For too long, the middle grades have been racked by a mistaken narrative that this age group is simply too difficult, or that it's a time in life when one must simply endure rather than thrive. The Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) rejects that narrative. It is time for a unified policy agenda in support of the middle grades. This…

This study explores the link between workload and work performance among junior high school teachers under China's "Double Reduction" policy. The study employed a quantitative approach, surveying 1,135 junior high school teachers from various regions in China. Utilizing the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) to measure workload and a binary…

Accountability efforts under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) has brought greater attention to school-level processes and practices and their impact on student outcomes. This has pushed states to report more school-level inputs, including per-pupil expenditures. Grounded in an open systems theory (OST) framework, we identify the association…

This study investigates the relation between exposure to neighborhood violence and student performance, focusing on the spatial effects of crime. Using São Paulo city (Brazil) as case study, we applied multilevel and simultaneous equations models combined with a spatial approach. If the effects of crime can be felt across the city, reducing this…

Across the United States, there is an increased interest in improving school climate, reflecting a deepening understanding of the foundational role that school climate can play in supporting students' well-being, learning, and development. School climate is constructed from norms, expectations, and interpersonal relationships that come together to…

The present paper delves into how symbolic boundaries in a school that is undergoing a desegregation process come to shape social boundaries of 'we-ness' and 'otherness'. The theoretical framework of the study starts from an interest in analysing whether symbolic and social boundaries emerge in new encounters during a desegregation process and…

In this article, I present a new conceptual framework constructed using sensemaking theory and Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to demonstrate layers of policy enactment. The framework reimagines policy enactment as a sociomaterial ethico-political activity by considering the factors that mediate policy enactment and the assemblages facilitating the…

In Part 2 we examine how compliance with Health and Safety at Work legislation through paperwork impacts EOTC. The literature suggests writing promotes thinking, particularly when viewed as a process and not just a product. Results from a national survey and interviews show that paperwork is a major barrier to EOTC for many schools. Analysis…

In 2009, the Lumina Foundation published "A Stronger Nation through Higher Education: How and Why Americans Must Meet a 'Big Goal' for College Attainment," which projected a staggering shortfall of college-educated adults to meet labor market demand--16 million nationally by 2025. Like many states, the Illinois P-20 Council quickly…

A comprehensive national study investigated education outside the classroom (EOTC) in Aotearoa New Zealand and revealed the negative impact of safety legislation on EOTC. To understand the work the safety legislation does, we analysed data from a survey and interviews, and developed a framework of spheres of responsibilities: student safety;…

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been making considerable inroads into everyday lives, and AI applications and resources can be found in homes, businesses, entertainment venues, and--of course--in schools. The rapid rate at which AI is being integrated into education and placed in the hands of students, teachers, and other staff has prompted a…

The objective of the qualitative study was to investigate the perceived competency of school counselors in working with at-risk students who engage in self-injury, and their use of professional standards to effectively navigate their intervention. Self-injury (SI) is a behavioral concern defined as the intentional injuring of body tissue without…

The past two decades have seen a growing de-professionalization of teaching. Combating this educational climate requires music teacher education programs to prioritize both critical pedagogical practices and policy knowhow in order to reestablish a focus on relational engagements and the navigation of the complex tensions lived daily in schools.…

Direct certification has been described by policymakers and academics as a tool which may replace National School Lunch Program (NSLP) eligibility data (Douglas Geverdt, National Center for Education Statistics, personal communication, August 28, 2023). It suggests a policy future in which we change the metric of how we identify disadvantage. On…

In this article, the author argues that living literacies--relational, embodied forms of literacy engagement--are an integral component of literacy engagement and hold the potential to disrupt and reconfigure the power structures embedded within schooled literacy. Drawing on affect theory and rhizomatic theory, the author analyzes youths' literacy…