Education Commons^™

“Always A Place To Start” In Middle Grades Education: Editorial Remarks, Penny A. Bishop, James F. Nagle

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.

Considering Middle School Organizational Structures Through A Lens Of Equity And Justice, Kristie Smith

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.

Growing Culturally Responsive Advisory In Your Context., Matt Moulton

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.

Students Deserve More Than Equity Conversations: Middle Level Structures That Promote Equity, Dave Brown

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.

Re-Examining School Structures Of People, Place, And Time To Promote Equity At The Middle Level, Katherine M. Main, Dana Pomykal Franz, Kristina N. Falbe, Cheryl Ellerbrock

Middle Grades Review

In 2018 we published a chapter entitled “Middle Grades Schools and Structures” (Ellerbrock et al., 2018a) in Literature Reviews in Support of the Middle Level Education Research Agenda (Mertens et al., 2013). Building on the earlier work of Ellerbrock et al. (2018a), this chapter reviewed literature between 2000 and 2018 that reported on the organizational structures of middle level education settings in the United States of America and Australia. Though the findings highlighted the dearth of research specifically examining the organizational structures of middle level education, the literature examined supported the original three key interconnected themes of people, place …

Organizing For Equity In The Middle Grades: Editorial Remarks, James F. Nagle, Penny A. Bishop

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.

A Field Trip That’S Not About The Destination But The Journey, Vanessa Scanfeld, Eric James, Vincent Dotoli

Middle Grades Review

This Practitioner Perspective presents a middle school unit focused on designing a day-long field trip as an effective project-based initiative for advancing social and emotional learning (SEL). It considers the social and emotional competencies students develop as they navigate the complexities of this project: researching options, planning an itinerary that meets various parameters, and ultimately taking the trip. It also offers practical guidance to schools for successfully adopting this program.

Detecting A Possible Correlation Between Hands-On Experimentation And Scientific Data Analysis In 8th Grade Students, Breana Dobesh, Phu Vu

Middle Grades Review

This Practitioner Perspective reports on action research that examined the impact of integrating hands-on experimentation on eighth- grade students skills of scientific data analysis and interpretation in a science middle school class. The intervention given to the treatment group was tasking students with completing scientific experiments during their daily lessons, along with collecting and analyzing data from those experiments. Collected data through both control and treatment groups indicated that there was no significant difference in mean test scores between the two groups. Discussions and suggestions for future studies were included.

Making Middle Grades Education Relevant, Resilient, And Robust: Editorial Remarks, James F. Nagle, Penny A. Bishop

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.

Putting Muhammad’S (2019) Framework Of Historically Responsive Literacy To Work In Middle Grades Language Arts, Kelsey L. Benson, Matt Brown

Middle Grades Review

Now more than ever, it is imperative that middle grades literacy curriculum invites “students to learn about matters of personal, social, moral, and ethical significance” (Bishop & Harrison, 2021, p. 27). Using a framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy, Muhammad advocates in her groundbreaking text, Cultivating Genius (2019), for curriculum that provides middle grades students space to learn about matters of significance, to name and critique injustice and oppressive structures, and to develop their agency to cultivate a better world. In this essay, the authors discuss the possibilities and challenges that we – one a former interrelated resource teacher …

Understanding Middle School Teachers’ Levels Of Efficacy To Meet The Needs Of Young Adolescents, Erika Daniels

Middle Grades Review

Middle school students are in even more need of social and emotional support due to the cognitive, social, and emotional changes occurring at this stage of their development (Caskey & Anfara, 2014), and their teachers are key players in providing what is needed. Unfortunately, there are few Institutions of Higher Education that offer programs or coursework focused on young adolescents’ unique and specific needs (Howell, et al., 2016). This contrast with calls for school contexts that are intentionally designed to support young adolescents (Bishop & Harrison, 2021) and raises questions about whether and how middle school teachers are prepared to …

Strengthening Middle Grades Education: Editorial Remarks, James F. Nagle, Penny A. Bishop

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.

Are Students' Basic Psychological Needs Fulfilled In Remote Learning Environments?: A Mixed Methods Study, Lindsay M. Griendling, Victoria J. Vanuitert, Sean D. Mcdonald

Middle Grades Review

Self-determination theory (SDT) posits that three basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness) must be fulfilled to promote positive outcomes among individuals participating in social environments. Teachers can provide supports to fulfill these needs within classroom environments to help them become autonomously motivated to engage in tasks and activities. Unfortunately, school closures and the shift to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic may have challenged teachers’ ability to create need-supportive classroom environments due to issues such as reliable access to technology, teacher preparedness in facilitating remote learning, and negative impacts to mental health and well-being. However, the extent to …

Educating Teachers And Young Adolescents In The Covid Pandemic: Editorial Remarks, Penny A. Bishop, James F. Nagle

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.

Creating Brave & Productive Learning Environments For Young Adolescents: Parents’ Perspectives Of Teacher-Parent And Teacher-Student Relationships, Leslie Rogers, Dan Hyson

Middle Grades Review

Teachers are masters of content and of creating connections (e.g., students-content, students-students, teacher-students, teacher-parents). Both impact one’s ability to create and sustain brave and productive learning environments. Teachers connect students to the content, and to each other. At the top of the list of important connections are teacher-student and teacher-parent relationships. In the current paper, we examine these relationships from the perspective of parents of middle school students with disabilities, an under-studied group. We describe theories of learning that support investigating these relationships from parents’ perspectives and outline why this could be an impactful lens for teachers to consider. We …

Mathematics Mobility In The Middle Grades: Tracking The Odds Of Completing Calculus, Kristian Edosomwan, Jamaal Young, Jemimah Young, Alana Tholen

Middle Grades Review

High school calculus has become indispensable for students seeking a college degree in a STEM field. However, in the present study, we argue that the mathematics opportunities that students seize (when afforded) in middle grades are the key to earning calculus credit in high school. To take calculus in high school, students usually need to take advanced mathematics in middle school to take the prerequisite courses. We analyzed the probability of earning credit in calculus based on a sample of (n =17,765) students and their eighth-grade mathematics courses. Using descriptive statistics and odds ratio effect sizes we found that …

The Middle School Concept Implementation Gap: A Leadership Lens, Julia G. Rheaume

Middle Grades Review

Middle school scholars periodically lament the lack of holistic implementation of the middle school concept (Alverson et al. 2021; Dickinson & Butler, 2001; Lounsbury 2013; Schaefer et al. 2016;). The results of a case study conducted in Alberta, Canada (Rheaume, 2018) are compared to a recent examination of the current status of middle schools in America (Alverson et al., 2021) to illustrate common implementation gaps and challenges. Consideration of the role of middle level leadership in supporting the implementation of the middle school concept is followed by a proposed expansion of the developmentally responsive middle level leadership (DRMLL) model (Brown …

The Importance Of Relationships In Middle Grades Education: Editorial Remarks, James F. Nagle, Penny A. Bishop

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.

America’S Middle Schools: Examining Context, Organizational Structures, And Instructional Practices, Ryan Alverson, Mike Dicicco, Shawn A. Faulkner, Chris Cook

Middle Grades Review

The education of the young adolescent has consistently posed a challenge to the educational community. While the general belief is this age group (10-15-year-old children) would benefit from a specialized educational approach, historically, both the junior high school model of the early 1900s and the more current middle school concept have struggled to be fully implemented and embraced by the educational community. With almost a decade passing since the last national survey focused on middle grades schools (McEwin & Greene, 2010, 2011), researchers seek to reassess the context, organizational structures, and instructional practices of middle schools in the United States. …

Stimulating A Gradual And Progressive Shift To Personalize Learning For All: There Is Magic In The Middle, Dr. Autumn R. Turk

Middle Grades Review

This essay contends that personalized professional learning can support the shift towards a culture of personalized learning at the middle school level, with the potential to make a district-wide impact. If you have ever worked in a middle school, you would agree there is a sense magic and contagious energy within middle school students. Middle school is often an overlooked and untapped resource when considering efforts to transform school and district culture. Middle school students start to develop passions and a voice for advocacy, making agency a powerful accelerator when students channel their collective energy towards a shared vision for …

Clarion Calls For Change: Editorial Remarks, Penny A. Bishop, James F. Nagle

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.

Integrating School Makerspaces Into The English Language Arts Curriculum, Lou Lahana

Middle Grades Review

School Makerspaces have shown great potential to foster powerful learning outcomes for students, including the enhancement of creative problem-solving abilities, the nurturing of “soft skills” such as grit and leadership, as well as deep STEAM knowledge development. Within the school context, however, little attention has been given to how Makerspaces can promote social activism. Students hold passionate views on issues, such as homelessness, e-cigarette smoking, domestic violence, plastic pollution, and street harassment. How can Makerspaces provide an environment that promotes personal learning and self-expression so that these passions take form as social activism?

This practitioner perspective details the implementation of …

Principles Of Personalized Pathways For Sustainability Education: Educate, Act, Connect, And Communicate, Don Taylor, Kevin Hunt

Middle Grades Review

Two educators describe how the model of Educate, Act, Connect, and Communicate can be utilized to address 21st century issues that concern middle grades students. The authors developed the model while using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) to address global and local issues at two different middle schools. At Main Street Middle School, where Author One teaches, students work on the Green Team to delve deeply into the scientific and social impact of decreasing the school’s waste footprint and developing a re-use, reduce, and recycle ethos at the school. At Author Two’s school, Central Middle School, students create …

Student Agency Through Negotiated Practice, Meg O’Donnell

Middle Grades Review

Using the James Beane’s democratic approach, this article describes how a middle grades team support students to choose topics within broad themes and learning pathways that suit their interests, skills, and needs as individuals. Using a series of instructional structures, the facilitators encourage students to engage in research, thoughtful discussions, courageous conversations, and carefully constructed writing processes, while also emphasizing curiosity, critical thinking, relationship development, and social activism. Within a standards-based learning environment the author walks the reader through a process which allows students to generate questions they want to investigate. Once students have generated their common questions, they review …

Using A Social Justice Lens To Connect The Past With The Present In A Personalized Learning Environment, Kyle Chadburn, Andrea Gratton

Middle Grades Review

This practitioner perspective describes how middle grades units are developed and revised in response to student needs to engage students in social justice work while maintaining a safe and respectful classroom culture. In order for students to understand the world around them, they need to develop context by studying the past. There is no better way to enable students to do this in a personalized learning environment than to explore both the past and present through the lens of social justice. Broad, thematic units, such as “Revolution,” “Race in America,” or “Societal Monsters” allow teachers to ensure that students are …

Channeling John Dewey: What Would Vermont's Philosopher Of Democracy Have To Say About Personalized Learning?, Kathleen R. Kesson Dr.

Middle Grades Review

In John Dewey’s educational framework, the process and product are inseparable; achieving democratic ends cannot result from undemocratic means. For him, the full humanization of people depended not upon externally imposed curriculum and management systems, but rather on responding to the intrinsic needs, interests, and powers of the individual to be educated. The trend in many states on personalized learning, flexible pathways, and proficiency-based assessment, provides a foundation for transforming the conventional system of education, with its standardization, testing, and grading towards Dewey’s vision of a more socially just, inclusive, and (small d) democratic system.

So, what might Dewey have …

Personalized Learning For Social Justice: From Theory To Practice, James F. Nagle, Penny Bishop

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.

Neutrality And Narratives: Situating Middle Grades Preservice Teachers In Broader Educational Discourses, Rachel Ranschaert

Middle Grades Review

This paper forwards discourse analysis as a productive way to consider the ways in which the possibilities available for middle grades preservice teachers in justice-oriented teacher education programs are complicated by larger discourses relating to teacher neutrality and teacher education as a transformational narrative. To illustrate this, written journals from twelve preservice teachers in a justice-oriented teacher education program are analyzed and discussed.

Complex And Connected Lives: Voices Of “English Language Learners” In Middle School, Anny F. Case

Middle Grades Review

In addition to the typical ups and downs of middle school (MS), English language learners (ELLs) in the middle grades also grapple with learning English, straddling multiple cultures, and adapting to the realities of immigration. While school systems tend to focus on linguistic and academic development, MS ELLs exercise agency, creativity, judgment, and resilience as they navigate hybrid identities, complex and context-specific social and cultural expectations, and home/school connections and disconnections. This article reports on an interview study of middle school ELLs from a variety of backgrounds. Using self-selected artifacts representing their in-school and out-of-school lives, participants discussed their in- …

Teaching And Learning For Our Times, 2.0: Editorial Remarks, James F. Nagle, Penny A. Bishop

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.