This year's report examines the critical role community plays in education. Integrating learning that takes place inside and outside of school has always been a powerful strategy to support student success, but it gained special relevance this year, as school closures made family and community members integral parts of students' daily learning.…

In 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation extended grants to three educational organizations working to develop or enhance competency-based approaches in large, urbanized school systems. The grant initiative, called Project Mastery, funded the development of technology-enhanced tools, including curriculum materials and online learning…

In 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation created the Project Mastery grant program to support competency-based education initiatives in large school systems that serve a high proportion of disadvantaged youth. Competency-based education meets students where they are academically, provides students with opportunities for choice, and awards…

This fifth annual update on America's high school dropout crisis shows that, for the first time in history, the nation has crossed the 80 percent high school graduation rate threshold and remains on pace, for the second year in a row, to meet the goal of a 90 percent high school graduation rate by the Class of 2020. This report highlights key…

Before discussing the problems confronting middle schools, the author examines some characteristics of effective middle schools. Successful middle schools possess certain common elements in the areas of climate or learning atmosphere, instruction balance, teaching strategies, emphasis on achievement, guidance orientation, organization, teachers,…

This program provides challenging mathematics for children with above average mathematical ability, with particular focus on the top third of 10 to 12 year olds. The material was composed on worksheets and categorized under Angles, Circles, Data and Coordinates, Directed Number, Fractions, Measures, Number and Symmetry. (MP)

The article describes the benefits of the "Person-to-Person" career education program designed to help students, through contact with the community, make informed career choices. (DS)

The middle school curriculum presents a multifaceted approach that is designed to meet individual needs as well as to provide for group interaction. (Author/IRT)

All the people at Rhodes are optimistic that the humanistic approach of the house concept organization can offer students in large inner city schools the sense of family needed before any educational program can work. (For availability, see EA 507 405.) (Author/IRT)

The purpose of this practicum was to develop and implement an articulated educational program for an urban middle school. In his discussion, the author identifies a number of programs that contribute to poor articulation and suggests activities that can overcome these problems. Heart of the practicum was an effort to improve articulation between…

A homeroom guidance program in middle schools is one way of helping adolescents adjust to the changes in their lives. One such program at a middle school in Massachusetts strives to develop a supportive group atmosphere where students can discuss adolescent issues and obtain useful advice. (TE)

Describes the development and field-testing of Insight to Science, a science program for ages 11-13 developed by the Inner London Education Authority and published by Addison-Wesley. The program includes physical and life sciences and is intended as an introductory science experience. (CP)

This issue paper describes a professor's and a teacher's experiences with Project Connect, an ongoing collaborative service-learning project between preservice teachers at Western Washington University (WWU) and eighth-grade students at Fairhaven Middle School in the Bellingham (Washington) Public School District. The paper explains that for both…

This document describes programs that provide support for at-risk students in the various schools of the Charleston (South Carolina) school district. The 12 elementary schools implement a variety of approaches in their programs, from teachers providing mutual support to programs targeting specific curriculum areas, such as reading programs or…

A sequence of activities is presented that has been used to explore powers of numbers and patterns with middle school students. Experiences with use of this sequence are noted. The material is designed to serve three instructional purposes, which are noted at the conclusion. (MP)