How will you make the world better? This question challenges every member of the Preston Middle School community and serves as the foundation for everything we do. Preston Middle School is a school of science,...

Many of us have unwaveringly embraced the philosophy of differentiation. We differentiate instruction according to student readiness, interest, and preference. But what about the other parts of a young...

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...

What do you remember from your middle school or junior high days? Your test scores? Your grades? Probably not. You are more likely to remember special occasions and events that made a particularly positive...

Collaboration is one of the essential attributes of successful middle grades schools. The benefits of working together are apparent in the joint efforts of a small midwestern college and an urban middle school to...

What's Wow! about your school? Effective middle level leaders rarely miss an opportunity to connect with families of current and potential students to tell the story of how their middle school positively affects the...

Have you noticed the groundswell of volunteerism during the past few years? In 2006 alone, 60 million Americans dedicated 8.1 billion hours of service to community organizations. More recently, President Obama has...

Service-learning is a teaching and learning method that connects meaningful, community service experiences with academic learning, personal growth, and civic responsibility (Shumer & Duckenfield, 2004). Learning...

Do you want to do more with your advisory period? Maybe you want to bring students and the community closer, or maybe you are looking to change a negative school climate into a positive one. You might want to try R...

What is parent involvement? Parent involvement is important to the educational success of a young adolescent and yet generally declines when a child enters the middle grades (Epstein, 2005; Jackson & Andrews,...