such difference could be partially explained by how youth orient towards extracurricular activities: discretionary peer time in risky contexts, reading for pleasure, working for pay, and religious activities. Reading demonstrated the strongest (negative) association with alcohol use, while religious activity unexpectedly revealed a positive (though weak) association with drinking. Research and policy implications are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Change in physical education motivation and physical activity behavior during middle school.

PubMed

Cox, Anne E; Smith, Alan L; Williams, Lavon

2008-11-01

To test a mediational model of the relationships among motivation-related variables in middle-school physical education and leisure-time physical activity behavior. Sixth- and seventh-grade physical education students from five middle schools in the midwest United States completed a survey containing measures of study variables on two occasions, 1 year apart. Motivation-related constructs positively predicted leisure-time physical activity behavior. Enjoyment of activities in physical education and physical activity during class mediated the relationship between self-determined motivation in physical education and leisure-time physical activity. Perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness were important antecedent variables in the model, with autonomy and relatedness showing less stability over time and positively predicting self-determined motivation. Students' leisure-time physical activity is linked to motivation-related experiences in physical education. Perceptions of competence, autonomy, and relatedness, self-determined motivation, enjoyment, and physical activity in the physical education setting directly or indirectly predict leisure-time physical activity. The associations suggest that more adaptive motivation corresponds to transfer of behavior across contexts. Also, the findings suggest that the efficacy of school-based physical activity interventions, within and outside of school, is linked to the degree of support for students' self-determined motivation.

Parent Educational Involvement in Middle School: Longitudinal Influences on Student Outcomes.

PubMed

Garbacz, S Andrew; Zerr, Argero A; Dishion, Thomas J; Seeley, John R; Stormshak, Elizabeth A

2018-05-01

The present study examined influences of 6 th grade student-reported parent educational involvement on early adolescent peer group affiliations at 7 th and 8 th grade. In addition, student gender and ethnicity were explored as possible moderators. Drawn from a large effectiveness trial, participants in this study were 5,802 early adolescents across twenty middle schools in the Northwest region of the United States. Findings suggested that specifically parent's educational involvement in 6 th grade predicted increases in positive peer affiliation, when controlling for a general score of parent monitoring practices. The relation between parent educational involvement and peer affiliation varied by student ethnicity but not by gender. Findings suggest the social benefits of parent's engagement with the school context on early adolescent development.

Parent Educational Involvement in Middle School: Longitudinal Influences on Student Outcomes

PubMed Central

Garbacz, S. Andrew; Zerr, Argero A.; Dishion, Thomas J.; Seeley, John R.; Stormshak, Elizabeth A.

2017-01-01

The present study examined influences of 6th grade student-reported parent educational involvement on early adolescent peer group affiliations at 7th and 8th grade. In addition, student gender and ethnicity were explored as possible moderators. Drawn from a large effectiveness trial, participants in this study were 5,802 early adolescents across twenty middle schools in the Northwest region of the United States. Findings suggested that specifically parent’s educational involvement in 6th grade predicted increases in positive peer affiliation, when controlling for a general score of parent monitoring practices. The relation between parent educational involvement and peer affiliation varied by student ethnicity but not by gender. Findings suggest the social benefits of parent’s engagement with the school context on early adolescent development. PMID:29731534

Middle School Injuries: A 20-Year (1988–2008) Multisport Evaluation

PubMed Central

Beachy, Glenn; Rauh, Mitchell

2014-01-01

Context: Data on the incidence of injury in middle school sports are limited. Objective: To describe overall, practice, and game injury rate patterns in 29 middle school sports. Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Setting: Injury data collected over a 20-year period (1988–2008) at a single school. Patients or Other Participants: Boy (n = 8078) and girl (n = 5960) athletes participating in 14 and 15 middle school sports, respectively. Main Outcome Measure(s): Injury status and athlete-exposures (AEs) were collected by certified athletic trainers. Incidence rates per 1000 AEs (injuries/AEs) were calculated for overall incidence, practices and games, injury location, injury type, and injury severity (time lost from participation). Rate ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to compare injury rates for sex-matched sports. Results: Football had the highest injury rate for all injuries (16.03/1000 AEs) and for time-loss injuries (8.486/1000 AEs). In matched middle school sports, girls exhibited a higher injury rate for all injuries (7.686/1000 AEs, RR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.1, 1.2) and time-loss injuries (2.944/1000 AEs, RR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.0, 1.2) than boys (all injuries: 6.684/1000 AEs, time-loss injuries: 2.702/1000 AEs). Girls had a higher injury rate during practices (3.30/1000 AEs) than games (1.67/1000 AEs, RR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.7, 2.4) for all sports. Only gymnastics (RR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.3, 3.8) had a higher game injury rate for girls. Practice and game injury rates were nearly identical for boys in all sports (RR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.9, 1.1). Only football (RR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.4, 0.6) and boys' wrestling (RR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.3, 0.8) reported higher game injury rates. Tendinitis injuries accounted for 19.1% of all middle school injuries. Conclusions: The risk for sport-related injury at the middle school level was greater during practices than games and greater for girls than boys in sex-matched sports. Conditioning programs may be needed to address the high rate of tendinitis injuries. PMID:25167211

Physical Science Connected Classrooms: Case Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Irving, Karen; Sanalan, Vehbi; Shirley, Melissa

2009-01-01

Case-study descriptions of secondary and middle school classrooms in diverse contexts provide examples of how teachers implement connected classroom technology to facilitate formative assessment in science instruction. Connected classroom technology refers to a networked system of handheld devices designed for classroom use. Teachers were…

The Influence of Physical and Social Contexts of Eating on Lunch-Time Food Intake among Southern Ontario, Canada, Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woodruff, Sarah J.; Hanning, Rhona M.; McGoldrick, Kathryn

2010-01-01

Background: Among students, little is known about the physical and social context of eating lunch. The objective of this study was to determine if food intake (including the type of food and beverages and portion sizes) was associated with specific aspects of the physical and social lunch environment (location, with whom lunch was consumed, who…

Personnel Allocation in Middle Schools in the State of New Jersey: An Examination of School Context, Accountability Pressure, and Teacher Assignments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirk, Kelly L.

2013-01-01

The key focus of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was to improve public education for all students in the United States, with an emphasis on closing the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students (Kantor & Lowe, 2006; Linn, Baker & Betebenner, 2002). The notion behind NCLB, to close the achievement gap, was praised,…

An Exploration of Teachers' Attitudes and Beliefs about the Reform of an Eighth Grade Math Curriculum from an Integrated Math Curriculum to a Core Math Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marion, Carol

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to obtain the attitudes and beliefs of mathematics teachers in the School District of Philadelphia regarding an eighth grade middle school mathematics core curriculum. This study explored the attitudes and beliefs of teachers in the reform of an eighth grade math "Core Curriculum, Math In Context" (School…

Conflict in Context: Understanding Local to Global Security.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mertz, Gayle; Lieber, Carol Miller

This multidisciplinary guide provides middle and high school teachers and students with inquiry-based tools to support their exploration of emerging local, national, international, and transboundary security issues. Students are introduced to critical thinking, problem solving, and peacemaking strategies that will help them better understand…

Multilevel Assessment of Middle School Students’ Interest in the Health Sciences: Development and Validation of a New Measurement Tool

PubMed Central

Romine, William L.; Miller, Michele E.; Knese, Shawn A.; Folk, William R.

2016-01-01

Using the context of a 2-wk instructional unit focused on eye and vision health, we developed and validated a multilevel measure of middle school students’ interest in science and health careers. This survey contained three subscales positioned differently with respect to curricular content. Interest in Vision Care was most related, but less transferrable to other contexts. Interest in Science was most general, and Interest in Healthcare was positioned between the two. We found that, with two exceptions, items fitted well with validity expectations and were stable across a 2-wk intervention. Further, measures of interest in science, health, and vision-care careers were shown to be reliable and valid. We found that ease of facilitating change across the intervention was generally greater in subscales closely related to the curricular context but that the average magnitude of change in Interest in Healthcare and Interest in Science was not significantly different. We discuss use of these measures in informing instructional efforts and advise that changes in students’ perceptions of how science and healthcare relate should be considered in longitudinal analyses. PMID:27252297

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.

Contextual factors associated with smoking among Brazilian adolescents

PubMed Central

Giatti, Luana; Casado, Leticia; de Moura, Lenildo; Crespo, Claudio; Malta, Deborah

2011-01-01

Background Very few studies have examined the role of school, household and family contexts in youth smoking in middle-income countries. Methods This work describes smoking exposure among 59 992 high school students who took part in the Brazilian Survey of School Health and investigates contextual factors associated with regular smoking, defined as smoking cigarettes at least once in the past 30 days. The explaining variables were grouped into: socio-demographic characteristics, school context, household context and family rapport. Variables independently associated with smoking in each context were identified by multiple logistic regression analysis. Results 53% of the total sample were girls, 89% were aged 13–15 years. 24% had already experimented with cigarettes, 50% before the age of 12 years. The prevalence of regular smoking was 6.3% (95% CI 5.87 to 6.74), with no sex variation. Smoking was not associated with either the mother's education or the index of household assets. In the multivariable analysis, studying at a private school, the possibility of purchasing cigarettes at school and skipping of classes without parents' consent increased the chances of smoking. In the household context, living with both parents was negatively associated with smoking, while having smoking parents and exposure to other people's smoking was positively related to smoking. In the family context, parental unawareness of what the adolescent was doing increased smoking, but having meals with the mother one or more days per week and parents' negative reactions to adolescent smoking reduced the chances of smoking. Conclusion The results reinforce the role of school, household and family contexts in youth smoking behaviours and will help improve public health policies aimed at preventing smoking and health promotion in adolescents. PMID:21471139

The PRIME Partnership: 9th Graders, Graduate Students and Integrated, Inquiry-Based Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaffney, A. M.; Miguelez, S.

2001-12-01

The PRIME program (Partnership for Research in Inquiry-based Math, science and engineering Education) is a collaboration between the UW Colleges of Education and Engineering and several Seattle-area school districts. This project, funded by the NSF GK-12 program, pairs UW graduate students from math, science and engineering disciplines with local middle school teachers. The graduate student spends a year working with the teacher, on projects designed to meet the needs and interests of the specific partnership and classroom. In the partnership, the graduate student spends 15 hours per week in the classroom, interacting with the students, as well as additional planning time outside of the classroom. Goals of the PRIME program are enriched learning by middle school students, professional development for middle school teachers, improved communication and teaching skills for the graduate students, and strengthened partnerships between the University of Washington and local school districts. The goal of our partnership was to develop an inquiry-based, 9th grade unit that integrates the pre-existing Earth Science and Chemistry units, and to assess the effectiveness of teaching Chemistry in the context of Earth Science. We have observed that students often become engaged and excited when they do hands-on activities that utilize the intrinsic understanding that they have of concepts that draw upon experiences in their daily lives. When science is taught and learned in one such context - in the context of the natural world - the students may gain a more solid fundamental understanding of the science that they learn. The day-to-day activities for this unit vary widely. We started each topic with a question designed to get the students thinking independently and to identify the preconceptions that the students brought into the classroom. Discussions of students' preconceptions served as a justification and springboard for the subsequent activities and experiments. Examples of questions used to spark student thought are: "What do you think the inside of the Earth looks like?," "What makes a volcano erupt?," and "Do mountains last forever?." We evaluated the effectiveness of this approach through a combination of classroom observations, formal and informal interviews, and surveys

Exploring Classroom Hydroponics. Growing Ideas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Gardening Association, Burlington, VT.

Growing Ideas, the National Gardening Association's series for elementary, middle, and junior high school educators, helps teachers engage students in using plants and gardens as contexts for developing a deeper, richer understanding of the world around them. This volume's focus is on hydroponics. It presents basic hydroponics information along…

Shrinking Your Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herron-Thorpe, Farren L.; Olson, Jo Clay; Davis, Denny

2010-01-01

Toys in the classroom was the result of a National Science Foundation grant that brought two engineering graduate students to a middle school math class. The graduate students and teachers collaborated in an effort to enhance students' mathematical learning. An engineering context was theorized as a way to further develop students' understanding…

Quantitative Reasoning in Environmental Science: A Learning Progression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayes, Robert Lee; Forrester, Jennifer Harris; Christus, Jennifer Schuttlefield; Peterson, Franziska Isabel; Bonilla, Rachel; Yestness, Nissa

2014-01-01

The ability of middle and high school students to reason quantitatively within the context of environmental science was investigated. A quantitative reasoning (QR) learning progression was created with three progress variables: quantification act, quantitative interpretation, and quantitative modeling. An iterative research design was used as it…

Meeting the Demands of Science Reforms: A Comprehensive Professional Development for Practicing Middle School Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pringle, Rose M.; Mesa, Jennifer; Hayes, Lynda

2018-03-01

Preparing teachers to teach science consistent with current reforms in science education is a daunting enterprise given a lack of high-quality science professional development (PD) adaptable across various contexts (Wilson 2013). This study examines the impact of a comprehensive professional development program on middle school teachers' disciplinary content knowledge and instructional practices. In this mixed methods investigation, data sources included classroom observations, content knowledge assessments, surveys, and a range of interviews. The teachers in the program showed significant improvements in their disciplinary content knowledge and demonstrated through their enactment of a reform-based curriculum, a range of ability levels to translate their knowledge into instructional practices consistent with the principles espoused in the PD. We conclude that programs that attend to elements of effective PD identified in the literature can positively impact middle school science teachers' enactment of reform-based science teaching. Our findings extend these elements to include the strategic engagement of school and district leadership and the provision of a safe learning space for teachers to collectively engage in reciprocal learning and critical practice. This study has worldwide implications for designing PD for science teachers and for extending our understanding of the impact of each element.

Learning to Be Multimedia Teaching Artists: Apprenticeship in Multimedia Arts Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Betts, J. David

2008-01-01

The Multimedia Arts Education Program (MAEP) was an innovative initiative for middle school students that used teaching artists as leaders in an apprenticeship-like teaching context. This article is about a second apprenticeship program supported by a University/Community Partnership grant from the Kellogg Foundation that engaged university…

Teacher Advice-Seeking: Relating Centrality and Expertise in Middle School Mathematics Social Networks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berebitsky, Dan; Andrews-Larson, Christine

2017-01-01

Background/Context: Teachers' relationships with principals, instructional coaches, and other teachers have important implications for the improvement of their instructional practice and student learning. In particular, teachers who access content-specific instructional expertise through their social networks are more likely to exhibit and sustain…

Family Relationships and Perfectionism in Middle-School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DiPrima, Amy J.; Ashby, Jeffrey S.; Gnilka, Philip B.; Noble, Christina L.

2011-01-01

Several authors have suggested that perfectionism develops in the context of a person's family of origin. However, there are few empirical studies that address the relationship between family variables and perfectionism. This study examined the relationship between family variables and multidimensional perfectionism among a sample of 253…

Boys' and Girls' ICT Beliefs: Do Teachers Matter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vekiri, Ioanna

2010-01-01

This exploratory study took place in the context of middle school information science in Greece, to examine possible relations between boys' and girls': value and efficacy beliefs about computers and information science; perceived parental support; perceived teacher expectations; and perceptions of the nature of information science instruction.…

Island Formation: Constructing a Coral Island

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Austin, Heather; Edd, Amelia

2009-01-01

The process of coral island formation is often difficult for middle school students to comprehend. Coral island formation is a dynamic process, and students should have the opportunity to experience this process in a synergistic context. The authors provide instructional guidelines for constructing a coral island. Students play an interactive role…

Stretching Probability Explorations with Geoboards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wheeler, Ann; Champion, Joe

2016-01-01

Students are faced with many transitions in their middle school mathematics classes. To build knowledge, skills, and confidence in the key areas of algebra and geometry, students often need to practice using numbers and polygons in a variety of contexts. Teachers also want students to explore ideas from probability and statistics. Teachers know…

Modeling the Round Earth through Diagrams

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Padalkar, Shamin; Ramadas, Jayashree

2008-01-01

Earlier studies have found that students, including adults, have problems understanding the scientifically accepted model of the Sun-Earth-Moon system and explaining day-to-day astronomical phenomena based on it. We have been examining such problems in the context of recent research on visual-spatial reasoning. Working with middle school students…

The European University in the Context of Logic of Integration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kotlyarov, Igor V.; Kostjukevich, Svetlana V.

2011-01-01

Many contemporary historians debate and ponder whether modern universities represent a unique creation of the high Middle Ages in Europe, or a simple evolution of schools and academies of classical antiquity. Policymakers, though, could also benefit from addressing this question because in order to find appropriate solutions to reforming…

Prescription Drug Abuse Information in D.A.R.E.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Melissa C.; Cline, Rebecca J. Welch; Weiler, Robert M.; Broadway, S. Camille

2006-01-01

This investigation was designed to examine prescription drug-related content and learning objectives in Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) for upper elementary and middle schools. Specific prescription-drug topics and context associated with content and objectives were coded. The coding system for topics included 126 topics organized…

Lessons Learned in Evaluating a Multisite, Comprehensive Teen Dating Violence Prevention Strategy: Design and Challenges of the Evaluation of Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships.

PubMed

Niolon, Phyllis Holditch; Taylor, Bruce G; Latzman, Natasha E; Vivolo-Kantor, Alana M; Valle, Linda Anne; Tharp, Andra T

2016-03-01

This paper describes the multisite, longitudinal cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) design of the evaluation of the Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Relationships initiative, and discusses challenges faced in conducting this evaluation. Health departments in 4 communities are partnering with middle schools in high-risk, urban communities to implement 2 models of teen dating violence (TDV) prevention over 4 years. Schools were randomized to receive either the Dating Matters comprehensive strategy or the "standard of care" strategy (an existing, evidence-based TDV prevention curriculum). Our design permits comparison of the relative effectiveness of the comprehensive and standard of care strategies. Multiple cohorts of students from 46 middle schools are surveyed in middle school and high school, and parents and educators from participating schools are also surveyed. Challenges discussed in conducting a multisite RCT include site variability, separation of implementation and evaluation responsibilities, school retention, parent engagement in research activities, and working within the context of high-risk urban schools and communities. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of our approaches to these challenges in the hopes of informing future research. Despite multiple challenges, the design of the Dating Matters evaluation remains strong. We hope this paper provides researchers who are conducting complex evaluations of behavioral interventions with thoughtful discussion of the challenges we have faced and potential solutions to such challenges.

Lessons Learned in Evaluating a Multisite, Comprehensive Teen Dating Violence Prevention Strategy: Design and Challenges of the Evaluation of Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships

PubMed Central

Niolon, Phyllis Holditch; Taylor, Bruce G.; Latzman, Natasha E.; Vivolo-Kantor, Alana M.; Valle, Linda Anne; Tharp, Andra T.

2018-01-01

Objective This paper describes the multisite, longitudinal cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) design of the evaluation of the Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Relationships initiative, and discusses challenges faced in conducting this evaluation. Method Health departments in 4 communities are partnering with middle schools in high-risk, urban communities to implement 2 models of teen dating violence (TDV) prevention over 4 years. Schools were randomized to receive either the Dating Matters comprehensive strategy or the “standard of care” strategy (an existing, evidence-based TDV prevention curriculum). Our design permits comparison of the relative effectiveness of the comprehensive and standard of care strategies. Multiple cohorts of students from 46 middle schools are surveyed in middle school and high school, and parents and educators from participating schools are also surveyed. Results Challenges discussed in conducting a multisite RCT include site variability, separation of implementation and evaluation responsibilities, school retention, parent engagement in research activities, and working within the context of high-risk urban schools and communities. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of our approaches to these challenges in the hopes of informing future research. Conclusions Despite multiple challenges, the design of the Dating Matters evaluation remains strong. We hope this paper provides researchers who are conducting complex evaluations of behavioral interventions with thoughtful discussion of the challenges we have faced and potential solutions to such challenges. PMID:29607239

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.

FIRST LEGO League Kickoff

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2006-01-01

FIRST LEGO League participants listen to Aerospace Education Specialist Chris Copelan explain the playing field for 'Nano Quest' during a recent FLL kickoff event at StenniSphere, the visitor center at NASA Stennis Space Center. The kickoff began the 2006 FLL competition season. Eighty-five teachers, mentors, parents and 9- to 14-year-old students from southern and central Mississippi came to SSC to hear the rules for Nano Quest. The challenge requires teams to spend eight weeks building and programming robots from LEGO Mindstorms kits. They'll battle their creations in local and regional competitions. The Dec. 2 competition at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College will involve about 200 students. FIRST LEGO League, considered the 'little league' of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition, partners FIRST and the LEGO Group. Competitions aim to inspire and celebrate science and technology using real-world context and hands-on experimentation, and to promote the principles of team play and gracious professionalism. Because NASA advocates robotics and science-technology education, the agency and SSC support FIRST by providing team coaches, mentors and training, as well as competition event judges, referees, audio-visual and other volunteer staff personnel. Two of Mississippi's NASA Explorer Schools, Bay-Waveland Middle and Hattiesburg's Lillie Burney Elementary, were in attendance. The following schools were also represented: Ocean Springs Middle, Pearl Upper Elementary, Long Beach Middle, Jackson Preparatory Academy, North Woolmarket Middle, D'Iberville Middle, West Wortham Middle, Picayune's Roseland Park Baptist Academy and Nicholson Elementary, as well as two home-school groups from McComb and Brandon. Gulfport and Picayune Memorial-Pearl River high schools' FIRST Robotics teams conducted robotics demonstrations for the FLL crowd.

FIRST LEGO League Kickoff

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-09-23

FIRST LEGO League participants listen to Aerospace Education Specialist Chris Copelan explain the playing field for 'Nano Quest' during a recent FLL kickoff event at StenniSphere, the visitor center at NASA Stennis Space Center. The kickoff began the 2006 FLL competition season. Eighty-five teachers, mentors, parents and 9- to 14-year-old students from southern and central Mississippi came to SSC to hear the rules for Nano Quest. The challenge requires teams to spend eight weeks building and programming robots from LEGO Mindstorms kits. They'll battle their creations in local and regional competitions. The Dec. 2 competition at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College will involve about 200 students. FIRST LEGO League, considered the 'little league' of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition, partners FIRST and the LEGO Group. Competitions aim to inspire and celebrate science and technology using real-world context and hands-on experimentation, and to promote the principles of team play and gracious professionalism. Because NASA advocates robotics and science-technology education, the agency and SSC support FIRST by providing team coaches, mentors and training, as well as competition event judges, referees, audio-visual and other volunteer staff personnel. Two of Mississippi's NASA Explorer Schools, Bay-Waveland Middle and Hattiesburg's Lillie Burney Elementary, were in attendance. The following schools were also represented: Ocean Springs Middle, Pearl Upper Elementary, Long Beach Middle, Jackson Preparatory Academy, North Woolmarket Middle, D'Iberville Middle, West Wortham Middle, Picayune's Roseland Park Baptist Academy and Nicholson Elementary, as well as two home-school groups from McComb and Brandon. Gulfport and Picayune Memorial-Pearl River high schools' FIRST Robotics teams conducted robotics demonstrations for the FLL crowd.

Contextual Risk Profiles and Trajectories of Adolescent Dating Violence Perpetration.

PubMed

Reyes, H Luz McNaughton; Foshee, Vangie A; Markiewitz, Nathan; Chen, May S; Ennett, Susan T

2018-04-09

Social ecological and developmental system perspectives suggest that interactions among factors within and across multiple contexts (e.g., neighborhood, peer, family) must be considered in explaining dating violence perpetration. Yet, to date, most extant research on dating violence has focused on individual, rather than contextual predictors, and used variable-centered approaches that fail to capture the configurations of factors that may jointly explain involvement in dating violence. The current study used a person-centered approach, latent profile analysis, to identify key configurations (or profiles) of contextual risk and protective factors for dating violence perpetration across the neighborhood, school, friend and family contexts. We then examine the longitudinal associations between these contextual risk profiles, assessed during middle school, and trajectories of psychological and physical dating violence perpetration across grades 8 through 12. Five contextual risk profiles were identified: school, neighborhood, and family risk; school and family risk; school and friend risk; school and neighborhood risk; and low risk. The highest levels of psychological and physical perpetration across grades 8 through 12 were among adolescents in the profile characterized by high levels of school, neighborhood, and family risk. Results suggest that early interventions to reduce violence exposure and increase social regulation across multiple social contexts may be effective in reducing dating violence perpetration across adolescence.

The Relationship between Children's Executive Functioning, Theory of Mind, and Verbal Skills with Their Own and Others' Behaviour in a Cooperative Context: Changes in Relations from Early to Middle School-Age

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huyder, Vanessa; Nilsen, Elizabeth S.; Bacso, Sarah A.

2017-01-01

Learning to behave in socially competent ways is an essential component of children's development. This study examined the relations between children's social, communicative, and cognitive skills and their behaviours during a cooperative task, as well as how these relationships change at different ages. Early school-age (5-8 years old) and middle…

An opportunity for success: Understanding motivation and learning from urban youth participation in an after school science program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Catlin, Janell Nicole

This dissertation is an ethnographic study that documents through student voice the untold stories of urban student motivation to learn and engage in science through the contexts of an after school science program and the students' in-school science classrooms. The purpose of this study is to add to the literature in science education on motivation of urban youth to learn and engage in science through thick and rich descriptions of student voice. This study addresses issues in educational inequity by researching students who are historically marginalized. The focus of the study is four middle school students. The methodology employed was critical ethnography and case study. The data sources included participant observations and field notes, interviews, student artifacts, Snack and Chat, autophotography, and the researcher's reflective journal. The findings of this study state that motivating factors for urban middle school students' learning and engaging in science include a flexible and engaging curriculum, that students are empowered and motivated to learn when teachers are respectful, that urban middle school science students hold positive images about scientists, themselves and knowing science, and that urban teachers of the dominant culture believe that their urban middle school science students are motivated. In using Sociotransformative Constructivism (STC) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) the researcher informs the issues of inequity and racism that emerge from historical perspectives and students' stories about their experiences inside and outside of school. The implications state that allowing for a flexible curriculum that motivates students to make choices about what and how they want to learn and engage in science are necessary science teaching goals for urban middle school students, it is necessary that teachers are conscious of their interactions with their students, diversifying the science field through educating and empowering all students through learning science is key, and to get teachers to the point of an anti-deficit view of urban education more positive stories told by and research done with White urban science teachers must be documented.

Socioscience and Ethics in Science Classrooms: Teacher Perspectives and Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sadler, Troy D.; Amirshokoohi, Aidin; Kazempour, Mahsa; Allspaw, Kathleen M.

2006-01-01

This study explored teacher perspectives on the use of socioscientific issues (SSI) and on dealing with ethics in the context of science instruction. Twenty-two middle and high school science teachers from three US states participated in semi-structured interviews, and researchers employed inductive analyses to explore emergent patterns relative…

Discovering Euler Circuits and Paths through a Culturally Relevant Lesson

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robichaux, Rebecca R.; Rodrigue, Paulette R.

2006-01-01

This article describes a middle school discrete mathematics lesson that uses the context of catching crawfish to provide students with a hands-on experience related to Euler circuits and paths. The lesson promotes mathematical communication through the use of cooperative learning as well as connections between mathematics and the real world…

Can Socially Adept Friends Protect Peer-Victimized Early Adolescents against Lower Academic Competence?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tu, Kelly M.; Erath, Stephen A.; Flanagan, Kelly S.

2012-01-01

The present study examined indices of friends' social adjustment (prosocial skills and social anxiety) that may protect against or exacerbate vulnerability to lower academic competence in the context of peer victimization during middle school (N=320). Peer victimization was assessed with peer nominations, social anxiety was measured with self…

Learning Progressions in Context: Tensions and Insights from a Semester-Long Middle School Modeling Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pierson, Ashlyn E.; Clark, Douglas B.; Sherard, Max K.

2017-01-01

Schwarz and colleagues have proposed and refined a learning progression for modeling that provides a valuable template for envisioning increasingly sophisticated levels of modeling practice at an aggregate level (Fortus, Shwartz, & Rosenfeld, 2016; Schwarz et al., 2009; Schwarz, Reiser, Archer, Kenyon, & Fortus, 2012). Thinking about…

Four Methods of Identifying Change in the Context of a Multiple Component Reading Intervention for Struggling Middle School Readers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frijters, Jan C.; Lovett, Maureen W.; Sevcik, Rose A.; Morris, Robin D.

2013-01-01

The results from controlled intervention research have indicated that effective reading interventions exist for children with reading difficulties. Effect sizes for older struggling readers, however, typically have not matched the large effects demonstrated with younger children. Standardized effect sizes for intervention/control comparisons…

"Trusting" Schools to Meet the Academic Needs of African-American Students? Suburban Mothers' Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beard, Karen Stansberry; Brown, Kathleen M.

2008-01-01

According to Tschannen-Moran, "Principals and teachers need to build trusting relationships with students and parents in order to accomplish their essential goal of fostering student achievement and equipping students for citizenship." In the context of organizational trust, this study explored such relationships with six, middle-class…

The Research-Action Context: An Intervention Strategy in Educational Management Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barrilleaux, Louis E.; And Others

The purpose of the Middle-Management Center (M-MC) is to engage educational organizations, individuals, and groups in the metropolitan New Orleans area in simultaneous research and action to facilitate the development of more productive and responsive schooling while focusing on the problemsolving processes and practices of management. The center…

The Development of Shared Understandings of Assessment Policy: Travelling between Global and Local Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adie, Lenore

2014-01-01

In this paper, teachers' enactment of assessment policy within demands for accountability and consistency of teacher judgements is considered. Evidence is drawn from a qualitative study involving 50 middle school teachers from Queensland, Australia, who participated in online social moderation meetings with teachers located in dispersed areas…

Reaching Rural Communities: Videoconferencing in K-12 Dance Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parrish, Mila

2009-01-01

This article reports the findings of a study exploring the effects of using videoconferencing (VC) to deliver dance instruction to rural communities. The context of the study is a university community partnership run through blended live and VC instruction with elementary and middle school students in Eloy, Arizona. This research is part of a…

Student Learning and Engagement in the Context of Curriculum Integration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brinegar, Kathleen; Bishop, Penny A.

2011-01-01

Although curriculum integration has a long history of myriad models, rarely have those stakeholders most connected to the practice--the students--been consulted about the efficacy of the approach. This study applied a longitudinal, intrinsic case study approach (Stake, 2000) to examine middle school students' perceptions of learning and engagement…

Attending to Structural Programming Features Predicts Differences in Learning and Motivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Witherspoon, Eben B.; Schunn, Christian D.; Higashi, Ross M.; Shoop, Robin

2018-01-01

Educational robotics programs offer an engaging opportunity to potentially teach core computer science concepts and practices in K-12 classrooms. Here, we test the effects of units with different programming content within a virtual robotics context on both learning gains and motivational changes in middle school (6th-8th grade) robotics…

Culture, Context, and the Internalizing Distress of Mexican American Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Polo, Antonio J.; Lopez, Steven R.

2009-01-01

Latino youth appear to be at higher risk for depression relative to youth from other ethnic groups. This study assessed the relationship between nativity and several forms of internalizing distress among Mexican American middle school students as well as sociocultural factors that may help explain this relationship. Immigrant Mexican American…

Engaging Contexts for the Game of Nim

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reeves, Charles A.; Gleichowski, Rosemarie Reeves

2007-01-01

Middle school teachers realize the value of students playing games in mathematics classes if those games emphasize problem-solving strategies, algebraic reasoning, or spatial sense. This article describes various versions of the traditional game of nim and shows how working backward can be used to find a winning strategy. The link is then made…

The Characteristic Mobile Learning Engagement Strategies of International School Middle-Years Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arnold, Bradley A.

2018-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to develop descriptions of how teenage students remain engaged in learning while using mobile technology. Developments in technology have expanded learning contexts and provided learners with improved capacities to connect with others to exchange, gain, and construct knowledge. Developments in…

Informal Formative Assessment and Scientific Inquiry: Exploring Teachers' Practices and Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruiz-Primo, Maria Araceli; Furtak, Erin Marie

2006-01-01

What does informal formative assessment look like in the context of scientific inquiry teaching? Is it possible to identify different levels of informal assessment practices? Can different levels of informal assessment practices be related to levels of student learning? This study addresses these issues by exploring how 4 middle school science…

Fostering Conceptual Change and Critical Reasoning About HIV and AIDS

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keselman, Alla; Kaufman, David R.; Kramer, Sharon; Patel, Vimla L.

2007-01-01

One of the challenges of science education is for students to develop scientific knowledge that is personally meaningful and applicable to real-life issues. This article describes a middle-school science intervention fostering adolescents' critical reasoning in the context of HIV by strengthening their conceptual understanding of HIV biology. The…

Engineering Design Activities and Conceptual Change in Middle School Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schnittka, Christine G.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of engineering design classroom activities on conceptual change in science, and on attitudes toward and knowledge about engineering. Students were given a situated learning context and a rationale for learning science in an active, inquiry-based method, and worked in small collaborative…

Determinants of Academic Achievement of Middle Schoolers in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Börkan, Bengü; Bakis, Ozan

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to discuss student and school factors, including cross level interaction, that cause inequalities in seven and eighth grade students' achievement in Turkish context by using national achievement test scores with a multi-level statistical approach. Our results are in line with most other studies with similar purpose.…

Critical Visual Analysis of Multicultural Sketches

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayik, Rawia

2011-01-01

In a teaching context fraught with conflicts on religious and ethnic backgrounds, I decide as a teacher researcher to address these issues with Israeli-Arab middle school students in my EFL classroom. Picture books on religious diversity and minority issues are used as a springboard for providing spaces for students to discuss these issues orally,…

Confusion at the Tower

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Loretta F.

2014-01-01

This study will explore the omission of the Tower of Babel narrative from middle and secondary school world history, world studies, and world geography textbooks and will consider what might be learned from inclusion of the story in the curriculum. A total of 17 textbooks are analyzed. The Tower of Babel narrative is examined within the context of…

Stopping to Squell the "Rhosus": Bringing Science Vocabulary to Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shore, Rebecca

2015-01-01

A research study conducted in an urban district middle school setting applies cognitive science principles to science vocabulary. Within the context of a personal story told by the lead investigator, the results of the study are shared and suggest that more active, engaging strategies with complex core curriculum may improve retention and…

Parent-Teacher-Student Discrepancies in Academic Ability Beliefs: Influences on Parent Involvement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patel, Nimisha; Stevens, Sharon

2010-01-01

Most studies examining influences on parent involvement focus on common demographic factors, such as social class or gender, and on elementary grades. In the present study, we investigated a more malleable influence, perceptions of ability, in the context of middle school. We examined how perceptions held by parents, teachers, and students…

Promoting Social Competence and Peer Relationships for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, Erik W.; Common, Eric A.; Sreckovic, Melissa A.; Huber, Heartley B.; Bottema-Beutel, Kristen; Gustafson, Jenny Redding; Dykstra, Jessica; Hume, Kara

2014-01-01

This article addresses some of the key considerations and complexities associated with intervening to address social competence and peer relationships of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in middle and high school settings. First, we provide a brief overview of the social context during adolescence for all students. Next, we…

The Importance of Early Attitudes toward Mathematics and Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ing, Marsh; Nylund-Gibson, Karen

2017-01-01

Background/Context: Given the importance of increasing student participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), there is a need to understand how factors such as student's attitudes toward math and science in middle and high school are linked to their later college and career choices. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of…

Motivation and Engagement in Jamaica: Testing a Multidimensional Framework among Students in an Emerging Regional Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Andrew J.; Martin, Tamica G.; Evans, Paul

2018-01-01

This study explored motivation and engagement among 585 Jamaican middle and high school students. Motivation and engagement were assessed via students' responses to the Motivation and Engagement Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) found satisfactory fit, and by most measures, multigroup CFA demonstrated comparable factor structure for males…

Emotional and Behavioural Problems in the Context of Cyberbullying: A Longitudinal Study among German Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schultze-Krumbholz, Anja; Jakel, Anne; Schultze, Martin; Scheithauer, Herbert

2012-01-01

Although many studies have reported on internalising and externalising problems related to cyberbullying roles, there is a lack of longitudinal research in this area. This study reports (1) cross-sectional data from 412 German middle-school students to examine differences between cyberbullies, cybervictims and cyberbully-victims compared to…

Negotiating the integration of new literacies in math and science content: The lived experience of classroom teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wimmer, Jennifer Joy

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the lived experience of integrating new literacies in math and science content by upper elementary and middle school teachers. This study highlights the lived experience of six teachers including two elementary math teachers, two middle school math teachers, and two middle school science teachers. Data sources included five in-depth interviews, teachers' weekly reflection journals, weekly classroom observations, and one principal interview at each of the three high-needs schools. Data were analyzed through an analytic and thematic approach. A reconstructed story was created for each teacher which provides insight into the teacher as an individual. Additionally, a thematic analysis resulted in the identification of five essential themes across all six stories which included: technology exclusively, rethinking who they are as teachers, stabilizing rather than challenging content, rethinking student learning, circumstances, and futures, and serving official context and discourse. The findings indicate that the teachers' lived experience of integrating new literacies in math and science content was filled with uncertainty and a search for stability. A key implication of this study is the need for quality professional development that provides teachers with the opportunity to learn about, question, and rethink the intersection of new literacies, content area literacy, and teacher knowledge.

Socioeconomic Context and Emotional-Behavioral Achievement Links: Concurrent and Prospective Associations Among Low- and High-Income Youth

PubMed Central

Ansary, Nadia S.; McMahon, Thomas J.; Luthar, Suniya S.

2012-01-01

Temporal associations in the relationship between emotional-behavioral difficulty and academic achievement were explored in 2 samples followed from 6th through 8th grade. The first sample comprised 280 students entering an economically disadvantaged urban middle school and the second comprised 318 students entering an affluent suburban middle school. Among disadvantaged youth, emotional indices were concurrently associated with poorer achievement while prospective associations between substance use and achievement were evident. For privileged adolescents, only a significant concurrent relationship emerged between social anxiety and achievement, although nonsignificant trends in the data suggest other, albeit weak, associations. The findings are discussed in terms of similarities and differences in these temporal associations across 2 samples representing extremes of the socioeconomic continuum. PMID:23129975

Indian students' perspectives on obesity and school-based obesity prevention: a qualitative examination.

PubMed

Riggs, Nathaniel; Tewari, Abha; Stigler, Melissa; Rodrigues, Lindsay; Arora, Monika; Khubchandani, Jagdish; Simmons, Rob; Pentz, Mary Ann

2013-11-01

Childhood obesity has recently been reported as a growing problem in low- and middle-income countries. One potential prevention strategy is to apply effective obesity prevention approaches from the United States and/or other Western countries into programs that can be implemented in developing countries such as India. The purpose of this study was to explore Indian students' perceptions of social-contextual factors related to obesity and whether they perceived a role for school-based obesity prevention. This study was conducted as a first step in a model to translate interventions from one culture to another. A total of 183 fourth- and fifth-grade students of middle socioeconomic status participated in focus group discussions. Analyses were guided by the essential principles of qualitative research and informed by social cognitive and social ecological theories. Results yielded five relevant themes: (a) student health behavior knowledge, (b) parental influence on health behavior, (c) school influence on health behavior, (d) media influence on health behavior, and (e) contexts for health promotion intervention. We found that students had moderate knowledge related to health behaviors (i.e., food intake and physical activity); that parents, schools, and the media are all important contributors to healthy and unhealthy behavior; and that schools can play an important role in the prevention of obesity. Results suggest that Indian middle socioeconomic status students are already moderately aware of the health benefits to nutritious food intake and physical activity, but parents, schools, and the media can influence unhealthy behaviors.

How Place and Audience Matter: Perspectives on Mathematics Plural Identities from Late 1950s French and English Middle School Textbooks.

PubMed

Radtka, Catherine

2016-12-01

Argument In this paper, I argue that studying school textbooks is a fruitful way to investigate mathematical conceptions in different national contexts. These sources give access to the written production of an extended mathematical milieu whose members write for various audiences. By studying the case of late 1950s French and English textbooks issued for a growing audience of 11- to 15-year-old pupils, I show that a plurality of conceptions was projected at the time onto pupils and their teachers in both national contexts. I link this diversity to contemporaneous debates regarding mathematics teaching and argue that textbooks themselves have to be considered as active agents of such debates.

The Effect of a Communications Campaign on Middle School Students’ Nutrition and Physical Activity: Results of the HEALTHY Study

PubMed Central

SCHNEIDER, MARGARET; DEBAR, LYNN; CALINGO, ASHLEY; HALL, WILL; HINDES, KATIE; SLEIGH, ADRIANA; THOMPSON, DEBBE; VOLPE, STELLA L.; ZEVELOFF, ABBY; PHAM, TRANG; STECKLER, ALLAN

2013-01-01

The HEALTHY Study was a 3-year school-based intervention designed to change the behaviors of middle school students to reduce their risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. This report examines the relation between exposure to communications campaign materials and behavior change among students in the HEALTHY intervention schools. Using data from campaign tracking logs and student interviews, the authors examined communications campaign implementation and exposure to the communications campaign as well as health behavior change. Campaign tracking documents revealed variability across schools in the quantity of communications materials disseminated. Student interviews confirmed that there was variability in the proportion of students who reported receiving information from the communication campaign elements. Correlations and regression analysis controlling for semester examined the association between campaign exposure and behavior change across schools. There was a significant association between the proportion of students exposed to the campaign and the proportion of students who made changes in health behavior commensurate with study goals. The results suggest that, in the context of a multifaceted school-based health promotion intervention, schools that achieve a higher rate of exposure to communication campaign materials among the students may stimulate greater health behavior change. PMID:23409792

Social contexts of drug offers among American Indian youth and their relationship to substance use: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Kulis, Stephen; Okamoto, Scott K; Rayle, Andrea Dixon; Sen, Soma

2006-01-01

In this exploratory study the authors examined the social contexts of American Indian youths' encounters with drug offers and their relationship to substance use. Using an inventory of drug use-related problem situations developed specifically for American Indian youth, questionnaires were completed by 71 American Indian youth at public middle schools in a Southwest metropolitan area. Regression analyses highlight the importance of situational and relational contexts in understanding substance use among the youth in this sample. Exposure to drug offers through parents, other adults, cousins, friends and other peers was associated with different types of substance use. Exposure through parents was particularly salient in predicting the drug use of female respondents. The study underscores the need for development of culturally grounded prevention programs in schools, reservations, and nonreservation communities. Copyright (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved.

Laying down Pale Memories: Learners Reflecting on Language, Self, and Other in the Middle-School Drama-Languages Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rothwell, Julia

2015-01-01

This article explores one teacher/researcher's development of a drama-language unit and the learners' responses to it. The work is underpinned by a model of intercultural language learning which also acknowledges the pluricultural and plurilingual contexts in which foreign languages are taught in Australia. As part of a…

Exploring Mentors' Perceptions of Mentees and the Mentoring Relationship in a Multicultural Service-Learning Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Jenny J.; Bell, Lydia F.; Shaulskiy, Stephanie Levitt

2017-01-01

This study examined undergraduate students' approaches to service learning based on their perceptions as mentors. As part of a university multicultural service-learning program, mentors met regularly with assigned mentees in low-income middle schools to promote college participation. Based on an analysis of mentors' written reflections about their…

Urban Inequality, Social Exclusion and Schooling in Dhaka, Bangladesh

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cameron, Stuart James

2017-01-01

This paper asks whether education is a viable route to better livelihoods and social inclusion for children living in poor urban areas in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It uses qualitative interviews with 36 students aged 11-16, living in slum and middle-class areas, and also draws on data from a larger, mixed-methods study to provide context. Many children…

Challenging the Dichotomy between "Urban" and "Suburban" in Educational Discourse and Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Posey-Maddox, Linn

2016-01-01

This article builds a case for nuanced conceptualizations of "urban" and "-suburban" educational contexts and issues. The author analyzes data across two studies--one of upper-middle-class White parents with children in Chicago public schools, and the other of Black low-income and working-class parents who moved from Chicago to…

Student Perceptions of Instruction in Middle and Secondary U.S. History Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wanzek, Jeanne; Kent, Shawn C.; Stillman-Spisak, Stephanie J.

2015-01-01

Today's social studies teachers and students face an unprecedented time of standards and accountability. Students bring influences that may interact with the instructional context teachers provide for learning. Eighth- and 11th-grade U.S. history students (n = 512) from 11 schools (23 teachers), diverse in location, ethnicity, and socioeconomic…

Self-Representations of Social and Academic Competence: Contextual Correlates in Middle Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isabella, Russell A.; Diener, Marissa L.

2010-01-01

Self-representations of 1st-, 3rd-, and 5th-graders' social and academic competence were examined in relation to children's personal (grade/age); family (attachment to parents, marital conflict, anxiety related to conflict); and school (teacher appraisals) contexts. Children who reported higher levels of security of attachment to parents and lower…

An Evaluation of the Relationship between Classroom Practices and Mathematics Motivation from Student and Teacher Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Jinsong

2011-01-01

This study evaluated the relationships between classroom practices and mathematics motivation. The evaluation was given in a specific context, namely eighth grade in U.S. middle schools. Using quantitative methods, the study adopted data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 and compared classroom practices…

Emotional Engagement, Social Interactions, and the Development of an Afterschool Game Design Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kwah, Helen; Milne, Catherine; Tsai, Tzuchi; Goldman, Ricki; Plass, Jan L.

2016-01-01

This formative design study examines how a program curriculum and implementation was emergently (re)designed in dynamic relation to the expressed emotions of teachers and students. The context was a yearlong afterschool game design program for STEM learning at an urban and public all-girls middle school. Using Randall Collins' (Interaction ritual…

Negotiating Identities for Mathematics Teaching in the Context of Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gresalfi, Melissa Sommerfeld; Cobb, Paul

2011-01-01

This article presents an analytical approach for documenting the identities for teaching that mathematics teachers negotiate as they participate in 2 or more communities that define high-quality teaching differently. Drawing on data from the first 2 years of a collaboration with a group of middle school mathematics teachers, the article focuses on…

Sandy Point Fun Run: A Context for Understanding and Using Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roche, Anne

2013-01-01

In the middle years of school, it is important that mathematics is challenging, engaging and focuses on worthwhile mathematics. In this article, Anne Roche describes a lesson that seemed to have all three of these characteristics, as students grappled with issues of scale to create a fun run, given a range of challenging mathematical constraints.…

Administrator Observation and Feedback: Does It Lead toward Improvement in Inquiry-Oriented Math Instruction?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rigby, Jessica G.; Larbi-Cherif, Adrian; Rosenquist, Brooks A.; Sharpe, Charlotte J.; Cobb, Paul; Smith, Thomas

2017-01-01

Purpose: This study examines the content and efficacy of instructional leaders' expectations and feedback (press) in relation to the improvement of middle school mathematics teachers' instruction in the context of coherent systems of supports. Research Method/Approach: This mixed methods study is a part of a larger, 8-year longitudinal study in…

The Role of Moral and Performance Character Strengths in Predicting Achievement and Conduct among Urban Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seider, Scott; Gilbert, Jennifer K.; Novick, Sarah; Gomez, Jessica

2013-01-01

Background/Context: Performance character consists of the qualities that allow individuals to regulate their thoughts and actions in ways that support achievement in a particular endeavor. Moral character consists of the qualities relevant to striving for ethical behavior in one's relationships with other individuals and communities. A sizable…

"Change is Hard": What Science Teachers Are Telling Us about Reform and Teacher Learning of Innovative Practices.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Kathleen S.

2003-01-01

Provides a critical analysis of the implementation of an innovative science curriculum at a middle school site. Explores the issues that surround teacher learning of new practices including the structures, policies, and practices that were in place within the reform context that supported or impeded teacher learning. Identifies parallels between…

Differentiating Digital Writing Instruction: The Intersection of Technology, Writing Instruction, and Digital Genre Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Nicole M.; Lambert, Claire

2015-01-01

U.S. adolescents' prior technology experiences and exposure to digital genres vary, but they will often write digital texts as they enter college and adulthood. We explored middle school students' digital writing instructional experience in the context of a university-based summer digital writing camp. The sixth- through eighth-grade adolescents…

Adolescents' Motivation in the Context of an Academic Vocabulary Intervention in Urban Middle School Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lesaux, Nonie K.; Harris, Julie Russ; Sloane, Phoebe

2012-01-01

In a large urban district's ELA classrooms, an academic vocabulary intervention designed to improve linguistically diverse 6th-graders' reading and language skills was implemented and evaluated. These classrooms were characterized by high numbers of struggling readers, and linguistic diversity was the norm. As part of the evaluation, this study…

Promoting the Essential Elements of 4-H Youth Development through an Experiential Learning Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyer, Shelley; Jones, Kenneth R.

2015-01-01

The purpose of the project reported here was to apply Experiential Learning Theory to a context involving middle and high school aged youth while assessing the four concepts (belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity) in relation to the 4-H youth development essential elements. The conclusions of the project's evaluation suggest…

Igniting the Spark: Tech Trek STEM Camps for Girls. Summary of Survey Findings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Association of University Women, 2014

2014-01-01

Tech Trek opens up STEM possibilities for girls in many contexts. It expands and influences their academic and social lives, starting in middle school and continuing on into their careers. The program seeks out talented girls, sparks their interest, illuminates the value of a college education, and validates their passions. Tech Trek's exciting,…

An Exploration of the Science Teaching Orientations of Indian Science Teachers in the Context of Curriculum Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nargund-Joshi, Vanashri

2012-01-01

This study explores the concepts and behaviors, otherwise referred to as "orientations", of six Indian science teachers and the alignment of these orientations to the 2005 India National Curriculum Framework (NCF-2005). Differences in teachers' orientations across grade bands (elementary, middle, and secondary) and school types (public…

A Social Studies Education Lesson from Turkey: Human Rights

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Açikalin, Mehmet

2014-01-01

This article provides an example of a social studies lesson from Turkish educational context in order to facilitate comparison with examples of social studies lessons from other parts of the world. This lesson was recorded in a 7th grade class at a middle school in one of the metropolitan neighborhoods in Istanbul. According to the current…

Teachers' Incorporation of Argumentation to Support Engineering Learning in STEM Integration Curricula

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mathis, Corey A.; Siverling, Emilie A.; Glancy, Aran W.; Moore, Tamara J.

2017-01-01

One of the fundamental practices identified in Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is argumentation, which has been researched in P-12 science education for the previous two decades but has yet to be studied within the context of P-12 engineering education. This research explores how elementary and middle school science teachers incorporated…

CSI: Creating Student (and Teacher) Investigators--Using Popular Culture in Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yanowitz, Karen L.; McKay, Tanja; Ross, C. Ann; Vanderpool, Staria S.

2010-01-01

The goal of this article is to present a description of a professional development program designed to immerse middle and high school teachers in an inquiry-based learning environment using a forensic science context and the consequent impact participating in this program had on teachers' pedagogy. Teachers participated in a year-long program…

"A'ole" Drugs! Cultural Practices and Drug Resistance of Rural Hawai'ian Youths

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Po'A-Kekuawela, Ka'Ohinani; Okamoto, Scott K.; Nebre, La Risa H.; Helm, Susana; Chin, Coralee I. H.

2009-01-01

This qualitative study examined how Native Hawai'ian youths from rural communities utilized cultural practices to promote drug resistance and/or abstinence. Forty-seven students from five different middle schools participated in gender-specific focus groups that focused on the cultural and environmental contexts of drug use for Native Hawai'ian…

Putting Multiliteracies into Practice: Digital Storytelling for Multilingual Adolescents in a Summer Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Angay-Crowder, Tuba; Choi, Jayoung; Yi, Youngjoo

2013-01-01

In this article we demonstrate how we created a context in which digital storytelling was designed and implemented to teach multilingual middle school students in the summer program sponsored by a local nonprofit organization, the Latin American Association, in a city in the southeastern United States. While implementing the notion of…

Effects of Fair Play Instruction on Student Social Skills during a Middle School Sport Education Unit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vidoni, Carla; Ward, Philip

2009-01-01

Background: Research on social skills in physical education has shown that students' fair play behaviors remain underdeveloped unless teachers include social skills instruction into the curriculum. Fair play behaviors are learned behaviors that are specific to the context of physical education and sport, and may generalize to other settings. One…

An Electronic Portfolio to Support Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wade, Anne; Abrami, Philip C.; Sclater, Jennifer

2005-01-01

In this paper, we provide a description of a CSLP research project that looked at portfolio use within a middle school, the web-based e-portfolio software we have developed within the context of the Quebec educational system, our plans for further development of the tool, and our research plans related to the use of portfolios to support learning.…

The Relations among Summarizing Instruction, Support for Student Choice, Reading Engagement and Expository Text Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Littlefield, Amy Root

2011-01-01

Research on early adolescence reveals significant declines in intrinsic motivation for reading and points out the need for metacognitive strategy use among middle school students. Research indicates that explicit instruction involving motivation and metacognitive support for reading strategy use in the context of a discipline is an efficient and…

Fighting the Rip: Using Digital Texts in Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Honan, Eileen

2009-01-01

This paper reports on a study investigating the use of digital texts in schools serving low and middle/upper socioeconomic communities. It draws on theoretical notions of rhizomes from the work of Deleuze and Guattari to explain the network of relations that are formed in classrooms, and that form the context for a set of patterns observed when…

Trading Stories: Middle-Class White Women Teachers and the Creation of Collective Narratives about Students and Families in a Diverse Elementary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yoon, Irene H.

2016-01-01

Background/Context: Collaboration is increasingly part of teachers' professional learning and continuous improvement of teaching practice. However, there is little exploration of how teachers' racial, gender, and social class identities influence their collaboration with colleagues and, in turn, their teaching and professional learning.…

Tracing the Development of Argumentive Writing in a Discourse-Rich Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuhn, Deanna; Hemberger, Laura; Khait, Valerie

2016-01-01

In most assessments of students' argumentive writing and in most research on the topic, students write on topics for which they have no specific prior preparation. We examined development in the argumentive writing urban middle school students did as part of a two-year dialogic-based intervention in which students engaged deeply with a series of…

Children's Theory of Mind, Self-Perceptions, and Peer Relations: A Longitudinal Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bosacki, Sandra Leanne

2015-01-01

This longitudinal study explored Theory of Mind (ToM), self-perceptions, and teacher ratings of peer relations of 91 children (52 females, ages 6-8?years) drawn from two schools situated in a mainly Euro-Canadian, middle socioeconomic status, semi-rural central Canadian context. ToM, self-perceptions, and teacher ratings of peer relations were…

Where Are the Facts? "Jason's Gold" Gives Meaning to the Yukon Gold Rush

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wasta, Stephanie; Lott, Carolyn

2006-01-01

This article discusses how fictional works can give a purposeful context and an appropriate venue for developing essential social studies concepts in middle-school students. The author uses the example of a National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) notable book, "Jason's Gold" that blends history with story to become historical…

Parent-Child Relationships and Enmity with Peers: The Role of Avoidant and Preoccupied Attachment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Card, Noel A.; Hodges, Ernest V. E.

2003-01-01

This chapter examines linkages between parenting and peer enemy relationships and looks at the relations between attachment styles and enemy relationships among middle school children. The results demonstrate that linkages between the family context and peer enmity exist and can be detected, and can be organized based on the following themes: (1)…

Vital Interests: Cultivating Global Competence in the International Studies Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Paula R.; Boyer, Mark A.; Brown, Scott W.

2011-01-01

Are students being prepared for the challenges they will face in a globalising world? We investigated whether middle school students were interested in global issues, had knowledge of global issues and possessed the skills needed for competence as a citizen in a globalising world in the context of participating in a five-week, web-based…

Innovative science within and against a culture of achievement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlone, Heidi B.

2003-05-01

As science educators struggle to reform science education, we need a better understanding of the conundrums associated with the ways educators enact innovative science within and against the academic, rigorous, and elite sociohistorical constructions of science. I ethnographically investigated the meanings of an innovative, reform-based curriculum (Active Physics) in various micro (classroom) and macro (school and community) contexts. I conducted the study in a high school serving primarily upper middle class students, the majority of whom (97%) planned to attend college. I explored how meanings of the curriculum transformed as the curriculum traveled across space and time. While certain aspects of the context enabled innovative science (e.g., support from the administration, pressure to serve a wider range of students), other aspects of the context constrained the potential of the curriculum (e.g., the need to establish for students, parents, and administrators the legitimacy of Active Physics as real and rigorous physics). Using practice theory to understand the influence of context and agency in shaping school science practice, this study demonstrates the potential for viewing meanings of science in local settings as partially fluid entities, sometimes reproducing and sometimes contesting sociohistorical legacies.

Guess Again: Will Changing the Grades Save Middle-Level Education?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beane, James; Lipka, Richard

2006-01-01

Blaming unsatisfactory student achievement on the middle school concept is a case of mistaken identity. Too many middle schools have failed to fully implement the middle school concept. Based on statements from the Carnegie Council and the National Middle School Association, the middle school concept calls for improved academic achievement for all…

Science Education at Riverside Middle School A Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smiley, Bettie Ann Pickens

For more than thirty years the gender gap in science and related careers has been a key concern of researchers, teachers, professional organizations, and policy makers. Despite indicators of progress for women and girls on some measures of achievement, course enrollment patterns, and employment, fewer women than men pursue college degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. According to the results of national assessments, the gender gap in science achievement begins to be evident in the middle school years. Gender and school science achievement involve a complex set of factors associated with schools and child/family systems that may include school leadership, institutional practices, curriculum content, teacher training programs, teacher expectations, student interests, parental involvement, and cultural values. This ethnographic case study was designed to explore the context for science education reform and the participation of middle school girls. The study analyzed and compared teaching strategies and female student engagement in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade science classrooms. The setting was a middle school situated in a district that was well-known for its achievement in reading, math, and technology. Findings from the study indicated that while classroom instruction was predominantly organized around traditional school science, the girls were more disciplined and outperformed the boys. The size of the classrooms, time to prepare for hands-on activities, and obtaining resources were identified as barriers to teaching science in ways that aligned with recent national science reform initiatives. Parents who participated in the study were very supportive of their daughters' academic progress and career goals. A few of the parents suggested that the school's science program include more hands-on activities; instruction designed for the advanced learner; and information related to future careers. Overall the teachers and students perceived their science program to be gender fair. Eighth grade participants who had career goals related to science and engineering, indicated that their science instruction did not provide the rigor they needed to improve their critical skills for advanced placement in high school. Recommendations include the need for professional development on inquiry-based science, equitable student achievement, and diverse perspectives in science education.

Organizational citizenship behavior in schools: validation of a questionnaire.

PubMed

Neves, Paula C; Paixão, Rui; Alarcão, Madalena; Gomes, A Duarte

2014-01-01

The present study examines the psychometric properties (including factorial validity) of an organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) scale in a school context. A total of 321 middle and high school teachers from 59 schools in urban and rural areas of central Portugal completed the OCB scale at their schools. The confirmatory factor analysis validated a hierarchical model with four latent factors on the first level (altruism, conscientiousness, civic participation and courtesy) and a second order factor (OCB). The revised model fit with the data, χ 2 /gl = 1.97; CFI = .962; GFI = .952, RMSEA = .05. The proposed scale (comportamentos de cidadania organizacional em escolas- Revista CCOE-R)- is a valid instrument to assess teacher's perceptions of OCB in their schools, allowing investigation at the organizational level of analysis.

Parental social coaching promotes adolescent peer acceptance across the middle school transition.

PubMed

Gregson, Kim D; Tu, Kelly M; Erath, Stephen A; Pettit, Gregory S

2017-09-01

The present study investigated longitudinal associations between behavioral and cognitive dimensions of parental social coaching (i.e., advice about how to behave or think about peer challenges) and young adolescents' peer acceptance, and whether such associations are moderated by youths' social skills. Time 1 (T1) participants included 123 young adolescents (M age = 12.03 years; 50% boys; 58.5% European American). Parents gave open-ended reports about their social coaching to hypothetical peer stress scenarios, which were coded from low to high quality on behavioral and cognitive dimensions. Parents and teachers reported on adolescent prosocial behavior (i.e., social-behavioral skills), and adolescents reported on their social appraisals and social self-efficacy (i.e., social-cognitive skills). At T1 (before the first year of middle school) and Time 2 (approximately 10 months later, after the first year of middle school), parents and teachers rated adolescent peer acceptance. Analyses revealed that parents' prosocial behavioral advice and benign cognitive framing independently predicted adolescents' higher peer acceptance prospectively (controlling for earlier levels of peer acceptance). Furthermore, adolescent social skills moderated links between coaching and peer acceptance. Specifically, adolescents with higher, but not lower, social-cognitive skills became more accepted in the context of higher-quality coaching, supporting a "capitalization" pattern, such that these youth may be better able to utilize coaching suggestions. Results underscore the utility of parents' behavioral advice and cognitive framing for adolescent peer adjustment across the middle school transition and suggest that optimal social-coaching strategies may depend in part on adolescent social skill level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Taking the conservation biology perspective to secondary school classrooms.

PubMed

Wyner, Yael; Desalle, Rob

2010-06-01

The influence of conservation biology can be enhanced greatly if it reaches beyond undergraduate biology to students at the middle and high school levels. If a conservation perspective were taught in secondary schools, students who are not interested in biology could be influenced to pursue careers or live lifestyles that would reduce the negative impact of humans on the world. We use what we call the ecology-disrupted approach to transform the topics of conservation biology research into environmental-issue and ecology topics, the major themes of secondary school courses in environmental science. In this model, students learn about the importance and complexity of normal ecological processes by studying what goes wrong when people disrupt them (environmental issues). Many studies published in Conservation Biology are related in some way to the ecological principles being taught in secondary schools. Describing research in conservation biology in the language of ecology curricula in secondary schools can help bring these science stories to the classroom and give them a context in which they can be understood by students. Without this context in the curriculum, a science story can devolve into just another environmental issue that has no immediate effect on the daily lives of students. Nevertheless, if the research is placed in the context of larger ecological processes that are being taught, students can gain a better understanding of ecology and a better understanding of their effect on the world.

Middle Years. For Middle Level Educators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hechinger, Fred M.; And Others

1992-01-01

This supplement offers 10 articles focusing on middle school education. Topics include remembering adolescence, resources and teaching tips, active middle school students, adolescent development, challenges in middle school education, integrated studies, planning middle school special events, a writing-science-consumerism miniunit on popcorn,…

Transcoding abilities in typical and atypical mathematics achievers: the role of working memory and procedural and lexical competencies.

PubMed

Moura, Ricardo; Wood, Guilherme; Pinheiro-Chagas, Pedro; Lonnemann, Jan; Krinzinger, Helga; Willmes, Klaus; Haase, Vitor Geraldi

2013-11-01

Transcoding between numerical systems is one of the most basic abilities acquired by children during their early school years. One important topic that requires further exploration is how mathematics proficiency can affect number transcoding. The aim of the current study was to investigate transcoding abilities (i.e., reading Arabic numerals and writing dictation) in Brazilian children with and without mathematics difficulties, focusing on different school grades. We observed that children with learning difficulties in mathematics demonstrated lower achievement in number transcoding in both early and middle elementary school. In early elementary school, difficulties were observed in both the basic numerical lexicon and the management of numerical syntax. In middle elementary school, difficulties appeared mainly in the transcoding of more complex numbers. An error analysis revealed that the children with mathematics difficulties struggled mainly with the acquisition of transcoding rules. Although we confirmed the previous evidence on the impact of working memory capacity on number transcoding, we found that it did not fully account for the observed group differences. The results are discussed in the context of a maturational lag in number transcoding ability in children with mathematics difficulties. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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…

Modifiable lifestyle behavior patterns, sedentary time and physical activity contexts: a cluster analysis among middle school boys and girls in the SALTA study.

PubMed

Marques, Elisa A; Pizarro, Andreia N; Figueiredo, Pedro; Mota, Jorge; Santos, Maria P

2013-06-01

To analyze how modifiable health-related variables are clustered and associated with children's participation in play, active travel and structured exercise and sport among boys and girls. Data were collected from 9 middle-schools in Porto (Portugal) area. A total of 636 children in the 6th grade (340 girls and 296 boys) with a mean age of 11.64 years old participated in the study. Cluster analyses were used to identify patterns of lifestyle and healthy/unhealthy behaviors. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to estimate associations between cluster allocation, sedentary time and participation in three different physical activity (PA) contexts: play, active travel, and structured exercise/sport. Four distinct clusters were identified based on four lifestyle risk factors. The most disadvantaged cluster was characterized by high body mass index, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and cardiorespiratory fitness and a moderate level of moderate to vigorous PA. Everyday outdoor play (OR=1.85, 95%CI 0.318-0.915) and structured exercise/sport (OR=1.85, 95%CI 0.291-0.990) were associated with healthier lifestyle patterns. There were no significant associations between health patterns and sedentary time or travel mode. Outdoor play and sport/exercise participation seem more important than active travel from school in influencing children's healthy cluster profiles. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Genetically Modified Food in Perspective: An Inquiry-Based Curriculum to Help Middle School Students Make Sense of Tradeoffs. Research Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seethaler, Sherry; Linn, Marcia

2004-01-01

To understand how students learn about science controversy, this study examines students' reasoning about tradeoffs in the context of a technology-enhanced curriculum about genetically modified food. The curriculum was designed and refined based on the Scaffolded Knowledge Integration Framework to help students sort and integrate their initial…

Student Engagement in the Caribbean Region: Exploring Its Role in the Motivation and Achievement of Jamaican Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Tamica G.; Martin, Andrew J.; Evans, Paul

2017-01-01

Using an expectancy-value framework, the present investigation is the first to explore the generality of this theorizing and research in the emerging regional context of the Caribbean. Given high underachievement in the Caribbean region, we addressed the need to better understand the role of engagement in students' academic motivation and…

In Control: A Skill-Building Program for Teaching Young Adolescents To Manage Anger.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kellner, Millicent H.

This program guide was written to help teach young people effective anger management skills. Geared toward adolescents of middle school age and intended for in-class use, the sessions are readily adaptable for use in small group or individual contexts. The main goal is to help youngsters gain the awareness and skills to manage their anger so that…

Coordinating Known and Unknown Quantities in a Multiplicative Context: Problem Conceptualization, Affordances and Constraints

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramful, Ajay

2012-01-01

In line with continuing efforts to explain the demanding nature of multiplicative reasoning among middle-school students, this study explores the fine-grained knowledge elements that two pairs of 7th and 8th graders deployed in their attempt to coordinate the known and unknown quantities in the gear-wheel problem. Failure to conceptualize the…

Who is Offering and How Often? Gender Differences in Drug Offers among American Indian Adolescents of the Southwest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rayle, Andrea Dixon; Kulis, Stephen; Okamoto, Scott K.; Tann, Sheila S.; LeCroy, Craig Winston; Dustman, Patricia; Burke, Aimee M.

2006-01-01

This exploratory study examined gender differences in the patterns of drug offers among a sample of 71 American Indian middle school students. Participants responded to an inventory of drug-related problem situations specific to the cultural contexts of Southwestern American Indian youth. They were asked to consider the frequency of drug offers…

Improving Reading Comprehension Skills with Children's Books through Metacognitive Strategy: The Turkish Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Çer, Erkan; Sahin, Ertugrul

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to explore the effect of metacognitive strategy in improving reading comprehension skills through children's literature of literary quality. A quasi-experimental study was carried out in a private secondary school in a city located Middle Black Sea region of Turkey. Two classes were randomly chosen as the study group, and…

Integrating Reading into Middle School Science: What We Did, Found and Learned

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fang, Zhihui; Lamme, Linda; Pringle, Rose; Patrick, Jennifer; Sanders, Jennifer; Zmach, Courtney; Charbonnet, Sara; Henkel, Melissa

2008-01-01

Recent calls for border crossing between reading and science have heightened the need to support science teachers in integrating reading into science and to verify the robustness of this approach in the context of inquiry-based science. In this paper, we share what we did, found, and learned in a collaborative project in which a team of…

"So Far from the Bamboo Grove:" Multiculturalism, Historical Context, and Close Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walach, Stephen

2008-01-01

In May 2006, the summer-reading committee in the author's middle school debated the relevance of "So Far from the Bamboo Grove" by Yoko Kawashima Watkins and decided against using the book as a required summer-reading selection. Therefore, the author was interested in the controversy that erupted a few months later in Dover-Sherborn, a district…

The Process of Making Meaning: The Interplay between Teachers' Knowledge of Mathematical Proofs and Their Classroom Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paddack, Megan

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe how middle school mathematics teachers "make meaning" of proofs and the process of proving in the context of their classroom practices. A framework of "making meaning," created by the researcher, guided the data collection and analysis phases of the study. This framework…

Balancing Broad Ideas with Context: An Evaluation of Student Accuracy in Describing Ecosystem Processes after a System-Level Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Rebecca C.; Brooks, Wesley R.; Hmelo-Silver, Cindy; Eberbach, Catherine; Sinha, Suparna

2014-01-01

Promoting student understanding of ecosystem processes is critical to biological education. Yet, teaching complex life systems can be difficult because systems are dynamic and often behave in a non-linear manner. In this paper, we discuss assessment results from a middle school classroom intervention in which a conceptual representation framework…

RTI for Reading at the Secondary Level: Recommended Literacy Practices and Remaining Questions. What Works for Special-Needs Learners Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reed, Deborah K.; Wexler, Jade; Vaughn, Sharon

2012-01-01

Grounded in the best current knowledge, this book shows how to implement response to intervention (RTI) in middle and high school contexts. Detailed guidelines are presented for teaching reading comprehension, vocabulary, and other aspects of literacy across the content areas, and for providing effective interventions for students who require…

Feedback in Software and a Desktop Manufacturing Context for Learning Estimation Strategies in Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malcolm, Peter

2013-01-01

The ability and to make good estimates is essential, as is the ability to assess the reasonableness of estimates. These abilities are becoming increasingly important as digital technologies transform the ways in which people work. To estimate is to provide an approximation to a problem that is mathematical in nature, and the ability to estimate is…

The Impact of Ethnoracial Appearance on Substance Use in Mexican Heritage Adolescents in the Southwest United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ayers, Stephanie L.; Kulis, Stephen; Marsiglia, Flavio F.

2013-01-01

Latinos are a multiracial ethnic group, and as such, within-group differences in ethnoracial appearance deserve to be studied and understood within the racialized American context and in connection to specific health and mental health outcomes. This article presents the findings of a study conducted with middle school Mexican heritage students (n…

Learning to Use Fractions: Examining Middle School Students Emerging Fraction Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johanning, Debra I.

2008-01-01

This article describes one prevalent practice that a group of 6th- and 7th-grade students engaged in when they used fractions in the context of area and perimeter, decimal operations, similarity, and ratios and proportions. The study's results revealed that students did not simply take the concepts and skills learned in formal fractions units and…

Dynamics of Engagement and Disaffection in a Social Studies Classroom Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taboada Barber, Ana M.; Buehl, Michelle M.; Beck, Jori S.

2017-01-01

In this investigation, we replicated Skinner et al.'s study of the dynamics of engagement with a more diverse sample of Grades 6 and 7 students from a middle school with a large English learner (primarily Spanish-speaking) student population. We tested dimensions of the self-system model of motivational development in a specific academic domain…

"Scary Thing, Being an Eighth Grader:" Exploring Gender and Sexuality in a Middle School U.S. History Unit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levstik, Linda S.; Groth, Jeanette

2002-01-01

The study reported here provides an example of the complex interface among historical study, current issues, and adolescents' complex social worlds. The authors investigated the ways in which a group of eighth grade students conceptualize the significance of gender in the context of a study of antebellum U.S. history. Fifty students participated…

Effectiveness of Video Modeling to Teach "iPod" Use to Students with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hammond, Diana L.; Whatley, Abigail D.; Ayres, Kevin M.; Gast, David L.

2010-01-01

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of video modeling delivered via computer on accurate and independent use of an iPod by three participants with moderate intellectual disabilities. In the context of combined multiple probes across participants and replicated across tasks, three female middle school students learned to…

The Impact of a Science Education Game on Students' Learning and Perception of Inhalants as Body Pollutants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klisch, Yvonne; Miller, Leslie M.; Wang, Shu; Epstein, Joel

2012-01-01

This study investigated the knowledge gains and attitude shifts attributable to a unique online science education game, "Uncommon Scents." The game was developed to teach middle school students about the biological consequences of exposure to toxic chemicals in an environmental science context, as well as the risks associated with abusing these…

Students' Understanding of Cells & Heredity: Patterns of Understanding in the Context of a Curriculum Implementation in Fifth & Seventh Grades

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cisterna, Dante; Williams, Michelle; Merritt, Joi

2013-01-01

This study explores upper-elementary and early-middle-school students' ideas about cells and inheritance and describes patterns of understanding for these topics. Data came from students' responses to embedded assessments included in a technology-enhanced curriculum designed to help students learn about cells and heredity. Our findings suggest…

Problem-Based Learning across the Curriculum: Exploring the Efficacy of a Cross-Curricular Application of Preparation for Future Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swan, Karen; Vahey, Philip; van 't Hooft, Mark; Kratcoski, Annette; Rafanan, Ken; Stanford, Tina; Yarnall, Louise; Cook, Dale

2013-01-01

The research reported in this paper explores the applicability and efficacy of a variant of problem-based learning, the Preparation for Future Learning (PFL) approach, to teaching and learning within the context of a cross-curricular, middle school data literacy unit called "Thinking with Data" (TWD). A quasi-experimental design was used…

The Effect of Differentiation Approach Developed on Creativity of Gifted Students: Cognitive and Affective Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Altintas, Esra; Özdemir, Ahmet S.

2015-01-01

The aim of the study is to develop a differentiation approach for the mathematics education of gifted middle school students and to determine the effect of the differentiation approach on creative thinking skills of gifted students based on both cognitive and affective factors. In this context, the answer to the following question was searched:…

Learning Contexts, Black Cultural Ethos, and the Science Achievement of African American Students in an Urban Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parsons, Eileen Carlton

2008-01-01

As other countries vigorously promote rapid advancement in science, optimizing the participation of all students in the United States in science is imperative. This study focused on African American students and examined their science achievement in relation to Black Cultural Ethos (BCE), a construct rooted in psychology. Via qualitative and…

Student Engagement and Achievement of Middle School Black Males in Single-Gender and Co-Educational Reading Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Small, Christopher Lee

2012-01-01

This dissertation presents an historical overview of the systematic educational limitations that have been faced by African-American's in the United States and then considers issues facing contemporary educational leaders in the context of current educational policy and institutional inequality. A portrait of the Black male in the United…

Middle and Elementary School Students’ Changes in Self-Determined Motivation in a Basketball Unit Taught using the Tactical Games Model

PubMed Central

Harvey, Stephen; Gil-Arias, Alexander; Smith, Megan Lorraine; Smith, Lindsey Rachel

2017-01-01

Abstract Studies examining student motivation levels suggest that this is a significant factor in students’ engagement in physical education and may be positively affected when teachers employ alternative pedagogical models such as game-centered approaches (GCAs). The aim of this study was to investigate changes in self-determined motivation of students as they participated in a GCA-basketball unit taught using the Tactical Games Model (TGM). Participants were 173 students (84 girls), 79 middle school (45 girls) and 94 (39 girls) elementary school students from four seventh and five fourth/fifth grade co-educational classes. Two teachers taught 32 (middle) and 33 (elementary) level one TGM basketball lessons. Need satisfaction and self-determined motivation data were collected using a previously validated instrument, while lesson context and teacher behavior data were recorded using systematic observation instruments. Repeated measures MANOVAs were employed to examine pre-posttest differences. Results revealed a significant main effect for time in need satisfaction for both middle (relatedness increased) and elementary school students (autonomy decreased) and a significant main effect in self-determined motivation for middle school students only (introjected regulation, external regulation, and amotivation all increased). Approximately 48%/42% (middle/elementary) of lesson time was game play, 22%/22% skill practice, 17%/17% management, and 13%/19% knowledge. The primary teacher behaviors used were instruction, management, specific observation, corrective feedback and modelling. Results indicate that it is important for future research to pay greater attention to the contextual factors associated with the application of the TGM, such as the students’ previous exposure to TGM lessons, and the teachers’ training and experience in utilizing the TGM. Indeed, results of the present study demonstrate that a longer-term commitment to the TGM is necessary to reduce controlling teacher behaviors, which will lead to positive changes in students’ need satisfaction and self-determined motivation. Future research is therefore needed to embrace this challenge to provide an increased evidence-base for GCAs such as the TGM. PMID:29134047

Middle and Elementary School Students' Changes in Self-Determined Motivation in a Basketball Unit Taught using the Tactical Games Model.

PubMed

Harvey, Stephen; Gil-Arias, Alexander; Smith, Megan Lorraine; Smith, Lindsey Rachel

2017-10-01

Studies examining student motivation levels suggest that this is a significant factor in students' engagement in physical education and may be positively affected when teachers employ alternative pedagogical models such as game-centered approaches (GCAs). The aim of this study was to investigate changes in self-determined motivation of students as they participated in a GCA-basketball unit taught using the Tactical Games Model (TGM). Participants were 173 students (84 girls), 79 middle school (45 girls) and 94 (39 girls) elementary school students from four seventh and five fourth/fifth grade co-educational classes. Two teachers taught 32 (middle) and 33 (elementary) level one TGM basketball lessons. Need satisfaction and self-determined motivation data were collected using a previously validated instrument, while lesson context and teacher behavior data were recorded using systematic observation instruments. Repeated measures MANOVAs were employed to examine pre-posttest differences. Results revealed a significant main effect for time in need satisfaction for both middle (relatedness increased) and elementary school students (autonomy decreased) and a significant main effect in self-determined motivation for middle school students only (introjected regulation, external regulation, and amotivation all increased). Approximately 48%/42% (middle/elementary) of lesson time was game play, 22%/22% skill practice, 17%/17% management, and 13%/19% knowledge. The primary teacher behaviors used were instruction, management, specific observation, corrective feedback and modelling. Results indicate that it is important for future research to pay greater attention to the contextual factors associated with the application of the TGM, such as the students' previous exposure to TGM lessons, and the teachers' training and experience in utilizing the TGM. Indeed, results of the present study demonstrate that a longer-term commitment to the TGM is necessary to reduce controlling teacher behaviors, which will lead to positive changes in students' need satisfaction and self-determined motivation. Future research is therefore needed to embrace this challenge to provide an increased evidence-base for GCAs such as the TGM.

School- and Individual-level Predictors of Weight Status Misperception among Korean Adolescents: A National Online Survey.

PubMed

Kim, Yongjoo; Kawachi, Ichiro

2016-01-01

Growing body of literature has reported that weight status estimation pattern, including accurate-, under-, and overestimation, was associated with weight related behaviors and weight change among adolescents and young adults. However, there have been a few studies investigating the potential role of school contexts in shaping adolescents' weight status estimation pattern among Korea adolescents. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between weight status misperception patterns and factors at individual-, family-, and school-level, simultaneously, and whether there was significant between schools variation in the distribution of each weight status misperception pattern, underestimation and overestimation respectively, among Korean adolescents aged 12-18 years. Data from the Eighth Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBS), 2012, a nationally representative online survey of 72,228 students (boys = 37,229, girls = 34,999) from a total of 797 middle and high schools were used. Sex stratified multilevel random intercept multinomial logistic models where adolescents (level 1) were nested within schools (level 2) were performed. At the school level, attending a school with higher average BMI (kg/m2) was positively associated with weight status underestimation, and inversely associated with weight status overestimation among boys and girls. Single-sex schooling was positively associated with weight status underestimation among girls. At the family level, higher household income (high/middle versus low) was inversely associated with both weight status under- and overestimation among boys and girls. Higher maternal education (equal to or more than college graduate versus equal to or less than high school graduate) was positively associated with weight status overestimation among boys, and living with both parents (compared to not living with both parents) was inversely associated with weight status underestimation among girls. At the individual level, high academic achievement (compared to low) was positively associated with weight status underestimation among boys and girls. While further research with prospective designs and objectively measured anthropometric information is needed, school environmental factors such as sex composition and school average BMI, as well as, family contexts such as socioeconomic status need to be considered when developing and implementing obesity prevention programs.

School- and Individual-level Predictors of Weight Status Misperception among Korean Adolescents: A National Online Survey

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Background Growing body of literature has reported that weight status estimation pattern, including accurate-, under-, and overestimation, was associated with weight related behaviors and weight change among adolescents and young adults. However, there have been a few studies investigating the potential role of school contexts in shaping adolescents’ weight status estimation pattern among Korea adolescents. Objective The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between weight status misperception patterns and factors at individual-, family-, and school-level, simultaneously, and whether there was significant between schools variation in the distribution of each weight status misperception pattern, underestimation and overestimation respectively, among Korean adolescents aged 12–18 years. Method Data from the Eighth Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBS), 2012, a nationally representative online survey of 72,228 students (boys = 37,229, girls = 34,999) from a total of 797 middle and high schools were used. Sex stratified multilevel random intercept multinomial logistic models where adolescents (level 1) were nested within schools (level 2) were performed. Results At the school level, attending a school with higher average BMI (kg/m2) was positively associated with weight status underestimation, and inversely associated with weight status overestimation among boys and girls. Single-sex schooling was positively associated with weight status underestimation among girls. At the family level, higher household income (high/middle versus low) was inversely associated with both weight status under- and overestimation among boys and girls. Higher maternal education (equal to or more than college graduate versus equal to or less than high school graduate) was positively associated with weight status overestimation among boys, and living with both parents (compared to not living with both parents) was inversely associated with weight status underestimation among girls. At the individual level, high academic achievement (compared to low) was positively associated with weight status underestimation among boys and girls. Conclusions While further research with prospective designs and objectively measured anthropometric information is needed, school environmental factors such as sex composition and school average BMI, as well as, family contexts such as socioeconomic status need to be considered when developing and implementing obesity prevention programs. PMID:27144319

Nutrition and physical activity related school environment/policy factors and child obesity in China: a nationally representative study of 8573 students in 110 middle schools.

PubMed

Li, M; Xue, H; Wen, M; Wang, W; Wang, Y

2017-12-01

Obesity is a serious threat to global health. School is a key setting for obesity intervention. Research on school risk factors for child obesity is limited in developing countries. To examine regional variations in obesity and school environments/policies and their associations among students in China. Analyses were based on the first nationally representative sample of 8573 9 th graders in 110 middle schools from 28 regions across China. Multilevel models tested associations between school factors and child self-reported weight outcomes and by school urbanicity setting (urban, rural). Overweight/obesity rate is higher among boys and in urban areas. Schools in rural areas, or less developed regions, promote longer on-campus life, as is indicated by the presence of school cafeterias, night study sessions and longer class hours. Multilevel models show that (i) school cafeterias (OR = 2.53, 95% CI = 1.35-4.75) and internet bars close to school (OR = 1.63, 95% CI = 1.15-2.30) are associated with increased overweight/obesity risk in rural areas, especially for boys; (ii) school night study sessions are associated with lower overweight/obesity risk (OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.50-0.96) in rural areas. China has large regional disparities in school environment/policies related to nutrition and physical activity. Some school factors are associated with students' weight status, which vary across gender and areas. Future school-based interventions should attend to diverse regional contexts. © 2016 World Obesity Federation.

Predictors of developing mathematics anxiety among middle-school students: A 2-year prospective study.

PubMed

Madjar, Nir; Zalsman, Gil; Weizman, Abraham; Lev-Ran, Shaul; Shoval, Gal

2016-12-04

While there is an abundance of research pertaining to the development of anxiety disorders, there is still a dearth of knowledge regarding the development of anxiety in the general population. The objective of this study was to longitudinally explore the development of mathematics anxiety among normative middle-school students, and to identify the moderating role of gender, school transition and scholastic achievements on these trajectories. Subjects included 413 sixth grade students (53.3% females, mean age 11.27 ± 0.38 years). Participants were evaluated for their level of anxiety in the context of mathematics, using the Value of Education scale, in four time-points with a 6-month gap between each time-point. Data regarding subjects' grades and school transition were also collected. A growth curve analysis using hierarchical linear modelling revealed that girls, students who transitioned between schools and high achievers (each independently) reported a significant increase in mathematics related anxiety towards the end of sixth grade, which later decreased during seventh grade. The findings of this prospective study on factors affecting the development of mathematics anxiety among normative adolescents may be important in planning focused primary prevention school-based strategies. © 2016 International Union of Psychological Science.

School experiences of early adolescent Latinos/as at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders.

PubMed

Balagna, Ryan M; Young, Ellie L; Smith, Timothy B

2013-06-01

Previous research has shown that Latino/a middle school students exhibiting emotional or behavioral disturbance are at risk for undesirable academic outcomes. The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions and experiences of at-risk Latino/a students to identify ways to improve interventions targeted to promote their academic retention and success. Participants included 11 Latino/a students between the ages of 11 and 13 years, 8 males and 3 females, who were screened as being at risk for behavior disorders using the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD). These students shared their perceptions and experiences of schooling during in-depth qualitative interviews. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to understand how these students made sense of their school experiences. Students' descriptions tended to be contextualized within relationships with peers, teachers, and family members. Many students shared experiences of being the target of overt racism and microaggressions from peers. Students believed they were more likely to be successful in school when teachers displayed flexibility with deadlines, provided extra help, and communicated a sense of warmth and caring. The data from this study suggested that school psychologists can benefit from attending to at-risk students' perceptions, which, in the context of this study, would require facilitating an inclusive school climate, fostering effective teacher and student relationships, and facilitating parent-teacher relationships during the difficult transition from elementary to middle school.

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

Are middle school mathematics teachers able to solve word problems without using variable?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gökkurt Özdemir, Burçin; Erdem, Emrullah; Örnek, Tuğba; Soylu, Yasin

2018-01-01

Many people consider problem solving as a complex process in which variables such as x, y are used. Problems may not be solved by only using 'variable.' Problem solving can be rationalized and made easier using practical strategies. When especially the development of children at younger ages is considered, it is obvious that mathematics teachers should solve problems through concrete processes. In this context, middle school mathematics teachers' skills to solve word problems without using variables were examined in the current study. Through the case study method, this study was conducted with 60 middle school mathematics teachers who have different professional experiences in five provinces in Turkey. A test consisting of five open-ended word problems was used as the data collection tool. The content analysis technique was used to analyze the data. As a result of the analysis, it was seen that the most of the teachers used trial-and-error strategy or area model as the solution strategy. On the other hand, the teachers who solved the problems using variables such as x, a, n or symbols such as Δ, □, ○, * and who also felt into error by considering these solutions as without variable were also seen in the study.

Desks, Dollars, and Deficits: Managing a Middle School during a Recession.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merrill, Adeline B.

1992-01-01

A brief history of East Ridge Middle School in Connecticut illustrates the strong economic and demographic pressures that can work against a middle school. The principal plays a crucial role in preserving both the structure and the programs of an effective middle school. Points out strategies to protect and develop middle schools in tough economic…

Operationalization of a Frame of Reference for Studying Organizational Culture in Middle Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daniel, Larry G.

A frame of reference for studying culture in middle schools was developed. Items for the Middle School Description Survey (MSDS), which was designed to test elements of the ideal middle school culture, were created based on middle school advocacy literature. The items were conceptually categorized according to E. H. Schein's (1985) cultural…

Navigating Access and Maintaining Established Practice: Social Studies Teachers' Technology Integration at Three Florida Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheffield, Caroline

2011-01-01

This mixed methods multiple case study explored middle school social studies teachers' instructional use of digital technology at three suburban middle schools This mixed methods, multiple-case study explored middle school social studies teachers' instructional use of digital technology at three suburban middle schools in a large Florida school…

Extracurricular Activities in Multiethnic Middle Schools: Ideal Context for Positive Intergroup Attitudes?

PubMed

Knifsend, Casey A; Juvonen, Jaana

2017-06-01

This study examined processes by which extracurricular participation is linked with positive ethnic intergroup attitudes in multiethnic middle schools in California. Specifically, the mediating roles of activity-related cross-ethnic friendships and social identities including alliances with multiple groups were examined in a sample including African American or Black, East or South-East Asian, White, and Latino youth (N = 1,446; M age  = 11.60 in sixth grade). Results of multilevel modeling suggested that in addition to activity-related cross-ethnic friendships, complex social identities mediated the association between availability of cross-ethnic peers in activities and ethnic intergroup attitudes. Results are discussed in terms of how activities can be structured to promote cross-ethnic relationships and complex social identities, as well as positive ethnic intergroup attitudes. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Research on Adolescence © 2016 Society for Research on Adolescence.

Sense of Belonging or Feeling Marginalized? Using PISA 2012 to Assess the State of Academically Gifted Students within the EU

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Godor, Brian P.; Szymanski, Antonia

2017-01-01

There are two competing stereotypes of gifted students: harmony theory (gifted students are well adjusted and successful in life) and disharmony theory (giftedness forms a threat to a harmonious development). In this context, the PISA 2012 data were used to explore middle-school students' experiences in terms of sense of belonging, student-teacher…

Process Features in Writing: Internal Structure and Incremental Value over Product Features. Research Report. ETS RR-15-27

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Mo; Deane, Paul

2015-01-01

In educational measurement contexts, essays have been evaluated and formative feedback has been given based on the end product. In this study, we used a large sample collected from middle school students in the United States to investigate the factor structure of the writing process features gathered from keystroke logs and the association of that…

The Ideal Science Student: Exploring the Relationship of Students' Perceptions to Their Problem Solving Activity in a Robotics Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sullivan, Florence; Lin, Xiadong

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of middle school students' perceptions of the ideal science student to their problem solving activity and conceptual understanding in the applied science area of robotics. Twenty-six 11 and 12 year-olds (22 boys) attending a summer camp for academically advanced students participated in the…

From Clinic to Classroom: A Case Study of a Literacy Specialist Examining Teacher Learning and Instructional Decision Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pontrello, Camille Marie

2011-01-01

The purpose of this case study was to explore how the specific content knowledge developed in a newly certified literacy specialist's practicum experiences are taken up in her practice as she supports the learning of her struggling literacy learners in the situated context of the middle school. Focused on her perspective, the present study…

From Aspirations to Action: The Role of Middle School Parents in Making the Dream of College a Reality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cunningham, Alisa F.; Erisman, Wendy; Looney, Shannon M.

2007-01-01

The importance of going to college has increased in the context of global competition and continuing stratification in society. Many strides have been made in encouraging students and parents to believe in the value of higher education, but the process of preparing for and applying to college is not easy. It requires making a variety of complex…

Information Science Instruction and Changes in Girls' and Boy's Expectancy and Value Beliefs: In Search of Gender-Equitable Pedagogical Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vekiri, Ioanna

2013-01-01

In this study, which was situated in the context of information science instruction, data were collected twice using student self-reports to examine the effects of pedagogical practices on changes in boys' and girls' expectancy and value beliefs about computing. Participants were 326 7th-grade students, enrolled in three middle schools that were…

"Are You Gonna Show This to White People?": Chicana/o and Latina/o Students' Counter-Narratives on Race, Place, and Representation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martínez, Ramón Antonio

2017-01-01

This article explores the recurring narratives on race, place and representation that emerged in the talk of Chicana/o and Latina/o sixth-graders at a middle school in East Los Angeles, California. Discourse analytic methods are used to closely examine how these narratives were constructed within the contexts of everyday classroom interactions.…

Middle School Teachers and School Leadership Perceptions of School Culture: An Examination of the Transition from Junior Highs to Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chaney, Maura Chase

2013-01-01

The purpose of this case study was to examine the transition from junior high school to a middle school as experienced in two middle schools from a mid-sized urban school district located in the Rocky Mountains. The overarching question that guided data collection for this study centered on the factors that influenced school culture before,…

Science teacher improvement: A study of the change in preparation and qualifications of public middle school science teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wickler, Nicole I. Z.

According to the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (1996), a teacher's professional preparation, their work conditions and sense of efficacy are fundamental to improving elementary and secondary education. These factors lie at the core of educational reforms that seek to raise standards, reshape curricula, and restructure the way schools operate. The call to reconceptualize the practice of teaching and the interaction between teachers and students ring hollow without a careful examination of actions that have taken place in the workplace of teachers themselves. A national profile that identifies key characteristics of the current status of public middle school science teachers preparation, teaching qualifications, and work environments can provide a context for better understanding the current conditions that confront science teachers. This study seeks to provide critical information in four major areas: (1) preservice learning and teaching assignment; (2) continued learning; (3) supportive work environment, and (4) teachers' sense of efficacy. This study is based on current efforts by the National Center for Education Statistics (LACES) to collect data of key indicators of teacher preparation and qualifications using a large-scale survey administered to a nationally representative sample of full-time public school teachers whose primary teaching assignment is in science. In this effort, the information reported in this study utilizes the NCES's Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS) from 1987--88 and 1993--94. Significant change between 1987--77 and 1993--94 was determined using a t-test for independent means. In addition, frequency counts were analyzed using a chi-square statistic to determine if more "qualified middle school science teachers" were located in particular schools by urbanicity location or/and percent minority enrollment. In general, the quality of middle school science teachers across the country is declining. Teachers report they have less control in their classrooms, are less satisfied with their class size and have less influence on the content of inservice professional development. In addition, fewer hold degrees in a science content area, fewer hold any Masters degrees, and fewer are certified in their second assignment field. However, more teachers have taken four to six undergraduate biology, chemistry and physics classes.

School Mobility among Middle School Students: When and for Whom Does It Matter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Sara

2017-01-01

This study sought to understand the extent to which elementary or middle school mobility was associated with adverse middle school academic achievement and mental health and whether youth or contextual characteristics moderated associations. I contrasted elementary and middle school mobility to consider whether a recent school move or elementary…

Female Middle School Principals' Voices: Implications for School Leadership Preparation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Cathy; Ovando, Martha; High, Cynthia

2009-01-01

This study was an attempt to add the voices of women to the discourse of school leadership. It focused on the nature of the middle school leadership experiences of three female middle school principals, their social interactions based on gender role expectations and their own leadership perspectives. Findings suggest that middle school leadership…

Sleep Habits of Elementary and Middle School Children in South Texas

PubMed Central

Surani, Salim; Hesselbacher, Sean; Surani, Saherish; Sadasiva, Sreevidya; Surani, Zoya; Surani, Sara S.; Khimani, Amina; Subramanian, Shyam

2015-01-01

Background. Sleep difficulties, including insufficient sleep and inadequate sleep hygiene, have been prevalent among children. Sleep deprivation can lead to poor grades, sleepiness, and moodiness. We undertook this study to assess the prevalence of sleep abnormalities among elementary and middle school students in South Texas and how the groups compare with one another. Method. After approval from the appropriate school district for a sleep education program, a baseline survey was taken of elementary and middle school students, using the Children's Sleep Habit Questionnaire-Sleep Self-Report Form, which assessed the domains of bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, sleep anxiety, sleep duration, night awakening, and daytime sleepiness. Results. The survey was completed by 499 elementary and 1008 middle school children. Trouble sleeping was reported by 43% in elementary school, compared with 29% of middle school children. Fifty percent of middle school children did not like sleeping, compared with 26% in elementary school. Bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, and nighttime awakening were more common among elementary school students. Daytime sleepiness was more common among the middle school children when compared to elementary school children. Conclusions. Sleep abnormalities are present in elementary school children with changes in sleep habits into middle school. PMID:26770835

Sleep Habits of Elementary and Middle School Children in South Texas.

PubMed

Surani, Salim; Hesselbacher, Sean; Surani, Saherish; Sadasiva, Sreevidya; Surani, Zoya; Surani, Sara S; Khimani, Amina; Subramanian, Shyam

2015-01-01

Background. Sleep difficulties, including insufficient sleep and inadequate sleep hygiene, have been prevalent among children. Sleep deprivation can lead to poor grades, sleepiness, and moodiness. We undertook this study to assess the prevalence of sleep abnormalities among elementary and middle school students in South Texas and how the groups compare with one another. Method. After approval from the appropriate school district for a sleep education program, a baseline survey was taken of elementary and middle school students, using the Children's Sleep Habit Questionnaire-Sleep Self-Report Form, which assessed the domains of bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, sleep anxiety, sleep duration, night awakening, and daytime sleepiness. Results. The survey was completed by 499 elementary and 1008 middle school children. Trouble sleeping was reported by 43% in elementary school, compared with 29% of middle school children. Fifty percent of middle school children did not like sleeping, compared with 26% in elementary school. Bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, and nighttime awakening were more common among elementary school students. Daytime sleepiness was more common among the middle school children when compared to elementary school children. Conclusions. Sleep abnormalities are present in elementary school children with changes in sleep habits into middle school.

Environmental literacy in agriculture and coastal areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pujianti, N.; Munandar, A.; Surakusumah, W.

2018-05-01

This research aim to investigate the environmental literacy of junior high school students in agricultural and coastal areas in Subang based on knowledge, cognitive skill and attitudes toward to environment. This research used descriptive method. The subjects of the research were 7 grade students of junior high school and involved 62 participants in agriculture area and 64 participants in coastal area. The instrument of environment literacy adapted from Middle School Environment Literacy Survey (MSELS) and adapted to the context of agricultural and coastal area. The results showed that: environmental literacy in agricultural areas is 169.30 with moderate category and environmental literacy in the coastal area is 152.61 in the moderate category.

Participants' Perceptions of a Violence Prevention Curriculum for Middle School Students: Was It Relevant and Useful?

PubMed

Farrell, Albert D; Mehari, Krista; Mays, Sally; Sullivan, Terri N; Le, Anh-Thuy

2015-08-01

School-based youth violence prevention programs, particularly those focused on middle school students, have generally had limited effects that are often not sustained over time. Although many interventions focus on teaching social-cognitive skills, few studies have explored the extent to which students master these skills, actually use them, and find them effective in dealing with problem situations. This study examined these issues based on interviews with 141 students attending one county and two urban middle schools in classrooms where the Second Step violence prevention program had been implemented. We coded interviews to assess participants' general reactions to the interventions, use of skills, and effectiveness of skills. We also asked participants to describe outcomes they experienced when they used specific skills taught in the intervention in response to problem situations. Participants had generally positive reactions to the intervention. Their suggestions for improving the intervention primarily concerned improving its relevance. Participants described changes they had made based on the intervention, particularly controlling anger and improving relations with others. Their responses indicated that they sometimes misunderstood or misused specific intervention skills, especially problem solving and empathy. Students' descriptions of the outcomes they experienced when using intervention skills were not uniformly positive. This was especially true for situations involving peers such as peer pressure and bullying. These results underscore the need for more intensive efforts to ensure that students master intervention skills and are able to use them correctly. In addition, interventions should address the broader social context (e.g., peers, school) to maximize the effectiveness of skills.

"Find the Strength in Every Teacher": Urban Middle School Teachers' Perceptions of Effective Change Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Timothy Clancy

2013-01-01

Urban middle schools face many accountability measures which often create the need for school improvement. Leading urban middle schools through the change process is extremely challenging for principals. The combination of leading change, leading urban schools, and leading middle schools is an uphill climb. Teachers' perceptions of leadership…

Indicators of Middle School Implementation: How Do Kentucky's Schools to Watch Measure Up?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Christopher M.; Faulkner, Shawn A.; Kinne, Lenore J.

2009-01-01

High-performing middle schools are a critical link in the educational continuum. In an effort to stimulate the sluggish reform efforts of middle schools, the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform established the Schools to Watch recognition program. Using responses of school personnel to a statewide survey, this study examined the…

Satisfaction of Middle School Lunch Program Participants and Non-Participants with the School Lunch Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Stephanie; Cunningham-Sabo, Leslie; Auld, Garry

2015-01-01

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine middle school students' satisfaction with the school lunch experience, using two validated surveys; the Middle/Junior High School Student Participation Survey and the Middle/Junior High School Student Non-Participation Survey, both developed by the National Food Service Management…

Fostering a Developmentally Responsive Middle-to-High School Transition: The Role of Transition Supports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellerbrock, Cheryl R.; Denmon, Jennifer; Owens, Ruchelle; Lindstrom, Krista

2015-01-01

This yearlong qualitative multisite case study investigated ways middle and high school transition supports foster a developmentally responsive transition for students. A total of 23 participants engaged in this study, including 4 students, 4 middle school teachers, 13 high school teachers, 1 middle school principal, and 1 high school principal.…

Associations between Parental Limits, School Vending Machine Purchases, and Soft Drink Consumption among Kentucky Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nickelson, Jen; Roseman, Mary G.; Forthofer, Melinda S.

2010-01-01

Objective: To examine associations between parental limits on soft drinks and purchasing soft drinks from school vending machines and consuming soft drinks among middle school students. Design: Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the middle school Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Setting: Eight public middle schools in central Kentucky.…

Delaware Middle Schools Beating the Odds. Technical Report Number T2010.4

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grusenmeyer, Linda; Fifield, Steve; Murphy, Aideen; Nian, Qinghua; Qian, Xiaoyu

2010-01-01

The investigation identified Delaware public and charter middle schools across the state which outperformed other Delaware middle schools with similar student demographic profiles. Teachers and administrators at six of these "Beating the Odds" schools and at six comparison middle schools were surveyed regarding their schools…

Classroom Management and the Middle School Philosophy. Fastback 500.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dougherty, John W.

This document explores how teachers can connect the instructional and interpersonal approaches embedded in middle-school philosophy to effective classroom management. It describes the current mismatch between middle-school philosophy and practice and how the creation of middle-school grades introduced a volatile mismatch between a school's…

Multilevel Assessment of Middle School Students' Interest in the Health Sciences: Development and Validation of a New Measurement Tool.

PubMed

Romine, William L; Miller, Michele E; Knese, Shawn A; Folk, William R

2016-01-01

Using the context of a 2-wk instructional unit focused on eye and vision health, we developed and validated a multilevel measure of middle school students' interest in science and health careers. This survey contained three subscales positioned differently with respect to curricular content. Interest in Vision Care was most related, but less transferrable to other contexts. Interest in Science was most general, and Interest in Healthcare was positioned between the two. We found that, with two exceptions, items fitted well with validity expectations and were stable across a 2-wk intervention. Further, measures of interest in science, health, and vision-care careers were shown to be reliable and valid. We found that ease of facilitating change across the intervention was generally greater in subscales closely related to the curricular context but that the average magnitude of change in Interest in Healthcare and Interest in Science was not significantly different. We discuss use of these measures in informing instructional efforts and advise that changes in students' perceptions of how science and healthcare relate should be considered in longitudinal analyses. © 2016 W. L. Romine et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

A pilot comparison of standardized online surgical curricula for use in low- and middle-income countries.

PubMed

Goldstein, Seth D; Papandria, Dominic; Linden, Allison; Azzie, Georges; Borgstein, Eric; Calland, James Forrest; Finlayson, Samuel R G; Jani, Pankaj; Klingensmith, Mary; Labib, Mohamed; Lewis, Frank; Malangoni, Mark A; O'Flynn, Eric; Ogendo, Stephen; Riviello, Robert; Abdullah, Fizan

2014-04-01

Surgical conditions are an important component of global disease burden, due in part to critical shortages of adequately trained surgical providers in low- and middle-income countries. To assess the use of Internet-based educational platforms as a feasible approach to augmenting the education and training of surgical providers in these settings. Access to two online curricula was offered to 75 surgical faculty and trainees from 12 low- and middle-income countries for 60 days. The Surgical Council on Resident Education web portal was designed for general surgery trainees in the United States, and the School for Surgeons website was built by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland specifically for the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa. Participants completed an anonymous online survey detailing their experiences with both platforms. Voluntary respondents were daily Internet users and endorsed frequent use of both print and online textbooks as references. Likert scale survey questionnaire responses indicating overall and content-specific experiences with the Surgical Council on Resident Education and School for Surgeons curricula. Survey responses were received from 27 participants. Both online curricula were rated favorably, with no statistically significant differences in stated willingness to use and recommend either platform to colleagues. Despite regional variations in practice context, there were few perceived hurdles to future curriculum adoption. Both the Surgical Council on Resident Education and School for Surgeons educational curricula were well received by respondents in low- and middle-income countries. Although one was designed for US surgical postgraduates and the other for sub-Saharan African surgical providers, there were no significant differences detected in participant responses between the two platforms. Online educational resources have promise as an effective means to enhance the education of surgical providers in low- and middle-income countries.

Alignment of Content and Pedagogy in an Earth Systems Course for Pre-Service Middle School Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cole, T.; Teed, R.; Slattery, W.

2006-12-01

In 2003 the Ohio Department of Education developed the Ohio K-12 Science Content Standards. These new science standards substantially tracked the goals and objectives of The National Research Council's National Science Education Standards. The Ohio K-12 Science Content Standards followed the National Standards in the content areas of Physical Science, Life Science and Earth and Space Science. At the same time, the state's K-12 schools were gearing up for a new high school graduation requirement, the successful passing of a high-stakes Ohio Graduation Test, given during a student's tenth grade year. Earth and Space science questions make up approximately one third of the science test items. To make it more likely that teachers have the requisite science content knowledge Ohio has recently changed from certification of K-12 teachers to a more content rich licensure standard. This new licensure requirement splits the older certification designation of K-8 into the elementary and middle school licensure areas. Under the new licensure requirements middle school licensure candidates wishing to earn a science concentration now have to take 15 semester hours of content class work in Science. The Ohio Department of Education has strongly suggested that teacher preparation institutions develop new courses for middle school educators in all four areas of concentration, including science. In response to this call for new courses science education faculty in all science areas worked together to develop a comprehensive suite of courses that would target the science content standards guidelines in the state and national standards. The newly developed Earth and Space science course is titled Earth Systems. The course carries 4.5quarter hours of credit and is intended expressly for pre-service middle school (grades 4- 9) science teachers. The content is structured around three modules of study that are designed to develop interdisciplinary science content within the context of past, present and future Earth Systems science. Because the course is created for pre-service teachers, the class models the jigsaw teaching technique, an effective and age-appropriate method of science instruction. This enables pre-service teachers to experience a technique they can use in their own classroom. Course content is aligned with all state and national 4-10 Earth/Space Science standards, which supports pre- service Middle School Science teachers by covering the content areas tested in the Praxis Middle School Science test, a requirement for graduation with licensure from Wright State University. It also helps the pre- service teachers gain experience with the content that they will need to teach to their K-12 students, so they will be able to pass the high-stakes Ohio Graduation Test. Assessment of the Earth Systems course suggests that the course leads to increased science content knowledge that leads to success in passing the Praxis Middle Childhood Science Test, and that the pedagogy modeled in the course is used by the pre- service teachers in their own K-12 teaching upon graduation.

Multiple-Micronutrient Fortified Non-Dairy Beverage Interventions Reduce the Risk of Anemia and Iron Deficiency in School-Aged Children in Low-Middle Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (i–iv)

PubMed Central

Aaron, Grant J.; Dror, Daphna K.; Yang, Zhenyu

2015-01-01

Multiple-micronutrient (MMN) fortification of beverages may be an effective option to deliver micronutrients to vulnerable populations. The aim of the present systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the nutritional impacts of MMN fortified beverages in the context of low-middle income countries. A systematic search of published literature yielded 1022 citations, of which 10 randomized controlled trials (nine in school-aged children and one in pregnant women) met inclusion criteria. Results of school-aged children were included in the meta-analysis. Compared to iso-caloric controls, children who received MMN fortified beverages for 8 weeks to 6 months showed significant improvements in hemoglobin (+2.76 g/L, 95% CI [1.19, 4.33], p = 0.004; 8 studies) and serum ferritin (+15.42 pmol/L, [5.73, 25.12], p = 0.007; 8 studies); and reduced risk of anemia (RR 0.58 [0.29, 0.88], p = 0.005; 6 studies), iron deficiency (RR 0.34 [0.21, 0.55], p = 0.002; 7 studies), and iron deficiency anemia (RR 0.17 [0.06, 0.53], p = 0.02; 3 studies). MMN fortified beverage interventions could have major programmatic implications for reducing the burden of anemia and iron deficiency in school-aged children in low-middle income countries. Additional research is needed to investigate effects on other biochemical outcomes and population subgroups. PMID:26007336

Multiple-Micronutrient Fortified Non-Dairy Beverage Interventions Reduce the Risk of Anemia and Iron Deficiency in School-Aged Children in Low-Middle Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (i-iv).

PubMed

Aaron, Grant J; Dror, Daphna K; Yang, Zhenyu

2015-05-21

Multiple-micronutrient (MMN) fortification of beverages may be an effective option to deliver micronutrients to vulnerable populations. The aim of the present systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the nutritional impacts of MMN fortified beverages in the context of low-middle income countries. A systematic search of published literature yielded 1022 citations, of which 10 randomized controlled trials (nine in school-aged children and one in pregnant women) met inclusion criteria. Results of school-aged children were included in the meta-analysis. Compared to iso-caloric controls, children who received MMN fortified beverages for 8 weeks to 6 months showed significant improvements in hemoglobin (+2.76 g/L, 95% CI [1.19, 4.33], p = 0.004; 8 studies) and serum ferritin (+15.42 pmol/L, [5.73, 25.12], p = 0.007; 8 studies); and reduced risk of anemia (RR 0.58 [0.29, 0.88], p = 0.005; 6 studies), iron deficiency (RR 0.34 [0.21, 0.55], p = 0.002; 7 studies), and iron deficiency anemia (RR 0.17 [0.06, 0.53], p = 0.02; 3 studies). MMN fortified beverage interventions could have major programmatic implications for reducing the burden of anemia and iron deficiency in school-aged children in low-middle income countries. Additional research is needed to investigate effects on other biochemical outcomes and population subgroups.

High School Students' Meta-Modeling Knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fortus, David; Shwartz, Yael; Rosenfeld, Sherman

2016-12-01

Modeling is a core scientific practice. This study probed the meta-modeling knowledge (MMK) of high school students who study science but had not had any explicit prior exposure to modeling as part of their formal schooling. Our goals were to (A) evaluate the degree to which MMK is dependent on content knowledge and (B) assess whether the upper levels of the modeling learning progression defined by Schwarz et al. (2009) are attainable by Israeli K-12 students. Nine Israeli high school students studying physics, chemistry, biology, or general science were interviewed individually, once using a context related to the science subject that they were learning and once using an unfamiliar context. All the interviewees displayed MMK superior to that of elementary and middle school students, despite the lack of formal instruction on the practice. Their MMK was independent of content area, but their ability to engage in the practice of modeling was content dependent. This study indicates that, given proper support, the upper levels of the learning progression described by Schwarz et al. (2009) may be attainable by K-12 science students. The value of explicitly focusing on MMK as a learning goal in science education is considered.

Accelerating the development of formal thinking in middle and high school students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adey, Philip; Shayer, Michael

In an attempt to accelerate the development of formal operations in average young adolescents, intervention lessons relating to all formal schemata were designed in the context of school science courses. Over a period of two years, up to 30 intervention lessons were given by science teachers to their classes in eight schools. Boys who started the program aged 12+ showed a pre-posttest effect size on Piagetian tests of 0.89 SD compared with control classes. In terms of British norms for the development of operational thinking this was a mean change from the 51st to the 74th percentile. Neither the middle school students nor the 12+ girls showed greater gain than the controls. Gains were shown by girls in one 11+ class and in the two 11+ laboratory classes. In the laboratory school students given intervention lessons by the researchers maintained their gains over controls in formal operations at a delayed posttest one year after cessation of the program. There was no effect on tests of science achievement during the intervention. It was argued that the interventions needed to be accompanied by in-service training designed to enable teachers to change their teaching style in line with their students' increased operational thinking capacity.

Woodbridge Middle School: Getting Better Together

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Principal Leadership, 2012

2012-01-01

This article features Woodbridge Middle School, a middle school in Woodbridge, Virginia, which has always celebrated a tradition of excellence. Today's Woodbridge Middle School in no way resembles the school that existed in 2005. Then, the students were mostly White and few qualified for the free and reduced-price meals program; today, there is no…

Stuck in the Middle: How and Why Middle Schools Harm Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rockoff, Jonah E.; Lockwood, Benjamin B.

2010-01-01

Could middle schools be bad for student learning? Could something as simple as changing the grade configuration of schools improve academic outcomes? That's what some educators have come to believe. States and school districts across the country are reevaluating the practice of educating young adolescents in stand-alone middle schools, which…

Middle School Students' Beliefs about Matter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

2005-01-01

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,…

Engaging Musical Practices: A Sourcebook for Middle School General Music

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burton, Suzanne L., Ed.

2012-01-01

Middle school general music may be a student's last encounter with school music. A practical book with accessible pedagogical resources on middle school general music is needed for methods courses and music practitioners' use. The book "Engaging Musical Practices: A Sourcebook for Middle School General Music" presents numerous ways to engage…

The Challenge of Counseling in Middle Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Rourke, Kathleen, Ed.

This book of readings presents 33 articles that address topics of importance to counselors who serve middle school students. It was written for counselors already working in middle schools and for individuals who are preparing for careers as middle school counselors. The book will also benefit both elementary school counselors who help children…

Middle School Teachers' Theories of Puberty.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LeTendre, Gerald

This study explored middle school teachers' perspectives on and expectations of adolescence and puberty, using observations and interviews of 15 teachers in two Japanese middle schools and two United States (U.S.) middle schools, as well as a survey of teachers in selected schools in both nations. Teachers in the U.S. described puberty as being…

The Cultural Contradictions of Middle Schooling for Rural Community Survival.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeYoung, Alan J.; And Others

During 1968-91, middle schools were the only school type to grow in number, increasing by over 400 percent. Middle school advocates focus on early adolescents' need for developmentally appropriate institutions, but show only a weak historical understanding of the emergence and status of middle schools. Critical factors in early support for the…

Teachers' work ability: a study of relationships between collective efficacy and self-efficacy beliefs.

PubMed

Guidetti, Gloria; Viotti, Sara; Bruno, Andreina; Converso, Daniela

2018-01-01

Work ability constitutes one of the most studied well-being indicators related to work. Past research highlighted the relationship with work-related resources and demands, and personal resources. However, no studies highlight the role of collective and self-efficacy beliefs in sustaining work ability. The purpose of this study was to examine whether and by which mechanism work ability is linked with individual and collective efficacies in a sample of primary and middle school teachers. Using a dataset consisting of 415 primary and middle school Italian teachers, the analysis tested for the mediating role of self-efficacy between collective efficacy and work ability. Mediational analysis highlights that teachers' self-efficacy totally mediates the relationship between collective efficacy and perceived work ability. Results of this study enhance the theoretical knowledge and empirical evidence regarding the link between teachers' collective efficacy and self-efficacy, giving further emphasis to the concept of collective efficacy in school contexts. Moreover, the results contribute to the study of well-being in the teaching profession, highlighting a process that sustains and promotes levels of work ability through both collective and personal resources.

In the Beginning of the Middle: Curriculum Considerations for Middle School General Music

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giebelhausen, Robin

2015-01-01

Middle school general music is an experience that numerous music educators feel underprepared to teach. Because many undergraduate programs spend little time on this teaching scenario and because the challenges of middle school general music are different from those of elementary general music or middle school ensembles, teachers often lack the…

Integrating Quantitative Reasoning into STEM Courses Using an Energy and Environment Context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Myers, J. D.; Lyford, M. E.; Mayes, R. L.

2010-12-01

Many secondary and post-secondary science classes do not integrate math into their curriculum, while math classes commonly teach concepts without meaningful context. Consequently, students lack basic quantitative skills and the ability to apply them in real-world contexts. For the past three years, a Wyoming Department of Education funded Math Science Partnership at the University of Wyoming (UW) has brought together middle and high school science and math teachers to model how math and science can be taught together in a meaningful way. The UW QR-STEM project emphasizes the importance of Quantitative Reasoning (QR) to student success in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). To provide a social context, QR-STEM has focused on energy and the environment. In particular, the project has examined how QR and STEM concepts play critical roles in many of the current global challenges of energy and environment. During four 3-day workshops each summer and over several virtual and short face-to-face meetings during the academic year, UW and community college science and math faculty work with math and science teachers from middle and high schools across the state to improve QR instruction in math and science classes. During the summer workshops, faculty from chemistry, physics, earth sciences, biology and math lead sessions to: 1) improve the basic science content knowledge of teachers; 2) improve teacher understanding of math and statistical concepts, 3) model how QR can be taught by engaging teachers in sessions that integrate math and science in an energy and environment context; and 4) focus curricula using Understanding by Design to identify enduring understandings on which to center instructional strategies and assessment. In addition to presenting content, faculty work with teachers as they develop classroom lessons and larger units to be implemented during the school year. Teachers form interdisciplinary groups which often consist of math and science teachers from the same school or district. By jointly developing units focused on energy and environment, math and science curricula can be coordinated during the school year. During development, teams present their curricular ideas for peer-review. Throughout the school year, teachers implement their units and collect pre-post data on student learning. Ultimately, science teachers integrate math into their science courses, and math teachers integrate science content in their math courses. Following implementation, participants share their experiences with their peers and faculty. Of central interest during these presentations are: 1) How did the QR-STEM experience change teacher practices in the classroom?; and 2) How did the modification of their teaching practices impact student learning and their ability to successfully master QR? The UW QR-STEM has worked with Wyoming science and math teachers from across the state over the three year grant period.

Working While in Middle School: Student Perceptions of School Climate & Connectedness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Sabrena

2016-01-01

Does working during the school year result in lowered perceptions of school climate and connectedness for middle school students? According to outcomes from a Rocky Mountain Region School District's (RMRSD) school climate survey, 20% of their middle school student population works during the school year. Existing literature on youth employment…

The Parental Perspective over the Use of iPads in Primary and Middle Years of Schooling: Issues for Pedagogical and Policy Debates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ismail, Abdullah; Cashin, Anthony

2017-01-01

Apple's iPad and other forms of tablet are reportedly gaining increasing popularity within the academic premises. Most of the published research on this topic has highly admired the positive role and impact of iPads on teaching and learning practices, as if an exogenous technological induction in any local context would essentially revolutionize…

Ties That Work: The Interaction between Group Assignment Method and a Culturally-Relevant Curriculum in the Context of Middle School Anti-Tobacco Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carolan, Brian V.; Unger, Jennifer B.; Johnson, C. Anderson; Valente, Thomas W.

2007-01-01

Peer-led programs that employ classroom-based group exercises have been shown to be the most effective in preventing adolescent tobacco use. In addition, health promotion programs that include cultural referents have also been shown to be advantageous. The purpose of this study was to test the interaction between the method by which leaders and…

Remote Atomic Force Microscopy of Microscopic Organisms: Technological Innovations for Hands-On Science with Middle and High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, M. G.; Andre, T.; Kubasko, D.; Bokinsky, A.; Tretter, T.; Negishi, A.; Taylor, R.; Superfine, R.

2004-01-01

This study examined hands-on experiences in the context of an investigation of viruses and explored how and why hands-on experiences may be effective. We sought to understand whether or not touching and manipulating materials and objects could lead to a deeper, more effective type of knowing than that we obtain from sight or sound alone. Four…

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…

English Language Arts Scores among Sixth Grade Students Enrolled on an Elementary versus Middle School Campus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, La-Trice

2013-01-01

A K-12 school district located in southern California was faced with overcrowding at 1of its middle schools for the 2011-2012 school year. This project study was designed to explore if an elementary or middle school campus was best in supporting students' academics while they were in transition to 6th grade middle school. Maslow's hierarchy of…

Preservice Teachers' Understanding of Variable

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Sue; Bergman, Judy

2013-01-01

This study examines the research on middle school students' understanding of variables and explores preservice elementary and middle school teachers' knowledge of variables. According to research studies, middle school students have limited understanding of variables. Many studies have examined the performance of middle school students and offered…

Differences in Stress and Social Support among Students Entering Urban, Urban Fringe, or Suburban Middle Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wenz-Gross, Melodie; Parker, Robin

Noting that both stress and social support play an important role in middle school students' adjustment and motivation for school, two studies compared the stress and social support experienced by students entering middle school in different settings. The two studies of middle school students included overlapping measures of stress, social…

Middle School Mathematics: 2006-07 to 2008-09. Impact Evaluation. E&R Report No. 10.11

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paeplow, Colleen

2010-01-01

In 2006-07, seven Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) middle schools piloted Algebraic Thinking as an alternate approach to teaching middle school mathematics. Algebraic Thinking was developed to help students in grade 6 reach higher mathematics courses by combining the regular and advanced middle school mathematics courses into one…

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…

Links between sex-typed time use in middle childhood and gender development in early adolescence.

PubMed

McHale, Susan M; Kim, Ji-Yeon; Whiteman, Shawn; Crouter, Ann C

2004-09-01

The authors studied sex-typing in the kinds (e.g., sports, handicrafts) and social contexts (same- vs. other-sex companions) of children's free time activities, and the links between sex-typed activities and gender development over 2 years. Participants were 200 White, working- and middle-class children (103 girls, 97 boys; mean age = 10.86 years). In annual home interviews, children rated their self-esteem, gender role attitudes and sex-typed personality qualities, academic interests, and school grades. During 7 nightly phone interviews each year, children reported on their activities. Boys were more sex-typed than girls in their peer activities, and children were least sex-typed in their activities with siblings. Sex-typed activities in middle childhood predicted individual differences in gender development in early adolescence. Copyright 2004 American Psychological Association

Time with Peers from Middle Childhood to Late Adolescence: Developmental Course and Adjustment Correlates

PubMed Central

Lam, Chun Bun; McHale, Susan M.; Crouter, Ann C.

2014-01-01

This study examined the developmental course and adjustment correlates of time with peers from age 8 to 18. On 7 occasions over 8 years, the two eldest siblings from 201 European American, working- and middle-class families provided questionnaire and/or phone diary data. Multilevel models revealed that girls’ time with mixed/opposite-sex peers increased beginning in middle childhood, but boys’ time increased beginning in early adolescence. For both girls and boys, time with same-sex peers peaked in mid-adolescence. At the within-person level, unsupervised time with mixed/opposite-sex peers longitudinally predicted problem behaviors and depressive symptoms, and supervised time with mixed/opposite-sex peers longitudinally predicted better school performance. Findings highlight the importance of social context in understanding peer involvement and its implications for youth development. PMID:24673293

Leadership that promotes teacher empowerment among urban middle school science teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howard-Skipper, Joni

In this study, the focus was on determining leadership strategies that promote teacher empowerment among urban middle school science teachers. The purpose of the paper was to determine if leadership strategies are related to teacher empowerment. The emphasis was on various forms of leadership and the empowerment of teachers in context in restructuring the democratic structure. An effective leadership in science education entails empowering others, especially science teachers. In this regard, no published studies had examined this perspective on empowering teachers and school leadership. Therefore, this study determined if a relationship exists between leadership strategy actions and teacher empowerment. The significance of the study is to determine a relationship between leadership strategies and teacher empowerment as a positive approach toward developing successful schools. Empowerment is essential for implementing serious improvements. Empowering others in schools must form a major component of an effective principal's agenda. It is becoming clearer in research literature that complex changes in education sometimes require active initiation. For this study, a quantitative methodology was used. Primary data enabled the research questions to be answered. The reliability and validity of the research were ensured. The results of this study showed that 40% of the administrators establish program policies with teachers, and 53% of teachers make decisions about new programs in schools. Furthermore, the findings, their implications, and recommendations are discussed.

Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Interactive Whiteboards on Student Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phelps, Robin J.

2012-01-01

This study examined the effectiveness of interactive whiteboards on student engagement. Perceptions from 108 middle school students and one middle school teacher were analyzed to answer the research question: What are the perceptions of middle school students and one middle school teacher regarding student engagement during lessons using an…

STEM and Career Exploratory Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chase, Darrell

2010-01-01

Districts face increasing pressure to improve students' mastery of curriculum in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Yet the number of students enrolling in science and math courses drops dramatically in middle and high school. At Sylvester Middle School, Chinook Middle School and Cascade Middle School of the…

Teaching Middle School Language Arts: Incorporating Twenty-First Century Literacies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Small Roseboro, Anna J.

2010-01-01

"Teaching Middle School Language Arts" is the first book on teaching middle school language arts for multiple intelligences and related twenty-first-century literacies in technologically and ethnically diverse communities. More than 670,000 middle school teachers (grades six through eight) are responsible for educating nearly 13 million students…

Influences of High-Stakes Testing on Middle School Mission and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Musoleno, Ronald R.; White, George P.

2010-01-01

This study explored the effects of high-stakes testing and accountability on the fundamental practices associated with middle school philosophy. Participants were middle school educators, including administrators and teachers, from Pennsylvania middle schools. An online survey was used to collect data for this study. The survey addressed the…

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…

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.

Mentoring and Argumentation in a Game-Infused Science Curriculum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gould, Deena L.; Parekh, Priyanka

2018-04-01

Engaging in argumentation from evidence is challenging for most middle school students. We report the design of a media-based mentoring system to support middle school students in engaging in argumentation in the context of a game-infused science curriculum. Our design emphasizes learners apprenticing with college student mentors around the socio-scientific inquiry of a designed video game. We report the results of a mixed-methods study examining the use of this media-based mentoring system with students ages 11 through 14. We observed that the discourse of groups of students that engaged with the game-infused science curriculum while interacting with college student mentors via a social media platform demonstrated statistically significant higher ratings of cognitive, epistemic, and social aspects of argumentation than groups of students that engaged with the social media platform and game-infused science curriculum without mentors. We further explored the differences between the Discourses of the mentored and non-mentored groups. This analysis showed that students in the mentored groups were invited, guided, and socialized into roles of greater agency than students in the non-mentored groups. This increased agency might explain why mentored groups demonstrated higher levels of scientific argumentation than non-mentored groups. Based on our analyses, we argue that media-based mentoring may be designed around a video game to support middle school students in engaging in argumentation from evidence.

Are Middle Schools More Effective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bedard, Kelly; Do, Chan

2005-01-01

While nearly half of all school districts have adopted middle schools, there is little quantitative evidence of the efficacy of this educational structure. We estimate the impact of moving from a junior high school system, where students stay in elementary school longer, to a middle school system for on-time high school completion. This is a…

Middle School Principals' Perceptions and Preferences When Hiring Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mee, Molly; Haverback, Heather Rogers

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate middle school principals' knowledge of the state's new middle level teacher certification, their hiring preferences for newly certified teachers, and their perceptions of middle certified teacher' competencies in teaching various subject areas to middle school students. Survey data indicated that the…

Do Peers Contribute to the Achievement Gap between Vietnamese-American and Mexican-American Adolescents?

PubMed Central

Duong, Mylien T.; Schwartz, David; McCarty, Carolyn A.

2013-01-01

Documented associations between academic and social functioning have been inconsistent. These discrepancies may reflect the moderating role of sociocultural context. In this study, we examined ethnicity and gender as moderators of this relation. We collected peer nominations, GPA from school records, and self-report questionnaires for 519 Vietnamese-American and Mexican-American middle school students (mean age = 12.7 years). Using general linear modeling, we found that academic and social functioning were more strongly and positively linked for Vietnamese-Americans relative to Mexican-Americans, and for girls relative to boys. We also examined group differences in achievement values, and found that Vietnamese-Americans were more likely to admire and be friends with high-achieving peers. The results suggest that peers provide one context in which ethnic and gender differences in achievement values emerge, and interventions aimed at reducing the achievement gap may benefit from incorporating a focus on peers. PMID:24443632

School Libraries and Science Achievement: A View from Michigan's Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mardis, Marcia

2007-01-01

If strong school library media centers (SLMCs) positively impact middle school student reading achievement, as measured on standardized tests, are they also beneficial for middle school science achievement? To answer this question, the researcher built upon the statistical analyses used in previous school library impact studies with qualitative…

Student Achievement and Fidelity of Implementation of the Middle School Concept in Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Delilah A.

2013-01-01

This study, using qualitative, multiple case methodology, examined four middle schools within a Local Education Agency (LEA) in eastern North Carolina to determine whether the implementation of key middle school features; (a) interdisciplinary teaming, (b) flexible scheduling, (c) advisor/advisee relationships, and (d) an integrative, exploratory…

Adult and Middle School Girls' Perceptions of Risk-Taking Behavior: Implications for School Practitioners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Solomon, Brett Johnson; Garibaldi, Mark

2013-01-01

There is an overwhelming disconnect between young adolescent girls and adults, in relationship to perceptions of middle schoolgirl risk taking. This mixed-methods study investigates the differences between adult practitioners and middle school girls' perceptions of risk taking, understanding of consequences, and needs among middle school girls.…

Examining Differences in Middle School Student Achievement on a Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) in Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rich, Jamie; Duncan, Dennis W.; Navarro, Maria; Ricketts, John C.

2009-01-01

Many authors have posited that agricultural education curriculum in middle schools may enhance student performance in science. To determine the effect that agricultural education curriculum has upon Georgia middle schools' student performance in science, this descriptive study compared science knowledge among middle school students in Georgia who…

A Case Study Exploring the Transition to Middle School from the Perspective of Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rappa, Kelly A.

2012-01-01

The transition to middle school is often associated with negative effects on academic achievement, motivation, self-esteem, and psychological well-being. Educators at a Grade 6 through 8 middle school in the northeastern United States observed students struggle with the adjustment to middle school. Research suggests that developmentally responsive…

Fieldale-Collinsville Middle School: Banishing Anonymity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Principal Leadership, 2010

2010-01-01

It is no accident that the staff at Fieldale-Collinsville Middle School adopted a central tenet of "Breaking Ranks in the Middle"--to banish anonymity by creating a personalized learning environment for all of its students. The school was created six years ago when the four middle schools in Henry County, VA, were consolidated into two…

NREL: News - Students Recognized for Creativity during Energy Education

Science.gov Websites

Middle School, third place; Horizon Community Middle School's car, "Bueblur," fourth place; and technology, craftsmanship and innovation were given to teams from Moore Middle School, first place; Manning Army, Xcel Energy and the Kaiser-Hill Company. As part of the K'NEX Design Contest, nine middle-school

Middle School: Lessons from the Rand Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bunting, Carolyn E.

2005-01-01

This article reports on a recent study by the Rand Corporation that concluded that there is cause for middle schools to worry. Commissioned by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, one of four major philanthropies supporting the middle school movement, the Rand investigation is clear in its assessment: The American middle school leaves adolescents…

Against All Odds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manzo, Kathleen Kennedy

2005-01-01

More than a decade ago, no one held out much hope for the poor, immigrant children at Kennedy Middle School. Nobody thinks that now. This article presents how Kennedy Middle School transformed and beat all the odds to be a "school to watch." In many ways, Kennedy Middle School has become a model of middle-grades improvement. Test scores,…

Looking Forward to High School and College: Middle Grade Indicators of Readiness in Chicago Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allensworth, Elaine M.; Gwynne, Julia A.; Moore, Paul; de la Torre, Marisa

2014-01-01

There is a very large population of students who struggle with the transition from the middle grades to high school, raising concerns that high school failures are partially a function of poor middle grade preparation. As a result, middle grade practitioners are grappling with questions about what skills students need to succeed in high school,…

Does elementary school alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use increase middle school risk?

PubMed

Wilson, Nance; Battistich, Victor; Syme, S Leonard; Boyce, W Thomas

2002-06-01

To assess whether alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use in elementary school may have serious implications for continued ATOD use in middle school and beyond. Longitudinal analyses were conducted on questionnaire data from 331 middle school students who had previously provided ATOD-use data during elementary school. Non-school personnel administered questionnaires in three participating school districts in three different states. The sample of students was ethnically and geographically diverse, including students from a range of low socioeconomic status backgrounds living in rural, urban or inner-city environments. Middle school alcohol use was almost three times as likely to occur if alcohol use had occurred in elementary school (OR = 2.94, p <.001). Elementary school use of tobacco and marijuana also greatly increased the likelihood of middle school use (OR = 5.35, p <.001 and OR = 4.25, p <.05, respectively). Early use of ATOD is associated with greatly increased odds of later use, which has important implications for the timing of drug prevention programs. Preventive interventions designed for use in pediatric practice settings should commence no later than elementary school, during the middle childhood years.

On the interplay between academic achievement and educational identity: a longitudinal study.

PubMed

Pop, Eleonora Ioana; Negru-Subtirica, Oana; Crocetti, Elisabetta; Opre, Adrian; Meeus, Wim

2016-02-01

The present three-wave longitudinal study provides empirical evidence for the mechanisms of the bright and dark sides of identity development in the academic context. First, we investigated the patterns of stability and change in educational identity and academic achievement among adolescents. Second, we examined the reciprocal associations between identity processes (i.e., commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment) and academic achievement. The main results of the study highlighted that academic achievement predicts the manner in which adolescents deal with their identity issues in the academic context. Thus, high academic achievement leads to high levels of commitment (identity synthesis), while low academic achievement leads to high levels of reconsideration of commitment (identity confusion). This unidirectional pattern of effects applied equally to adolescent boys and girls, early-to-middle and middle-to-late adolescents, and to adolescents attending theoretical and vocational schools. Practical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Creating a virtual community of practice to investigate legitimate peripheral participation by African American middle school girls in science activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edwards, Leslie D.

How do teenage girls develop an interest in science? What kinds of opportunities can science teachers present to female students that support their engagement with learning science? I studied one aspect of this issue by focusing on ways students could use science to enhance or gain identities that they (probably) already valued. To do that I created technology-rich activities and experiences for an after school class in science and technology for middle school girls who lived in a low socio-economic urban neighborhood. These activities and experiences were designed to create a virtual community of practice whose members used science in diverse ways. Student interest was made evident in their responses to the activities. Four conclusions emerged. (1) Opportunities to learn about the lives and work of admired African American business women interested students in learning by linking it to their middle-class aspirations and their interest in things that money and status can buy. (2) Opportunities to learn about the lives and work of African American women experts in science in a classroom context where students then practiced similar kinds of actual scientific tasks engaged students in relations of legitimate peripheral participation in a virtual and diverse community of practice focused on science which was created in the after-school classes. (3) Opportunities where students used science to show off for family, friends, and supporters of the after-school program, identities they valued, interested them enough that they engaged in long-term science and technology projects that required lots of revisions. (4) In response to the opportunities presented, new and enhanced identities developed around becoming a better student or becoming some kind of scientist.

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

Associations between School Climate, Suicidal Thoughts, and Behaviors and Ethnicity among Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

La Salle, Tamika P.; Wang, Cixin; Parris, Leandra; Brown, Jacqueline A.

2017-01-01

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the relationships between suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs), school climate, and student demographics among middle school students. The study was conducted with a sample of 152,191 middle school students across 607 schools within 182 school districts in a southeastern state. Results support…

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

2015-01-01

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…

Uniforms in the Middle School: Student Opinions, Discipline Data, and School Police Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanchez, Jafeth E.; Yoxsimer, Andrew; Hill, George C.

2012-01-01

This study investigated public middle school students' opinions on the benefits of wearing a school uniform. A review of related literature is provided along with results of the opinions obtained from 604 seventh- and eighth-grade middle school students attending a public school in Nevada that had recently initiated a school uniform policy.…

Teacher Preferences for Middle Grades: Insights into Attracting Teacher Candidates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Radcliffe, Rich A.; Mandeville, Thomas F.

2007-01-01

Shortages of middle-level teacher candidates may cause teacher educators to recruit candidates by focusing on what attracts and discourages candidates about teaching at the middle level. The authors used a survey approach (n = 110) to investigate why preservice middle school and high school teachers and in-service middle school teachers chose the…

First Steps Toward Improving DoD STEM Workforce Diversity: Response to the 2012 Department of Defense STEM Diversity Summit

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

student achievement or par- ticipation in STEM fields. For example, facilitators of a middle school student program...Assessment Annual Cost navy Seaperch Middle school Middle school robotics competition 45% 35,000 students , 4,000 teachers missing number of annual...participating in Seaperch increased interest in studying engineering in 25% of middle school and 30% of high school students program

Lesher Middle School: Commitment by Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Principal Leadership, 2012

2012-01-01

This article features Lesher Middle School, a school of choice, as are all of the schools in the Poudre School District in Ft. Collins, Colorado. In 2004, it was a traditional junior high school with a declining enrollment that housed an application-based International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP) that resulted in tracking…

Middle School Program and Participatory Planning Drive School Design.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sullivan, Kevin

1996-01-01

Uses the example of award-winning Black Hawk Middle School in Minnesota to examine: (1) developing a middle school architecture; (2) benefits of the house concept; (3) the need for staff involvement in school design; (4) assembling houses into schools; (5) reduced discipline problems; (6) fostering teacher collaboration; and (7) measuring success.…

Exploring School- and Home-Related Protective Factors for Economically Disadvantaged Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Okilwa, Nathern S. A.

2016-01-01

This study explored the experiences of middle school students, particularly focusing on the academic achievement of economically disadvantaged students. For low SES middle school students, the known cumulative effects of poverty coupled with school transition and early adolescence development heighten the potential risks for school failure. By…

Instructor Middle Years. September 1993.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Robin; And Others

1993-01-01

This "Instructor" Supplement on middle school education, presents articles on new research and materials, adolescent development, reasons for teaching middle school, moving toward a middle school curriculum, peer teaching, multimedia software, murder mysteries, ancient China, geometry, teamwork, descriptive writing, literature, problem solving,…

The Intersection between 1:1 Laptop Implementation and the Characteristics of Effective Middle Level Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Downes, John M.; Bishop, Penny A.

2015-01-01

The number of middle level schools adopting 1:1 laptop programs has increased considerably during the past decade (e.g., Lowther, Strahl, Inan, & Bates, 2007; Storz & Hoffman, 2013; Texas Center for Educational Research, 2009). The cornerstone practices of the middle school concept (National Middle School Association, 2010), therefore,…

Moving Middle Schooling Reform from Policy to Practice: Issues for Queensland Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bryer, Fiona; Main, Katherine

2005-01-01

Three well-established issues for educational reform to insert middle schooling into the traditional primary-secondary tiers are (a) lack of preservice training of specialist middle school teachers, (b) the absence of clear positive educational outcomes linked to the promotion of middle schooling policy as a philosophy of teaching, and (c) the ad…

Recruiting Middle School Students into Nursing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matutina, Robin E.

2008-01-01

The purpose of this literature review is to illustrate the importance of initiating nursing recruitment during the middle school years. Data sources included citations from the years 1989 to 2006. The study focused on middle school students 9 to 13 years of age in Grades 6 to 8. One survey compared middle school students' perceptions of an ideal…

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…

Rescuing Middle School Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayo, L. A.; Janney, D.

2010-12-01

There is a crisis in education at the middle school level (Spellings, 2006). Recent studies point to large disparities in middle school performance in schools with high minority populations. The largest disparities exist in areas of math and science. Astronomy has a universal appeal for K-12 students but is rarely taught at the middle school level. When it is taught at all it is usually taught in isolation with few references in other classes such as other sciences (e.g. physics, biology, and chemistry), math, history, geography, music, art, or English. The problem is greatest in our most challenged school districts. With scores in reading and math below national averages in these schools and with most state achievement tests ignoring subjects like astronomy, there is little room in the school day to teach about the world outside our atmosphere. Add to this the exceedingly minimal training and education in astronomy that most middle school teachers have and it is a rare school that includes any astronomy teaching at all. In this presentation, we show how to develop and offer an astronomy education training program for middle school teachers encompassing a wide range of educational disciplines that are frequently taught at the middle school level. The prototype for this program was developed and launched in two of the most challenged and diverse school systems in the country; D.C. Public Schools, and Montgomery County (MD) Public Schools.

"My favourite subject is maths. For some reason no-one really agrees with me": student perspectives of mathematics teaching and learning in the upper primary classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Attard, Catherine

2011-09-01

The levels of engagement in mathematics experienced by students during the middle years of schooling (Years 5 to 8 in New South Wales) has been of concern in Australia for some years. Lowered engagement in school has been attributed to factors such as inappropriate teaching strategies, curricula that is unchallenging and irrelevant, and cultural and technological conditions that continue to evolve (Sullivan et al. Australian Journal of Education 53(2):176-191, 2009). There is currently a gap in this field of research in terms of a lack of longitudinal studies conducted in an Australian context that feature students' voices and their perceptions of mathematics teaching and learning during the middle years. As part of a qualitative longitudinal case study spanning 3 school years, 20 students in their final year of primary school (aged between 11 and 12 years) were asked to provide their views on mathematics teaching and learning. The aim of the study was to explore the students' perspectives of mathematics teaching and learning to discover pedagogies that engage the students. During focus group discussions and individual interviews the students discussed qualities of a "good" mathematics teacher and aspects of "good" lessons. These were found to resonate well with current Australian quality teaching frameworks. The findings of this study indicate that students in the middle years are critically aware of pedagogies that lead to engagement in mathematics, and existing standards and frameworks should be used as a starting point for quality teaching of mathematics.

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…

Contestation and possibilities: Experiences in the 'other' urban classrooms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grimes, Nicole K.

The research presented in this dissertation is a response to the general lack of research conducted in independent urban schools. In my work, I present varied vignettes that aim to provide a glimpse into the lifeworlds of students within such schools and how they too struggle to learn science. There are two major goals of this study. First, I encourage readers to rethink current conceptions of urban schooling and redefine what it means to be an urban learner. Secondly, I intend to demonstrate how the cogenerated action plans of coteachers and cogenerative dialogue groups can serve to make science accessible to students whom are diagnosed and placed in mainstreamed educational settings. The idea is to show that by transforming science learning contexts into cosmopolitan learning communities, students can become successful in science. Through a three-year ethnographic study of middle science classrooms in an independent school in New York City, I present explorations of the culture and context of the independent urban classroom as a chief means to meet my stated goals. By utilizing cogenerative dialogues and coteaching, I show how students and teachers can work together as co-researchers and coteachers that engage in a dual process of creating structures that support science success.

Hip-hop to prevent substance use and HIV among African-American youth: a preliminary investigation.

PubMed

Turner-Musa, Jocelyn O; Rhodes, Warren A; Harper, P Thandi Hicks; Quinton, Sylvia L

2008-01-01

Substance use and HIV risk behaviors are increasing among African-American youth. Interventions that incorporate youth values and beliefs are needed to reduce this trajectory. Hip-hop plays an important role in the lives of many African-American youth and provides a context within which to prevent risky behaviors. The current study examines the efficacy of a hip-hop based substance use and HIV preventive intervention that targets African-American middle-school youth. The sample consists of 68 middle-school students who completed baseline and 6-month follow-up assessments. Findings suggest that students in the intervention group were significantly more likely to have higher knowledge of perception of drug risk and more knowledge about HIV/AIDS compared to students in the comparison group at the 6-month post-intervention assessment. Discussion is centered on implications of hip-hop as a viable approach for preventing substance use and HIV within a high-risk group.

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.

Rural Middle School Students' Perceptions of Bullying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Jonte' C.

2009-01-01

The present study is an examination of bullying perceptions by rural middle school students. Three rural middle schools participated in the study which involved 138 students completing The School Bullying Survey to determine their experiences with bullying by types and the overall school climate as it relates to bullying behavior. Results from…

Relationship of Teacher Training and School Characteristics to Middle School State Assessment Results

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Tina J.; Hicklin, Lori K.; French, Karen E.

2017-01-01

Purpose: To examine the relationship between the South Carolina middle school physical education assessment results and the school characteristics. In addition, the relationship between teacher training attendance and student achievement were determined. Method: Student performance on four physical education indicators in 63 middle schools (and…

Middle School Advisement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ball, Tricia

Designed for those teaching an advisement program to middle school students, this book provides a year-long program with suggestions for many activities geared to middle school students. The text is divided into the traditional four-quarter school year but can be adapted to any school year configuration. The activities are designed so that the…

Building Success into Your Montessori Middle School Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sutton, Ann

2007-01-01

Montessori middle schools can be immensely successful and highly beneficial to students. Traditional schools notice differences in students who come from Montessori backgrounds; they find them to be adaptable self-starters who often take on leadership roles. Prestigious high schools seek to recruit Montessori middle school graduates. As more…

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…

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

Self-esteem, academic self-concept, and aggression at school.

PubMed

Taylor, Laramie D; Davis-Kean, Pamela; Malanchuk, Oksana

2007-01-01

The present study explores the relation between academic self-concept, self-esteem, and aggression at school. Longitudinal data from a racially diverse sample of middle-school students were analyzed to explore how academic self-concept influenced the likelihood of aggressing at school and whether high self-concept exerted a different pattern of influence when threatened. Data include self-reported academic self-concept, school-reported academic performance, and parent-reported school discipline. Results suggest that, in general, students with low self-concept in achievement domains are more likely to aggress at school than those with high self-concept. However, there is a small sample of youth who, when they receive contradictory information that threatens their reported self-concept, do aggress. Global self-esteem was not found to be predictive of aggression. These results are discussed in the context of recent debates on whether self-esteem is a predictor of aggression and the use of a more proximal vs. general self-measure in examining the self-esteem and aggression relation. Copyright 2006 Wiley-Liss; Inc.

The effects of school-level victimization on self-blame: Evidence for contextualized social cognitions.

PubMed

Schacter, Hannah L; Juvonen, Jaana

2015-06-01

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 spring of the 6th-grade year across 26 schools. Consistent with hypotheses, the results of multilevel modeling indicated that victimized youth showed greater increases in characterological self-blaming attributions (e.g., "my fault and cannot change it") in schools where victimization was less common. In contrast, victimization was associated with increases in behavioral self-blame (e.g., "I should have been more careful") for bullied students in schools with relatively higher levels of victimization. Underscoring the psychological consequences of person-context mismatch, the results suggest that when schools manage to decrease bullying, the few who remain victimized need additional support to prevent more maladaptive forms of self-blame. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

School Size and Incidents of Violence among Texas Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kohler, Elizabeth A.; Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J.; Combs, Julie P.; Bustamante, Rebecca M.; Edmonson, Stacey L.

2015-01-01

Although many studies have been conducted regarding (a) school violence in middle schools and (b) the size of schools, to date, no researcher appears to have examined the role that the size of the middle school plays in determining incidents of violence specifically fighting, assaults, and aggravated assaults. Thus, the purpose of this study was…

Predicting Middle School Students' Use of Web 2.0 Technologies out of School Using Home and School Technological Variables

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Joan E.; Read, Michelle F.; Jones, Sara; Mahometa, Michael

2015-01-01

This study used multiple regression to identify predictors of middle school students' Web 2.0 activities out of school, a construct composed of 15 technology activities. Three middle schools participated, where sixth- and seventh-grade students completed a questionnaire. Independent predictor variables included three demographic and five computer…

Schooling Experiences and Perceptions of Resettled Sub-Saharan African Refugee Middle School Students in a Southwest U.S. State

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sallu, Adama

2012-01-01

This study examined the schooling experiences and perceptions of resettled sub-Saharan African middle school refugee students in a metropolitan area of the United States Southwest. The research questions underpinning this study included: What are the schooling experiences and perceptions of resettled sub-Saharan African middle school refugee…

Middle School Configuration Relationship with Eighth Grade Achievement with Administrator Perceptions of Strengths and Weaknesses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Billings, Tawny J.

2014-01-01

This mixed-method research study sought to investigate the relationship between middle school configuration and the academic achievement of eighth grade students in English Language Arts (ELA) and Algebra 1. The California Content Standards exam scores of 646 elementary middle schools (K-8) and 1,282 traditional middle schools (6-8, 7-8) in…

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…

Transforming High-Poverty Urban Middle Schools into Strong Learning Institutions: Lessons from the First Five Years of the Talent Development Middle School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balfanz, Robert; Mac Iver, Doug

2000-01-01

Two developers of the Talent Development Middle School model discuss 10 lessons from implementing, refining, and evaluating this model in 5 high-poverty middle schools in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and describe obstacles encountered and breakthroughs experienced in developing the knowledge base, materials, and infrastructure of the model. (SLD)

Student Achievement in High Performing, Suburban Middle Schools and Low Performing, Urban Middle Schools: Plausible Explanations for the Differences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

2004-01-01

Utilizing a qualitative, multisite case study design and the theoretical framework of Hoy and Hannum (1997), the design and execution of this research investigates plausible explanations for the difference in student achievement between high performing (HPS) suburban middle schools and low performing (LPS) urban middle schools. Aside from the…

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…

Urban Middle School African American Girls' Attitudes toward Physical Education and Out-of-School Physical Activity Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramsey, Victor

2012-01-01

The purposes of this two-part study were (1) to investigate urban middle school African American girls' physical activity levels and their relationships to attitudes and, (2) to explore urban middle school African American girls' attitude toward physical education. A total of (N = 649) African American girls from 14 New York City middle schools…

Unfinished but Not yet Exhausted: A Review of Australian Middle Schooling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prosser, Brenton

2008-01-01

The state of Middle Schooling in many Western countries has been described as under threat, at a crossroads and like a wasteland. Within Australia, it has also been claimed that the past generation focus on Middle Schooling is unfinished and exhausted. But a Middle Schooling movement continues in Australia that provides examples of a way out of a…

A Naturalistic Inquiry into the Attitudes toward Mathematics and Mathematics Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stramel, Janet K.

2010-01-01

While there has been much quantitative research done in the area of attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs, this study sought hear the voices of the middle school child. Therefore, this qualitative study investigated the attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics self-efficacy beliefs of middle school students in one middle school in western…

Are Boys Left Behind? The Evolution of the Gender Achievement Gap in Beijing's Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lai, Fang

2010-01-01

Using one cohort of 7235 middle school students in Beijing, China, we examined the evolution of the gender achievement gap in middle school. Our study found a more significant female dominance than in U.S. studies: even though boys gradually caught up during middle school, especially in Math and Science, and the gender achievement gap decreased…

Rethinking the globalisation of problem-based learning: how culture challenges self-directed learning.

PubMed

Frambach, Janneke M; Driessen, Erik W; Chan, Li-Chong; van der Vleuten, Cees P M

2012-08-01

Medical schools worldwide are increasingly switching to student-centred methods such as problem-based learning (PBL) to foster lifelong self-directed learning (SDL). The cross-cultural applicability of these methods has been questioned because of their Western origins and because education contexts and learning approaches differ across cultures. This study evaluated PBL's cross-cultural applicability by investigating how it is applied in three medical schools in regions with different cultures in, respectively, East Asia, the Middle East and Western Europe. Specifically, it investigated how students' cultural backgrounds impact on SDL in PBL and how this impact affects students. A qualitative, cross-cultural, comparative case study was conducted in three medical schools. Data were collected through 88 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Year 1 and 3 students, tutors and key persons involved in PBL, 32 observations of Year 1 and 3 PBL tutorials, document analysis, and contextual information. The data were thematically analysed using the template analysis method. Comparisons were made among the three medical schools and between Year 1 and 3 students across and within the schools. The cultural factors of uncertainty and tradition posed a challenge to Middle Eastern students' SDL. Hierarchy posed a challenge to Asian students and achievement impacted on both sets of non-Western students. These factors were less applicable to European students, although the latter did experience some challenges. Several contextual factors inhibited or enhanced SDL across the cases. As students grew used to PBL, SDL skills increased across the cases, albeit to different degrees. Although cultural factors can pose a challenge to the application of PBL in non-Western settings, it appears that PBL can be applied in different cultural contexts. However, its globalisation does not postulate uniform processes and outcomes, and culturally sensitive alternatives might be developed. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

``Physics with a Smile''-Explaining Phenomena with a Qualitative Problem-Solving Strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mualem, Roni; Eylon, Bat-Sheva

2007-03-01

Various studies indicate that high school physics students and even college students majoring in physics have difficulties in qualitative understanding of basic concepts and principles of physics.1-5 For example, studies carried out with the Force Concept Inventory (FCI)1,6 illustrate that qualitative tasks are not easy to solve even at the college level. Consequently, "conceptual physics" courses have been designed to foster qualitative understanding, and advanced high school physics courses as well as introductory college-level courses strive to develop qualitative understanding. Many physics education researchers emphasize the importance of acquiring some qualitative understanding of basic concepts in physics as early as middle school or in the context of courses that offer "Physics First" in the ninth grade before biology or chemistry.7 This trend is consistent with the call to focus the science curriculum on a small number of basic concepts and ideas, and to instruct students in a more "meaningful way" leading to better understanding. Studies7-10 suggest that familiar everyday contexts (see Fig. 1) are useful in fostering qualitative understanding.

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…

Identity and science learning in African American students in informal science education contexts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

James, Sylvia M.

2007-12-01

Science education researchers are recognizing the need to consider identity and other sociocultural factors when examining causes of the science achievement gap for African American students. Non-school settings may hold greater promise than formal schooling to promote identities that are conductive to science learning in African Americans. This mixed-methods study explored the relationship between participation in out-of-school-time (OST) science enrichment programs and African American middle and high school students' racial and ethnic identity (RED, social identity as science learners, and achievement. Pre-post questionnaires used a previously validated model of REI combined with an original subscale that was developed to measure social identity as science learners. Case studies of two programs allowed for an analysis of the informal learning setting. The treatment group (N = 36) consisted of African American middle and high school students in five OST science programs, while the control group (N = 54) students were enrolled in science classes in public schools in the mid-Atlantic region. Results of a t-test of independent means indicated that there was no significant difference between the treatment and control group on measures of REI or science identity. However, the treatment group earned significantly higher science grades compared to the control group, and an ANOVA revealed a significant relationship between science identity and the intention to pursue post-secondary science studies. Although not significant, MANOVA results indicated that students who participated in OST programs exhibited gradual increases in RD and science identity over time according to grade level and gender. Follow-up analysis revealed significant relationships between awareness of racism, gender, and length of time in OST programs. The case studies illustrated that a unique community of practice exists within the OST programs. Access to authentic science learning experiences, youth development, social interactions, and relationships with staff emerged as key elements of successful science enrichment programs, Collectively, the results suggest that informal learning settings are supportive environments for science learning. Further study is needed to examine the pattern of increasing REI and science identity over time, the impact of youth development and agency, and potential implications for science in school and informal learning contexts.

Mid South Middle Start: Studies of Three Middle Start Schools in the Mid South Delta

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rose, Lea Williams; Cheney, Nancy

2005-01-01

These three case studies highlight the implementation and impact of Mid South Middle Start by: (1) contributing toward an in-depth understanding of what it means to be a school implementing Middle Start; (2) describing a holistic portrait of the schools' participation in Mid South Middle Start; and (3) assisting the Academy for Educational…

Social class culture cycles: how three gateway contexts shape selves and fuel inequality.

PubMed

Stephens, Nicole M; Markus, Hazel Rose; Phillips, L Taylor

2014-01-01

America's unprecedented levels of inequality have far-reaching negative consequences for society as a whole. Although differential access to resources contributes to inequality, the current review illuminates how ongoing participation in different social class contexts also gives rise to culture-specific selves and patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting. We integrate a growing body of interdisciplinary research to reveal how social class culture cycles operate over the course of the lifespan and through critical gateway contexts, including homes, schools, and workplaces. We first document how each of these contexts socializes social class cultural differences. Then, we demonstrate how these gateway institutions, which could provide access to upward social mobility, are structured according to middle-class ways of being a self and thus can fuel and perpetuate inequality. We conclude with a discussion of intervention opportunities that can reduce inequality by taking into account the contextual responsiveness of the self.

An Advocate for Every Student at Millard Central Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balkus, Beth

2006-01-01

Central Middle School, part of the Millard Public School District, is a grade six through eight urban school located in Omaha, Nebraska. Omaha has a metropolitan and surrounding suburban population of approximately one million. Along with approximately 800 students in traditional middle school teams, CMS also offers a Montessori mini-magnet and…

My Classroom: China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gordon, Rebekah

2016-01-01

This article describes the teaching practice of two senior high school English teachers, Yu Huang and Yu Zhu. Their school is in Hezhang County--the No. 2 Middle School in the province of Guizhou. In China, most middle schools consist of six grades of students; the first three years are considered junior middle school and the latter three years…

Prioritizing Elementary School Writing Instruction: Cultivating Middle School Readiness for Students with Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ciullo, Stephen; Mason, Linda

2017-01-01

Helping elementary students with learning disabilities (LD) prepare for the rigor of middle school writing is an instructional priority. Fortunately, several standards-based skills in upper elementary school and middle school overlap. Teachers in upper elementary grades, specifically fourth and fifth grades, have the opportunity to provide…

Private Middle School Parents' Perspectives Regarding School-Located Immunization Programs (SLIPs)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Venkatesh, Sheila R.; Acosta, Amy B.; Middleman, Amy B.

2013-01-01

The perspectives of parents of private middle school students regarding the use of school-located immunization programs (SLIPs) are unknown. Parents of private middle school students in a large, urban setting were surveyed "N" = 1,210) regarding their willingness to use SLIPs. Analyses included frequencies and chi-square analyses. Data…

Focus on Curriculum Design for Middle School Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaminski, Lorraine B.; Dornbos, Karen L.

The middle school concept was devised to counteract the tendency of junior high school programs to mimic those of the high school at the expense of addressing the developmental needs of students who are in the process of physical maturation. This book on curriculum design focuses on the importance of the middle school and understanding…

Perceived Competence in Addressing Student Substance Abuse: A National Survey of Middle School Counselors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burrow-Sanchez, Jason J.; Lopez, Adriana L.; Slagle, Clark P.

2008-01-01

Background: Student substance abuse is a serious concern for middle school personnel. School counselors are most likely to deliver mental health services, including substance abuse, in school settings. However, limited research is available on the perceived competence of middle school counselors for addressing student substance abuse concerns. The…

An After-School Counseling Program for High-Risk Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kruczek, Theresa; Alexander, Charlene M.; Harris, Kevin

2005-01-01

There are a number of middle school students who experience difficulty making the transition from childhood to early adolescence and may be described as high-risk. This article describes an after-school program designed to promote healthy identity and adaptive personal choice behaviors in a high-risk group of middle school students.

Oscar F. Smith Middle School: One Extra Degree

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Principal Leadership, 2012

2012-01-01

This article features Oscar F. Smith Middle School, a challenging school in Chesapeake, Virginia. When Principal Linda Scott exclaims, "Oscar F. Smith Middle School is "hot"!" to visitors, she is not referring to the inside temperature of the bustling school of grades 6-8 located in the historic South Norfolk borough of…

BookTalks/Read Alouds, Special Programs, and Service Projects To Encourage Middle School Student Participation in the Library.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crowther, Eleanor

The practicum reported here was designed to increase middle school students' participation in and use of the school library programs and resources. BookTalks, Read Alouds, a special service project, and three all-school programs were accomplished in this independent school setting during a three-month period. Middle school students were encouraged…

Attitudes toward Diversity and the School Choice Process: Middle-Class Parents in a Segregated Urban Public School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimelberg, Shelley McDonough; Billingham, Chase M.

2013-01-01

White flight from urban public schools has been well documented, but little attention has been paid to middle-class reinvestment in urban schools. This article combines findings from interviews with middle-class parents of Boston Public School students with demographic data from the city's public elementary schools to examine the motivations of…

Middle School Concept Helps High-Poverty Schools Become High-Performing Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Picucci, Ali Callicoatte; Brownson, Amanda; Kahlert, Rahel; Sobel, Andrew

2004-01-01

The results of a study conducted by the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin for the U.S. Department of Education during the 2001-02 school year showed that elements of the middle school concept can lead to improved student performance, even in high-poverty schools. This article describes common elements of the middle school…

School-Wide Discipline Policies: In-School Suspension in One Middle School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chung, Gloria; Paul, Rachel

One of the more perplexing problems facing middle schools is the use of in-school suspension (ISS). So as to understand better the effects of this practice, one middle school's ISS program was studied and evaluated. Current research on ISS polices and practices is limited, and there is little evidence that supports its use or reform; however, in…

Self-Efficacy, Intrinsic Motivation, and Academic Outcomes among Latino Middle School Students Participating in an After-School Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niehaus, Kate; Rudasill, Kathleen Moritz; Adelson, Jill L.

2012-01-01

This longitudinal study examined how academic self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and participation in an after-school program contributed to the academic achievement of Latino middle school students over the course of one school year. Participants were 47 Latino students in sixth through eighth grades who attended two public middle schools in…

Relations between Popularity and Prosocial Behavior in Middle School and High School Chinese Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lu, Ting; Li, Ling; Niu, Li; Jin, Shenghua; French, Doran C.

2018-01-01

The concurrent and longitudinal associations between popularity, likeability, and prosocial behavior were evaluated in this three-year study of middle school and high school Chinese adolescents. The initial sample included 766 middle school (mean age = 13.3 years) and 668 high school participants (mean age = 16.6 years); there were 880 (399 girls)…

The Concerns and Attitudes of Early Adolescent Middle School Students in Transition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sierer, Timothy M.; Winfield, Linda F.

Junior high schools have been blamed for failing to meet the needs of early adolescents. Proponents of the new middle school structure favored moving grade nine to the high school and moving grade five and or six from the elementary school to the new structural organization. The uniqueness of the middle school is in how the philosophy behind this…

The impact of bullying and sexual harassment on middle and high school girls.

PubMed

Gruber, James E; Fineran, Susan

2007-06-01

The impact of bullying and sexual harassment on six health outcomes among middle school girls were compared to these outcomes among high school girls. High school girls experienced more bullying and sexual harassment and poorer health outcomes than their middle school counterparts, but the impact of these experiences was less among high school students. Differences in outcomes may be the result of better support systems and coping mechanisms among high school girls and/or challenging developmental changes during middle school. Sexual orientation, race, and disability had some notable relationships to bullying and sexual harassment experiences as well as health outcomes.

Opening the Classroom Door--A Survey of Middle Grades Teachers Who Mentor Preservice Teachers--Lessons from Clinical Partnerships and Implications for Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turner, Steven L.; Greene, Carie C.

2017-01-01

Middle school mentor teachers who participate in school-university clinical experiences have a unique opportunity to support preservice middle grades teachers' development and improve the schooling of young adolescents. This article investigates an early clinical experience and presents data from a survey of 38 middle school teachers who served as…

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…

The Middle School Mess: If You Love Bungee Jumping, You're the Middle School Type

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyer, Peter

2011-01-01

Suspended "between childhood and the adult world, pre-teens have been called the toughest to teach." Indeed, one can't touch middle school without hearing about "raging hormones." By all accounts, middle schools are a weak link in the chain of public education. Is it the churn of ill-conceived attempts at reform that's causing all the problems? Is…

The Middle Level Principalship. Volume I: A Survey of Middle Level Principals and Programs. Report of National Study of Schools in the Middle.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valentine, Jerry; And Others

A national questionnaire survey of 1,413 principals of middle-level schools (those offering any combination of grades 5 through 9) gathered data on principals' personal and professional traits, tasks, problems, and opinions on selected educational issues; on school programs; and on student, school, staff, and community characteristics. The data…

Are You Ready: The Perceptions of Middle School Counselors on Preparing Students to Be College and Career Ready

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Gerilyn

2017-01-01

This research examined, through a qualitative approach, the perceptions of middle school counselors and resources to prepare middle school students to be college and career ready. In the past, there has been a limited amount of research that has been completed on middle school students in the area of college and career readiness, most research has…

The earliest long-distance obsidian transport: Evidence from the ∼200 ka Middle Stone Age Sibilo School Road Site, Baringo, Kenya.

PubMed

Blegen, Nick

2017-02-01

This study presents the earliest evidence of long-distance obsidian transport at the ∼200 ka Sibilo School Road Site (SSRS), an early Middle Stone Age site in the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya. The later Middle Pleistocene of East Africa (130-400 ka) spans significant and interrelated behavioral and biological changes in human evolution including the first appearance of Homo sapiens. Despite the importance of the later Middle Pleistocene, there are relatively few archaeological sites in well-dated contexts (n < 10) that document hominin behavior from this time period. In particular, geochemically informed evidence of long-distance obsidian transport, important for investigating expansion of intergroup interactions in hominin evolution, is rare from the Middle Pleistocene record of Africa. The SSRS offers a unique contribution to this small but growing dataset. Tephrostratigraphic analysis of tuffs encasing the SSRS provides a minimum age of ∼200 ka for the site. Levallois points and methods of core preparation demonstrate characteristic Middle Stone Age lithic technologies present at the SSRS. A significant portion (43%) of the lithic assemblage is obsidian. The SSRS obsidian comes from three different sources located at distances of 25 km, 140 km and 166 km from the site. The majority of obsidian derives from the farthest source, 166 km to the south of the site. The SSRS thus provides important new evidence that long-distance raw material transport, and the expansion of hominin intergroup interactions that this entails, was a significant feature of hominin behavior ∼200 ka, the time of the first appearance of H. sapiens, and ∼150,000 years before similar behaviors were previously documented in the region. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Follow-up of an elementary school intervention for asthma management: do gains last into middle school?

PubMed

Greenberg, Cindy; Luna, Pamela; Simmons, Gretchen; Huhman, Marian; Merkle, Sarah; Robin, Leah; Keener, Dana

2010-06-01

Albuquerque Public Schools (APS), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conducted an evaluation to examine whether students who were exposed to the APS asthma program in elementary school retained benefits into middle school. APS middle school students who participated in the APS asthma program in elementary school, including the Open Airways for Schools (OAS) education curriculum, responded to a follow-up questionnaire (N = 121) and participated in student focus groups (N = 40). Asthma management self-efficacy scores from the follow-up questionnaire were compared to scores obtained before and after the OAS education component. Additional items assessed students' asthma symptoms, management skills, avoidance of asthma triggers, and school impact. Although asthma management self-efficacy scores declined in middle school among students exposed to the asthma program in elementary school, they remained significantly higher than scores obtained during elementary school prior to the OAS intervention. The results indicate that although students benefited from the asthma program delivered in elementary school, they need booster sessions and continued school support in middle school.

Teachers’ work ability: a study of relationships between collective efficacy and self-efficacy beliefs

PubMed Central

Guidetti, Gloria; Viotti, Sara; Bruno, Andreina; Converso, Daniela

2018-01-01

Introduction Work ability constitutes one of the most studied well-being indicators related to work. Past research highlighted the relationship with work-related resources and demands, and personal resources. However, no studies highlight the role of collective and self-efficacy beliefs in sustaining work ability. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine whether and by which mechanism work ability is linked with individual and collective efficacies in a sample of primary and middle school teachers. Materials and methods Using a dataset consisting of 415 primary and middle school Italian teachers, the analysis tested for the mediating role of self-efficacy between collective efficacy and work ability. Results Mediational analysis highlights that teachers’ self-efficacy totally mediates the relationship between collective efficacy and perceived work ability. Conclusion Results of this study enhance the theoretical knowledge and empirical evidence regarding the link between teachers’ collective efficacy and self-efficacy, giving further emphasis to the concept of collective efficacy in school contexts. Moreover, the results contribute to the study of well-being in the teaching profession, highlighting a process that sustains and promotes levels of work ability through both collective and personal resources. PMID:29861646

Cognitive Development Effects of Teaching Probabilistic Decision Making to Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mjelde, James W.; Litzenberg, Kerry K.; Lindner, James R.

2011-01-01

This study investigated the comprehension and effectiveness of teaching formal, probabilistic decision-making skills to middle school students. Two specific objectives were to determine (1) if middle school students can comprehend a probabilistic decision-making approach, and (2) if exposure to the modeling approaches improves middle school…

Preparing New Teachers for Contemporary Middle Grades Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Susan

2013-01-01

This article describes the middle grades teacher preparation program at Augusta State University in Georgia. It describes the negotiation between the middle school concept and the standardized testing culture of the local schools as the faculty redesigned the undergraduate middle grades program to adequately address both. Ways in which new…

[Relationship between cyberbullying and the suicide related psychological behavior among middle and high school students in Anhui Province].

PubMed

Wang, Gengfu; Fang, Yu; Jiang, Liu; Zhou, Guiyang; Yuan, Shanshan; Wang, Xiuxiu; Su, Puyu

2015-11-01

To examine the prevalence rate of cyberbullying in middle and high school students in Anhui Province and explore the relationship between cyberbullying and suicide related psychological behavior. A total of 5726 middle and high school students from the 7th to the 12th grades in three regular middle schools and three regular high schools recruited from three cities in the Anhui Province (Tongling, Chuzhou, and Fuyang). Tongling, Chuzhou, and Fuyang are in the south, middle and north of Anhui, respectively. Each city was selected one regular middle school and one regular high school, and 8 classes were selected form each grade from each school. A stratified cluster random sampling method was used to randomly select 5726 participants among the six schools. Self-reports on cyberbullying and suicide related psychological behavior were collected. Among these 5726 adolescents, 46.8% of them involved in cyberbullying. Among them, 3.2% were bullies, 23.8% were victims, and 19.8% were both. Prevalence rates of suicide idea, suicide plan, suicide preparation, suicide implementation were 19.3%, 6.9%, 4.7% and 1.8%, respectively. Cyberbullying involvement, as victims, bullies or bully-victims, increased the risk of four kinds of suicide related psychological behavior (suicide idea, suicide plan, suicide preparation, suicide implementation) (P < 0.05). Cyberbullying has become a common occurrence in middle and high school students. Additionally, cyberbullying is closely related to suicide related psychological behavior among middle and high school students.

Medical educators working abroad: a pilot study of educators' experiences in the Middle East.

PubMed

McLean, Michelle; McKimm, Judy; Major, Stella

2014-09-01

Medical education is now a global enterprise, with many medical educators working internationally, either for short or longer periods or even permanently. In parallel, many medical schools are now involved in collaborations and partnerships with schools in other countries. With this in mind, we set out to explore what motivates, supports and inhibits medical educators who wish to or might work outside their "home country". This article reports on the pilot stage (in specific organizational contexts in Middle East) of a longitudinal project aimed at canvassing medical educators on a broader global scale, using reflective accounts and a questionnaire survey. The findings from this pilot study raise interesting issues about the lived experience of medical educators who have chosen to work in a different culture from their own. Respondents identify many advantages around skills, personal and professional development. Three main issues emerged in terms of educators' experiences: the academic environment, medical practice in a different cultural context and personal matters. Adapting to the local culture, gender segregation and the impact on learning and teaching was an overarching factor. We introduce an explanatory framework to explain the development of international educator identity, a cyclical process in which, through experiences and reflection, individual world views and perspectives are continually modified and developed. This pilot study tested the methodologies and developed a new conceptual model that will be used in a wider study across different cultures.

Programming maternal and child overweight and obesity in the context of undernutrition: current evidence and key considerations for low- and middle-income countries.

PubMed

Jaacks, Lindsay M; Kavle, Justine; Perry, Abigail; Nyaku, Albertha

2017-05-01

The goals of the present targeted review on maternal and child overweight and obesity were to: (i) understand the current situation in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) with regard to recent trends and context-specific risk factors; and (ii) building off this, identify entry points for leveraging existing undernutrition programmes to address overweight and obesity in LMIC. Trends reveal that overweight and obesity are a growing problem among women and children in LMIC; as in Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, where the prevalence among urban women is approaching 50 %. Four promising entry points were identified: (i) the integration of overweight and obesity into national nutrition plans; (ii) food systems (integration of food and beverage marketing regulations into existing polices on the marketing of breast-milk substitutes and adoption of policies to promote healthy diets); (iii) education systems (integration of nutrition into school curricula with provision of high-quality foods through school feeding programmes); and (iv) health systems (counselling and social and behaviour change communication to improve maternal diet, appropriate gestational weight gain, and optimal infant and young child feeding practices). We conclude by presenting a step-by-step guide for programme officers and policy makers in LMIC with actionable objectives to address overweight and obesity.

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

Expected Prevalence From the Differential Diagnosis of Anterior Knee Pain in Adolescent Female Athletes During Preparticipation Screening

PubMed Central

Barber Foss, Kim D.; Myer, Gregory D.; Chen, Stephen S.; Hewett, Timothy E.

2012-01-01

Context Anterior knee pain is a common disorder in female athletes with an undefined cause. The relative prevalence of specific patellofemoral disorders associated with anterior knee pain in adolescent females remains undetermined. Objective To determine the prevalence of specific patellofemoral disorders obtained using the differential diagnosis of anterior knee pain in adolescent female athletes during preparticipation screening. Design Descriptive epidemiology study. Setting Preparticipation screening evaluations at a county public school district in Kentucky. Patients or Other Participants A total of 419 unique middle and high school–aged female athletes. Main Outcome Measure(s) Participants were evaluated by physicians for anterior knee pain over 3 consecutive basketball seasons. Given the longitudinal nature of this study, some participants were tested longitudinally over multiple years. Results Over the course of 3 basketball seasons, 688 patient evaluations were performed. Of these, 183 (26.6%) were positive for anterior knee pain. A statistically significant difference was noted in the prevalence of anterior knee pain by school level, with 34.4% (n = 67) in high school–aged athletes versus 23.5% (n = 116) in middle school–aged athletes (P < .05). In the 1376 knees evaluated, patellofemoral dysfunction was the most common diagnosis, with an overall prevalence of 7.3% (n = 100). The only diagnosis shown to be statistically different between age levels was Sinding-Larsen-Johansson disease or patellar tendinopathy, with 38 cases (9.7%) in high school–aged and 31 (3.1%) in middle school–aged athletes (P < .05). Conclusions Anterior knee pain was present in 26.6% of the adolescent female athletes screened over 3 years. Symptoms of anterior knee pain likely persist after middle school–aged onset and reach peak prevalence during the high school years. PMID:23068589

Middle School Buildings for the 21st Century.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

George, Paul S.

2003-01-01

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

[Distribution and main influential factors of mental workload of middle school teachers in Nanchang City].

PubMed

Xiao, Yuanmei; Li, Weijuan; Ren, Qingfeng; Ren, Xiaohui; Wang, Zhiming; Wang, Mianzhen; Lan, Yajia

2015-01-01

To investigate the distribution and main influential factors of mental workload of middle school teachers in Nanchang City. A total of 504 middle school teachers were sampled by random cluster sampling from middle schools in Nanchang City, and the mental workload level was assessed with National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) which was verified in reliability and validity. The mental workload scores of middle school teachers in Nanchang was approximately normal distribution. The mental workload level of middle school teachers aged 31 -35 years old was the highest. For those no more than 35 years old, there was positive correlation between mental workload and age (r = 0.146, P < 0.05). For those more than 35 years old, the levels of their mental workload had no statistically significant difference. There was a negative correlation between mental workload and educational level(r = -0.172, P < 0.05). The middle school teachers with lower educational level seemed to have a higher mental workload (P < 0.01). The longer a middle school teacher worked per day, the higher the mental workload was. Working hours per day was the most influential factor on mental workload in all influential factors (P < 0.001). Mental workload of middle school teachers was closely related to age, educational level and work hours per day. Working hours per day was the important risk factor of mental workload. Reducing working hours per day, especially reducing it to be no more than 8 hours per day, may be a significant and useful approach alleviating mental workload of middle school teachers in Nanchang City.

Predictors and consequences of prescription drug misuse during middle school.

PubMed

Tucker, Joan S; Ewing, Brett A; Miles, Jeremy N V; Shih, Regina A; Pedersen, Eric R; D'Amico, Elizabeth J

2015-11-01

Non-medical prescription drug use (NMPDU) is a growing public health problem among adolescents. This is the first study to examine the correlates of early NMPDU initiation during middle school, and how early initiation is associated with four domains of functioning in high school (mental health, social, academic, and delinquency). Students initially in 6th-8th grades from 16 middle schools completed in-school surveys between 2008 and 2011 (Waves 1-5), and a web-based survey in 2013-2014 (Wave 6). We used discrete time survival analysis to assess predictors of initiation from Waves 1 to 5 based on students who provided NMPDU information at any of these waves (n=12,904), and regression analysis to examine high school outcomes associated with initiation based on a sample that was followed into high school, Wave 6 (n=2539). Low resistance self-efficacy, family substance use, low parental respect, and offers of other substances from peers were consistently associated with NMPDU initiation throughout middle school. Further, perceiving that more of one's peers engaged in other substance use was associated with initiation at Wave 1 only. By high school, those students who initiated NMPDU during middle school reported lower social functioning, and more suspensions and fighting, compared to students who did not initiate NMPDU during middle school. NMPDU initiation during middle school is associated with poorer social functioning and greater delinquency in high school. It is important for middle school prevention programs to address NMPDU. Such programs should focus on both family and peer influences, as well as strengthening resistance self-efficacy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Renewing the Middle School: The Early Success of Middle School Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

George, Paul S.

2009-01-01

Renewing the Middle School is a special three-part series in which the author, an eminent scholar in the field of middle grades education, offers his view on the status of middle grades education and its prospects for the future. In this part of the series, he responds strongly to some of the criticism that has been aimed at American public…

Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades: Why Some Schools Do Better. A Large-Scale Study of Middle Grades Practices and Student Outcomes. Technical Appendix B

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

EdSource, 2010

2010-01-01

This appendix focuses on the descriptive statistics of the middle study schools that participated in the "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades: Why Some Schools Do Better. A Large-Scale Study of Middle Grades Practices and Student Outcomes. Initial Research." This appendix contains the following figures: (1) Student…

Spotlight on the Middle: Report of the Texas Task Force on Middle School Education. Executive Summary and State Board of Education Policy Statement on Middle Grade Education and Middle Grade Schools. Revised.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas Education Agency, Austin.

This summary highlights implementation strategies from the full report for restructuring middle grade education in Texas. The task force was guided by a central theme--a vision of Texas schools using each other as resources and the campus planning process as a vehicle for implementing research-based concepts and practices in the middle grades.…

Value recognition and eating patterns of Kimchi in female middle school students and their mothers

PubMed Central

Lee, Min-June; Yoon, In-Kyung

2007-01-01

This study analyzed Kimchi eating culture in 178 households with female middle school children located in Incheon and Seosan areas, investigated the Kimchi eating patterns of female middle school students, and also analyzed the differences in value recognition for Kimchi between mothers and their female middle school students. Results showed that 23.0% of subject households answered eat Kimchi at every meal and the main reason for eating Kimchi in most households was good for taste. Most households made their own Kimchi, and only 12.3% of households bought Kimchi. Subject households preferred hot and spicy taste (34.8%) and pleasing taste (20.2%), and 44.4% of middle school children answered as eating Kimchi at every meal, and the source for information on Kimchi was home in 51.6% and mass media in 33.7%, suggesting the lack of school education. Both mothers and their female middle school students placed high value on Kimchi for its nutritional aspect and on Kimchi from the market for its convenience. Mothers showed significantly higher value (p<0.05) on the storage aspect of Kimchi compared to their middle school students, and female middle school students showed significantly higher value (p<0.05) on the value recognition for Kimchi as an international food compared to their mothers. Also, the value for hot pepper powder was high among other additional ingredients, and both mothers and middle school students had high values for Kimchi stew among other food dishes using Kimchi, and middle school students showed higher values (p<0.001) on foreign dishes using Kimchi such as Kimchi pizza and Kimchi spaghetti compared to the mothers group. Therefore, based on these results, the development of educational programs on Kimchi is needed not only at home but also at schools, by re-emphasizing the importance of value recognition for KImchi in our food culture. PMID:20535401

Children's Understanding of Lies in Elementary School Years.

PubMed

Hayashi, Hajimu

2017-01-01

The author examined whether children's understanding of lies exhibits developmental trends in the elementary school years. Four story contexts were presented to 51 first-grade students, 44 fourth-grade students, and 58 adults. These stories represented combinations of a protagonist's intention (truthful or deceptive) and the truth of the protagonist's message (true or false). The results showed that adults judged whether these messages were lies by considering the protagonist's intentions. By contrast, approximately 30% of first-grade students and some fourth-grade students did not consider intentions in making judgments, although they appropriately predicted the outcomes of the messages. These results suggest that children in the early elementary school years have a conception of lies different from that of adults, and their conception of lies becomes more sophisticated after middle childhood.

Middle School Developmental Guidance. "Steps to Success."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orange County Public Schools, Orlando, FL.

This document articulates the goals and objectives of the middle school guidance program in Orange County, Florida Public Schools system. Professional roles and responsibilities are discussed, as well as program implementation. These goals to assist students are listed for the middle school guidance program: (1) understanding the school…

Exploring Parental Involvement Strategies Utilized by Middle School Interdisciplinary Teams

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robbins, Chris; Searby, Linda

2013-01-01

Adolescents present a unique collection of characteristics and challenges which middle school interdisciplinary teams were designed to address. This article describes a research study which explored parental involvement strategies employed by interdisciplinary teaching teams from three very different middle schools: an affluent suburban school, a…

The Relationships among School Types, Teacher Efficacy Beliefs, and Academic Climate: Perspective from Asian Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chong, Wan Har; Klassen, Robert M.; Huan, Vivien S.; Wong, Isabella; Kates, Allison Diane

2010-01-01

The authors explored how prior student achievement, through school types, predicted teacher self- and collective efficacy and perceived academic climate of 222 middle school teachers in Singapore. Teachers assigned to high-track and regular middle schools differed in their perception of self- and collective efficacy to promote organizational…

Effects of Education on Breastfeeding Knowledge and Attitudes among Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zeller, Cynthia Lee

2016-01-01

Objective: The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the impact of a school health module on the breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes of middle school students. Method: A convenience sample of 39 middle school students received education related to breastfeeding and completed a pre-test and a post-test. The School Survey on Breastfeeding…

Identifying Factors in Successful Transformations from Junior High to Middle School: A Multi-Case Study Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shapiro, Michael N.

2016-01-01

This dissertation investigated the reasons that school districts chose to change the structure of their middle grades learning environments from the traditional junior high school to the newer middle school model. The study answers the following research questions: According to the perceptions of teachers, school and district administrators, and…

Violence Prevention in Middle School: A Preliminary Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

KIllam, Wendy K.; Roland, Catherine B.; Weber, Bill

2014-01-01

Violence in schools continues reflecting violence within society. There is a growing need for violence prevention programs within the schools that provide students with the skills needed to cope with interpersonal and relationship is-sues effectively. This study was conducted at a middle school and there were 345 middle school students (6th to 8th…

Association of Being Bullied in School with Suicide Ideation and Planning among Rural Middle School Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bhatta, Madhav P.; Shakya, Sunita; Jefferis, Eric

2014-01-01

Background: This study examined the association of ever being bullied in school with suicide ideation (ever thinking about killing oneself) and ever seriously making a plan to kill oneself (suicide planning) among rural middle school adolescents. Methods: Using the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Middle School Youth Risk Behavior…

A Program Review of a Middle School Gay-Straight Alliance Club

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quasha, Scott; McCabe, Paul C.; Ortiz, Samuel O.

2014-01-01

This program review examined a middle school Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club within a northeastern suburban school situated in a large metropolitan area. The GSA was the first in the region to start exclusively in a standalone middle school. The review was accomplished through a staff survey comparing school climates for lesbian, gay, bisexual,…

Change Is Hard: Easing into the Middle Grades

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

George, Marshall A.; Breslin, Mary Claire; Evans, William

2007-01-01

Although the transition from elementary school to middle school can be an exciting time for students, it can also be vexing and traumatic. Often, when parents drop off their children at middle school on the first day of school, the scene is reminiscent of the first day of school for kindergarteners and their parents. At Albert Leonard Middle…