Research symposia were held at the 1977, 1978, and 1979 annual conferences of the National Middle School Association. This document reproduces 14 selected studies relating to middle schools from the papers presented during those symposia. Topics covered are effects of teaching behaviors; teacher-managed inservice training; relationships among student self-concept, attitude toward curriculum, and academic achievement; relationships among sex, age, and modality learning style; teachers' attitudes about middle school characteristics and functions; comparisons between Kansas junior high and middle schools; television and students; effects of staffing patterns on student achievement and attitudes; effects of a strike on organizational climate and leadership; effects of organizational structure on attitudes of teachers and students toward middle and junior high schools; effects of cognitive style and classroom climate on students' attitudes and achievement in first year algebra; relationships between performance in eighth grade science and student perceptions of the teacher; relationships between trait anxiety, peer presence, task difficulty, and skill acquisition of sixth grade boys; and relationships between writing apprehension and eighth grade students' attitudes toward literature. (PGD)