Poway City USD has designed a middle school program to facilitate transition from the elementary grades. Several classroom organizations are available to entering sixth-graders: self-contained, multiage, and team teaching. Most are in the self-contained Basic Education program, moving into departmentalized teaching in grades 7 and 8. (SJL)

Results of a study relating student teacher success to the effectiveness of the cooperating teacher, to grade level placement, to race of the student teacher, and to previous teaching experience are presented. Perceptions of outstanding student teachers as to what classroom management practices were effective for them are also examined. (JMF)

Explored measuring psychic entropy (loss of motivation, unfocused attention, passivity, bad moods) in junior and senior high school students (N=22) and noted predictability of gender and grade using Psychic Entropy Measure for Adolescents. Found results did not support hypotheses that girls experience greater psychic entropy than boys or that…

Results of a study of 298 students (grades 3, 5, and 7) enrolled in Catholic and public schools suggest that school-related curiosity decreases as a function of grade level in both school settings. The grade level effect appeared stronger in the Catholic school. No significant gender effect was noted. (IAH)

A group of six articles describes activities for art, music, reading/language arts, science, and social studies. Each article includes library media skills objectives, curriculum objectives, grade levels, resources, instructional roles, activity and procedures for completion, evaluation, and follow-up. (AEF)

Attitudes of 251 black students (133 fourth graders and 118 eighth graders) concerning mathematics were examined and compared by grade level, gender, and academic achievement with the attitudes of other students in their schools. Results show that higher-achieving black eighth graders have poorer attitudes toward mathematics than other students.…

Provides an overview of CD-ROMs for use in elementary and secondary school libraries. Highlights include advantages of CD-ROM; availability by grade level and by curriculum areas; costs; formats; trends; evaluating and selecting titles; 20 recommended titles; and CD-ROM distributors. (two references) (LRW)

Deplores inconsistencies between the realities of today's technologically driven, information-age world and the static, constraining boxes in which state-initiated, accountability- focused reforms hold American education. We must reconceptualize schooling, curriculum content, time, grade levels, and achievement to allow more informal,…

This annotated subject guide to Web sites for grades K-8 focuses on careers, current events, government, insects, science experiments, the war on terrorism, and calendar connections for Martin Luther King Day and other January observances. Specific grade levels are indicated for each annotation. (LRW)

This study investigates teachers' assessment practices across teaching levels and content areas, as well as teachers' self-perceived assessment skills as a function of teaching experience and measurement training. Data from 297 teachers on the Assessment Practices Inventory were analyzed in a MANOVA design. As grade level increases, teachers rely…

Teachers today face increasing demands to ensure their students achieve high levels of literacy. They may feel overwhelmed by the challenges of teaching reading comprehension strategies that foster the integration, interpretation, critique, and evaluation of text ideas. The challenges are compounded because students of diverse backgrounds often…

The history of young adolescent education can be viewed as an ongoing search for the appropriate combination of school organization, curriculum, and instructional practices for young adolescents. While middle schools have now become the most common pattern for schools housing young adolescents, there have always been other broader school…

Closing the achievement gap among the nation's students is a major concern for many school districts across America. The achievement scores for minority and low income students are not keeping pace with those scores of white, middle/upper-class students. In hopes of reversing this trend many schools have implemented early literacy intervention…

Subject departments form the primary organizational unit of the high school. The chapters in this book illuminate the ways in which departments shape the views and practice of individual teachers, serve as a locus of professional community, and express institutional and social values. The book examines the implications of subject affiliation and…

During 1968-91, middle schools were the only school type to grow in number, increasing by over 400 percent. Middle school advocates focus on early adolescents' need for developmentally appropriate institutions, but show only a weak historical understanding of the emergence and status of middle schools. Critical factors in early support for the…