Census of 52 Future Farmers of America (FFA) executive secretaries found the following: 30 states have middle-grade agricultural education; 19 have middle-grade FFA membership; 14 have a core agriculture curriculum; 17 have state-level competitions; most do not favor national middle-grade competitions; and few disadvantages apart from potential…

The Michigan Educational Assessment Program presents an untimed, 100-question Social Studies Test (Form 65) for grade 7 students to assess social studies skills. This document contains the test booklet only. (PN)

This study was developed to determine if changes in the extent of lifetime sports instruction had taken place in New York State secondary schools since 1967. The subjects of this study were 530 randomly selected New York State secondary schools. Schools were classified into the following three levels according to the number of pupils in grades…

This report analyzes the experiences of 27 states selected to participate in Carnegie Corporation of New York's Middle Grade School State Policy Initiative (MGSSPI), a 3-year grant program to states to stimulate fundamental reform in schools serving 10- to 15-year old students. MGSSPI states are working to radically transform the education…

A study used 1999-2000 data from Accelerated Reader and STAR Reading to assess students' reading practice, growth in reading performance, and effects of Reading Renaissance training on students' reading development. The study included 10 schools that participated in the 1998-99 study and 27 additional schools. Data from 7876 students enrolled in…

In 1998, as part of a major 3-year Reading Initiative, the Albertson Foundation provided $24.5 million to improve the reading performance of all Idaho elementary, middle, and junior high students. The reading components of School Renaissance (SR), a comprehensive school improvement program, include Accelerated Reader (AR) learning information…

First-year outcomes of a restructuring project in four Maryland middle schools are summarized in this paper, with a focus on new rules, roles, and relationships. Methodology involved interviews with 52 teachers and building administrators and 18 state department of education staff members; observation of school improvement teams; and document…

This publication is intended as a reference for school-level personnel, such as nurses, selected teachers, and administrators, on the procedures for initiating and maintaining a scoliosis screening program for girls in grade seven and boys in grade eight. It provides school personnel with a document that contains standards for school screening…

The proposed plan for providing teacher training to implement the occupational clusters approach to career orientation in Virginia schools consists of four phases. Phase I is a two- or three-day regional workshop for teachers about to implement the program. During the two weeks of phase II teachers begin the program in their school classrooms,…

This guide presents scoring criteria, the writing prompt, and sample student papers for the grade 8 end of grade persuasive/argumentative composition statewide writing achievement test. The introductory section presents background information on statewide writing tests in North Carolina, scoring writing samples, and the scoring process. The next…

The sourcebook provides descriptions of 16 exemplary middle school/junior high school resource room programs in Massachusetts. Programs in the following schools are covered: Walsh Middle School (Framingham), Wilson Junior High School (Natick), Oxford Middle School (Oxford), North Junior High School (Pittsfield), Sutton Middle School (Sutton),…

A three-part evaluation plan is presented for the occupational clusters approach to career orientation project, which attempted to design and field-test a two-semester curriculum package for orienting junior high students to the world of work. Project effectiveness will be estimated at three points in its development. In the laboratory setting…

A description of the Occupational Exploration program implemented in North Carolina in 1970 for grades 7 through 9 is presented. The Environmental Laboratory, which includes the Agribusiness and Natural Resources Occupational cluster, is emphasized. (LH)

This booklet contains released test items from the spring 2000 administration of the eighth grade mathematics and science tests of the Colorado Student Assessment Program. Items are released with the correct answers, and the scoring guide is included for selections from the constructed response portion of the science test. (SLD)

The Texas Education Code required the commissioner of education to conduct a study to determine the need to expand the assessment system to include the assessment in grades 7 and 8 of limited English proficient (LEP) students whose primary language is Spanish and other students of limited English proficiency. This report presents the research…