Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons^™

Lessons Learned From Facilitating A Pre-Service Teacher/Youth Mentoring Program, Alan English

The Advocate

Traditional adult/youth mentoring programs have been associated with a host of positive academic, behavioral, and social/emotional youth outcomes. Little research, however, has been done on pre-service teacher/ youth mentoring programs; specifically if the benefits associated with more traditional mentoring programs translate into this context. For teacher educators, what is most promising about such mentoring programs is the potential for a mutually beneficial mentoring relationship. Pre-service teachers need experience working with youth as badly as youth need positive relationships and support. Furthermore, pre-service teachers need practicum experience throughout their coursework, at a time when some may not yet be ready to …

"Just Kidding" What Bullies Say, Christina Marie Gumbin

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The focus of this Capstone Project is on how present and past staff members of MM Middle School have addressed bullying in their classrooms and what they think could be done to prevent further bullying. This is an important issue for teachers of any grade because bullying affects children at any age. An argument is made that during middle school, bullies tend to say that they are just kidding without knowing why they are bullying. Consideration of the issue, required obtaining the perspectives of the principal and both current and former teachers. Three themes emerged from an analysis of the …

Perceptions Of Restorative Practices Among Black Girls: Talking Circles In An Urban Alternative Middle School., Vanessa Marie Mcphail

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that Restorative Justice approaches have shown promise in terms of their impact on school climate, student behavior, and relationships. The purpose of this study is to explore Black female students’ perceptions of Restorative Practice (RP) talking circles at an alternative school. The study examined literature on Zero Tolerance, School Discipline Disparities, African American Female students, Intersectionality, Restorative Justice, and Alternative Schools. A qualitative case study method was used for this study, drawing from two sources: (a) face-to-face interviews and (b) observations of the Black female students who attend the alternative school and participate in the talking circles. Analyses …

Career Exploration At The Middle School Level: Barriers And Opportunities, Samantha Godbey, Howard R. D. Gordon

Middle Grades Review

In this essay, we discuss issues related to the integration of career exploration in our nation’s middle schools. We discuss the theoretical and empirical basis for career exploration at the middle school level and identify selected barriers to its effective implementation, namely with regards to career advising and parent involvement. We also propose new directions for practice and research as we work to counteract these barriers.

Middle School Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Integration Of Technology Into Pedagogy, Joe George Gerez

All Theses And Dissertations

The aim of this qualitative exploratory case study was to examine middle school teachers’ perceptions of the integration of technology into pedagogy. Data collection occurred from analyzing middle school teacher’s experiences, observations, and motivation following a technological implementation initiative into pedagogy. The evaluation of the study data included the analysis of surveys and interpretation of in-depth interviews of teachers. A pedagogical focus on teacher integration of technology supported by the self-determination theory as the research study’s theoretical framework examining human motivation was appropriated to the case study. As educational leaders face significant challenges in understanding the impact of teachers’ perceptions …

The Potential Of Socio-Biologically Relevant Mobile Applications To Attract Girls To Stem, Vanaja Nethi, Santanu De

FDLA Journal

Stimulating girls’ interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) when they are in school, and sustaining that interest, is critical in motivating girls to choose STEM-related disciplines in higher education and enter STEM careers. Research indicates that girls show an interest in STEM until about 11-12 years of age, but this starts to wane by the time they are 15-16 years. Thus, there is a clear need to focus on sustaining the interest of girls in STEM at middle or high school levels. Research has shown that one of the main drivers that impact girls’ interest in STEM is …

Implementation Of Standards-Based Grading At The Middle School Level, Amy Louise Manley

Theses and Dissertations from 2019

The grading practices in education are steeped in tradition. Although the inaccuracies of grading have been written about for over 100 years, schools have been slow to tackle grading reform. This research study is based on a case study which investigated the implementation of standards-based grading from traditional grading in one middle school. This case study was developed to answer one research question: How was standards-based grading implemented in the middle school? The research obtained in this case study will be used with the researcher’s own school community as they transition to standards-based grading. The case study involved semi-structured interviews …

The Effects Of Service-Learning On Middle School Students’ Personal Growth, Social Growth, And Citizenship, Kae C. Saelee-Hiraoka

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to describe and explain middle school administrators’, teachers’, and coordinators’ observations and knowledge of the effect of service-learning on students’ personal growth, social growth, and civic engagement.

Methodology: This phenomenological qualitative study based its findings on in-depth interviews, transcripts, and participant artifacts. Six middle school administrators and eight teachers, and coordinators located in Tulare County, California utilizing service-learning in the 2017-2018 school year, or prior, were interviewed. An interview script, which was developed using the research questions, was used to elicit administrators’, teachers’, and coordinators’ observations and knowledge pertaining to the …

Promoting This We Believe And The Amle Standards With Teacher Candidates, Amanda Wall

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

This article describes approaches to integrating This We Believe and the Association for Middle Level Education Standards into a middle grades course.

Collaboration In The Middle: Teachers In Interdisciplinary Planning, Gary Senn, Deborah Mcmurtrie, Bridget Coleman

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

The authors promote collaboration through interdisciplinary planning.

Personalized Professional Development Plans, Nancy B. Ruppert

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

Nancy Ruppert is the past-president of AMLE and past-president of NAPOMLE. She is the chair of the education department at UNC Asheville. Her current areas of interest are in advocating for middle school alumni and creating resources to advocate for middle level education. Here she invites readers to contribute to ideas for ongoing professional development.

Supporting Middle Grades Teacher Candidates In Becoming Culturally Competent, Nathan Carnes

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

The author describes practices to support middle grades teacher candidates' becoming culturally competent.

Keynote. Motivation: Theory Into Practice, David Vawter

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

This paper is based on Dr. Vawter's keynote address at the Southeast Professors of Middle Level Education Symposium.

Collaboration In The Middle: Middle Grades To Higher Education Promoting, Advocating, Igniting Support For Middle Schools, Bridget Coleman, Nancy B. Ruppert

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

The authors provide an overview of the Southeast Professors of Middle Level Education Symposium, which was held in Greenville, SC, May 17-18, 2018. This is the introduction to the proceedings from the Symposium.

Identifiable Factors That Influence Teacher Retention In Four Title I Middle Schools: A Multiple-Case Study, Adair Blanton Mckay

Education Dissertations and Projects

Student success has suffered a great deal and continues to suffer in the Title I middle school setting. Staffing problems in these schools account for part of the cause. This study examined four Title I middle schools that experience difficulty retaining teachers. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2016), between 2011-2012 and 2012-2013, approximately 8% of teachers moved, another 8% of teachers left the profession, and approximately 84% of teachers stayed at the same school. The percentage of movers from high-poverty schools is double that of movers from low-poverty schools. The goal of this study was to serve …

Middle School Mathematics Teachers' Perceptions Of Opportunities And Challenges, Shelby Eversole

Masters Theses

This study investigates the perspectives of opportunities and challenges of middle school mathematics’ teachers. To gain these perspectives, an ethnographic study was conducted by interviewing four middle school mathematics teachers in central Illinois. The results of this study imply that teachers of different backgrounds and teaching environments have varying perspectives about challenges and opportunities in the classroom. Limitations of this study include but are not limited to, the researcher having one year to conduct the research, only four teachers from two schools being interviewed, interviewees teaching different grade levels, no rural setting involvement, one educator having little teaching experience, teachers’ …

An Exploration Of Teacher Perceptions Of The Presence Of Cultural Reproduction In Two Middle Schools, Kaitlyn Montcrieff

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Contemporary challenges to education pose threats that our current educational system remains unable to meet. With the prevalence of school shootings, rapid technological development, threats to mental health, superficial curriculum content, increased testing standards, and continued inequality in classrooms, now more than ever it is imperative to define, explore, and quantify the ways in which the system of education reproduces or replicates norms, values, behaviors, and practices and the effects these possibly have on students and teachers. The purpose of this research is to redefine 'cultural reproduction' into reproduction and replication in order to explore how the education system in …