High stakes tests should assess what the public values from education, but they too often fall short of measuring the many and varied student learning outcomes that actually occur in classrooms. For example, in...

A professional learning community (PLC) is more than a group of individuals meeting together to read a common book or discuss a relevant issue. According to Huffman and Hipp (2003), PLCs are a way of working; "a...

High Expectations In accord with the Association for Middle Level Education's (AMLE) This We Believe tenets (National Middle School Association, 2010), teachers of middle level grades should implement curriculum that...

This mid-point report from a seven-year study about building a college culture investigates how a multifaceted approach including mentoring, technology, campus visits, parent involvement, and tutoring impacts at-risk...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between oral reading fluency and performance on a statewide reading achievement test for middle grades students. Participants in this study were 75 seventh...

Recently, I was teaching a language arts class in Logan, West Virginia. The objective of the lesson was to analyze the impact of tradition on human behavior using narrative text. Sounds really dull, doesn't it? It...

When I talk to colleagues about being a “connected” educator, the first response is often “I don’t have time!” followed by “Why? What’s in it for me?” I can relate....

The Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) strongly supports efforts to prevent future acts of violence in our nation’s public schools. As an organization we especially know first-hand what is needed to...

Standards writers, curriculum designers, and classroom teachers have spent the past several years clamoring to find ways to revitalize curriculum and instruction and increase rigor in ways that prepare students for...

­­If there is one adolescent trait that I value and quite frankly bet on every time, it is that adolescents are among the most resilient creatures on earth. This resilience is catalytic in their growth, and in helping...