Teacher quality is an important school-level factor in student achievement (Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2005) and the focus of ongoing effort by policy makers and practitioners to ensure that all students have...

Creating a unique climate and culture in which all students feel welcome, safe, and secure is the responsibility of the school community. This is especially important in a middle school where students are trying to...

Why do we have to read this? Does that lament sound familiar? It's a common question and one that teachers should be able to answer if they want students to be motivated to read. Catherine Snow, in Learning to Read...

The move from middle to high school stirs up many emotions for young adolescents, ranging from excitement and anticipation to fear and anxiety. It is natural for students to have numerous concerns related to the...

Whenever I tell people I'm a teacher, their response is respectful but often tempered with some comment that indicates that perhaps I was not intelligent enough to get a real job. When I add that I teach seventh...

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...

What is authentic assessment? Authentic assessment is a method for measuring student learning by providing developmentally appropriate, student-centered, active learning strategies that help students develop lifelong...

Today’s students need more than strong academic skills to be successful in the 21st century. To shape their future and the future of our global society, they also need strong leadership skills and a sense...

During a two-year cross-country trip covering 40 states, I crossed paths with several hundred soon-to-be college graduates. I asked each soon-to-be grad about his or her plans after graduation. Keep in mind, these...

We've all heard that teacher adage, "Don't smile before Christmas." How many of you abided by that rule this year, contending that smiling before the winter holidays would somehow make you lose control of your...