Middle grades teachers and middle grades teacher educators are practicing in a complex sociocultural and sociopolitical moment. As part of the recent critical turn in middle grades education, antiracist teaching and equity pedagogies have gained momentum in the middle grades education literature. Calls to engage in these practices, however, have…

This study explores teachers' perspectives on mandala coloring as a therapeutic tool for middle grades students with disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs). Employing an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, the research first conducted qualitative interviews with ten experienced teachers, followed by teachers' quantitative assessments of 60…

Currently, there is a paucity of research concerning the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform's Schools to Watch national school improvement program. Of the handful of existing studies, very few have examined or addressed student learning or achievement. In this this study we systematically collected and analyzed data from the 34…

Restorative justice is an alternative disciplinary approach to the traditional, punitive approach to discipline. This case study focused on exploring the implementation of restorative justice discipline practices within a middle school. Participants included students, teachers, and an administrator. Five themes emerged from the data: (a) different…

This qualitative study focused on the life histories of four female African-American middle level teachers. The findings illuminate how culturally responsive caring can and should be foundational to successful teaching that does not discriminate but instead uplifts every student and assures them that teachers will seek to know, understand, teach,…

A substantial body of research has shown that academic intrinsic motivation/cognitive engagement decreases from grades three through eight (Lepper, Corpus, & Iyengar, 2005). This phenomenon is troubling if education is to be viewed as a process through which learning goals become gradually internalized and connected with one's sense of self.…

This mixed-methods study examined the relationship between middle level science students' perceptions of teacher-student interactions and students' science motivation, particulary their efficacy, value, and goal orientation for learning science. In this sequential explanatory design, quantitative and qualitative data were collected in two phases,…

The goal of this study was to examine perceptions, attitudes, and reported practices of a group of middle level Language Arts teachers concerning sexuality-related issues. Through interviews with 15 teachers, the study found that sexuality was in one sense pervasive, as it came up frequently in the teachers' practice. Yet at the same time the…

This mixed-methods study explored the effectiveness of single-sex classes according to key stakeholders in this educational reform--the teachers who choose or are hired to teach in single-sex classes and schools. Specifically, this study examined the on-the-ground experiences of middle school teachers as they attempted to implement a relatively…

This qualitative case study investigated middle grades literacy coaches' perspectives on their efforts to facilitate teacher change and impact classroom practice. Data were collected from three coaches as they worked with a variety of teachers in middle school settings, using field observation and interviews with coaches, teachers, and principals.…

Relevant, challenging, integrative, and exploratory all describe the curriculum desirable in middle school (National Middle School Association, 2010). Career-relevant curriculum is one prominent strategy used since the 1970s to achieve these goals. Systematic, integrated, and contemporary efforts at career education often engage core teachers who…

Interest in the concept of distributed leadership has increased as evidenced in the recent literature. While there has been much discussion, there has been scant empirical evidence of distributed leadership in practice. This research study examines one middle school where educators practiced distributed leadership daily. Approached from an…

This report summarizes the results of a survey on attitudes toward inclusion, which was conducted in a middle school in a large school district in the Southeast. The survey was given prior to the beginning of the school year, and immediately prior to the implementation of full inclusion. Respondents were general and special educators,…

Authentic and constructive learning experiences that include analysis of primary source documents are necessary elements of effective social studies teaching (Bailyn, 1994; Leinhardt, Stainton, & Virji, 1994; Wineburg & Wilson, 1991; Young & Leinhardt, 1998). This study examines the abilities of 70 fifth and seventh grade students to complete…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 calls for improving test scores of minority students in third through eighth grades, making middle level schools a key venue for closing the racial gap in achievement. This study, by analyzing data on the 15,000 eighth graders who took the 2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics,…