Research continues to support the many teaching and learning benefits of one-to-one laptop learning. Benefits range from improved student engagement and teacher-student interactions to the attainment of 21st century skills and the transformation of teacher practice. Additional benefits include improved student writing skills, increased teacher…

A rationale is presented for developing gifted education projects that are differentiated from the regular curriculum. A specific activity, called "Let's Build a Sailboat," is described to illustrate guiding principles for success in student project development. The project taught planning and management skills to junior high school gifted…

Middle level program planning involves three phases over three years: developing a written school philosophy, designing the curricular program, and implementing the plan to meet objectives. (Author/DCS)

This paper describes the development and establishment of an inclusive education program on a junior high school campus. Although this is the documentation of secondary programming, with an emphasis on severe disabilities, these "phases" can be generalized to other program areas and levels of education. During phase I, a functional,…

Outcomes of a school improvement program begun in 1988 at Roosevelt Middle School in Eugene, Oregon, are described in this paper. The first part provides a background of the school's innovative process and program development. The second part outlines the school's major components of restructuring--a common vision and core beliefs, principles of…

This manual is intended to aid communities and school districts in the development of school-age child care programs. Section I, "Program Initiation," describes first steps in starting a school-age child care program. These include development of community awareness, needs assessment, program design, and program promotion. The broad issues are…

School-to-work efforts in the middle school provide students with in-depth exposure to a variety of careers. School-to-work efforts at the middle school level also help students identify their interests, aptitudes, and abilities. Key components of middle school school-to-work include the opportunity for students to do the following: build…

This report describes the methods used to plan, organize, and teach an integrated thematic unit in the Spring of 1994 at Fairmont Junior High School in Boise, Idaho. The unit was planned collaboratively with assistance from preservice teachers and their professors at Boise State University, the principal and teachers at the junior high school, and…

This guide was designed to assist school administrators, teachers, counselors, parents and others who are interested in developing guidance programs which meet the needs of young adolescents in Oregon. Practices, procedures, and forms that school districts have found to be most useful in implementing a coordinated guidance and counseling program…

This guide to improving middle school guidance programs is based on two premises: (1) that the primary goal of the guidance program is to help students find meaning in their lives, and by this means, find relevancy in what schools have to offer them; and (2) that this sense of relevancy is accompanied by higher motivation to learn, and as a…

This junior high/middle school career exploration implementation manual is designed to assist in implementing a comprehensive career exploration program using four career exploration components developed in the Improving Career Exploration project. The first of six sections addresses career exploration and career/vocational development. Basic…

This planning and development guide suggests that careful, comprehensive, long range planning combined with gradual program implementation and effective administrative leadership can create responsive middle school programs. Sample sequential objective charts and activity lists are included. (DCS)

This report describes a project initiated at Westlawn Junior High School, Edmonton (Canada), in which the Community Development Office of Capital Health (CDO) worked with students using the asset-based community building approach. Focus was on the discovery, connection, and mobilization of the students' assets and gifts and connecting these with…

This report presents the results of an evaluation of the Mesa Public Schools Gifted/Extended Learning Program. The gifted program offers a one day per week program at 13 sites for qualifying students in grades 3-6 and specific classes for the students at all junior and senior high schools. Attitudinal data were collected for parents, teachers,…

A program was designed to improve the reading interests of students in a rural middle school. An analysis of the problem indicated that the students were not reading many library books. One of the probable causes for the lack of interest was related to the small amount of recreational reading done by students. A search of the literature revealed…