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Eric.ed.gov – Impact of School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports on Student Behavior in the Middle Grades

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Research shows that school-wide positive behavior supports (SWPBS) can be an effective alternative to traditional reactive, punitive approaches to problem behavior. However, few studies examine the use of the approach as part of a comprehensive school improvement process involving academic as well as behavioral goals, particularly with regard to use of data-driven decision making and data teams. This article describes the efforts of a low-performing middle school in establishing preventative measures and interventions within such a framework. Results indicate a reduction in teacher discipline referrals and student suspensions, including those involving students with disabilities and statistically significant improvement on 30 of 47 items of a school climate and student resiliency survey. In addition, school scores on state mastery tests in both reading and math improved by 25%… Continue Reading

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tandfonline.com – “You’re Not an Island”: A Middle Grades Language Arts Teacher’s Changed Perceptions in ESL and Content Teachers’ Collaboration

tandfonline.com har udgivet en rapport under søgningen “Teacher Education Mathematics”: Abstract Abstract Building on previous studies of ESL and content teachers’ collaboration, this qualitative case study relied on Davies and Harré’s positioning theory as a theoretical lens to examine the influences that collaboration between an ESL teacher and a language arts teacher had on the language arts teacher’s approach to planning for and teaching ESL students. Data collection included three audio recorded semi-structured interviews, two video recorded collaborative planning sessions, two reflective journals written by the language arts teacher, document analysis of the created lesson plan documents, and field notes. The findings showed that the language arts teacher changed her perceptions about the content teacher’s role, lesson plan design, and her views about ESL students while working in collaboration with… Continue Reading

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tandfonline.com – Hands-Joined Learning as a Framework for Personalizing Project-Based Learning in a Middle Grades Classroom: An Exploratory Study

tandfonline.com har udgivet en rapport under søgningen “Teacher Education Mathematics”: Abstract Abstract This study investigates the hands-joined learning framework as an approach to personalize and provide instructional scaffolding within project-based learning. The authors include a case description of hands-joined learning in a middle school social studies classroom and critically examine middle school student feedback in relation to two aims: (a) personalizing learning, and (b) providing adequate scaffolding. Student feedback indicated that the hands-joined learning project was largely successful in these two areas. Learners appreciated having choice and control in what they learned and created in the project but also pointed to the need for greater opportunities to make decisions in how they learned. Some learners also wanted more peer interaction. These findings are used to propose practical implications as well… Continue Reading

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tandfonline.com – Middle school students’ experiences with inequitable discipline practices in school: The elusive quest for cultural responsiveness

tandfonline.com har udgivet en rapport under søgningen “Teacher Education Mathematics”: Abstract Abstract Research indicates that school discipline practices are inequitable based on student race, class, and gender; yet, few studies highlight students’ voices regarding their experiences with these practices. Further, we know that positive teacher–student relationships are a significant factor in student academic achievement and success. This article presents qualitative data from 40 middle school youth who participated in five focus groups in one midwestern suburban school district. Findings indicate that students understand their experiences with teachers’ discipline practices as culturally biased and inequitable. The article explores the importance of middle grades educators taking a critically reflective approach to the ways their discipline practices are shaped by their conscious and unconscious understandings and enactments of race, class, and culture in… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Evaluation of the Computer and Team Assisted Mathematical Acceleration (CATAMA) Lab for Urban, High-Poverty, High Minority Middle Grade Students. Final Report to the Institute of Education Sciences

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This project entailed a three-year efficacy evaluation of the Computer and Team Assisted Mathematical Acceleration (CATAMA) Lab developed by the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University. The CATAMA Lab was proposed as an immediate and practical approach to addressing the different types of math deficits held by students at urban high-poverty schools. The Lab required only 1 teacher per school reducing staff and professional development requirements. It used multiple instructional techniques (including individualized computer instruction, direct instruction, pair and team learning, and individual instruction) to teach math concepts and skills. By taking the place of an elective it allowed students to continue with their on-grade math class. For a more detailed description of the Lab see Appendix 2. The original goal of the… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Does the Middle School Model Make a Difference? Relating Measures of School Effectiveness to Recommended Best Practices

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Since the emergence of middle schools as distinct educational settings in the 1960s, proponents of the model have advocated for structures and approaches that best meet the particular developmental needs of young adolescents. Middle school researchers have developed frameworks of best practices for schools that have been widely, if not uniformly, adopted. However, there is a paucity of large-scale quantitative research on the efficacy of such best practices. In this study we used state-level administrative data from Texas to estimate the school-level contribution to standardized test scores in math and language arts, along with absenteeism. We then regressed these value-added quantities on indicators of middle school structures, along with research-supported predictors of school efficacy. Results showed that schools with fewer classes in the school day and higher… Continue Reading

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tandfonline.com – How Middle Grades Teachers Experience a Collaborative Culture: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

tandfonline.com har udgivet en rapport under søgningen “Teacher Education Mathematics”: Abstract Abstract Collaboration is a powerful tool for professional development that creates opportunities for teachers to reflect on their practice. However, school districts continue to have difficulty both implementing and sustaining collaboration. The purpose of this research was to investigate the experiences the teachers in a creative, instructional collaboration. This study yielded several observations. The first was that teachers can experience successful, high-level collaboration in which they perceive a sense of satisfaction, mutuality, trust, and growth. For five middle grades teachers in a private, faith-based school, their satisfactory experience with collaboration was teacher-initiated. When participating teachers believed that they had power over their collaboration, they perceived the collaborative experience as productive to the extent that they were able to engage… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Group Work is Not Cooperative Learning: An Evaluation of PowerTeaching in Middle Schools. A Report from the Investing in Innovation (i3) Evaluation

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: To succeed in today’s economy, students need both proficiency in the “three Rs” (reading, writing and arithmetic) and strong applied skills. Communication skills, team work, and critical thinking have long been at the top of employers’ lists of applied skills they seek in employees. States are responding to employers’ needs by putting in place new educational standards. These standards include not only higher levels of basic academic knowledge that students are expected to master but also applied skills pertaining to presenting information, explaining one’s reasoning, and effectively collaborating in groups. As a result, teachers nationwide are having students work in groups more frequently. This report examines a recent large-scale effort to expand a cooperative learning program in middle schools. The change in standard instructional practices gives schools… Continue Reading

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tandfonline.com – Trauma-informed practices in a laboratory middle school

tandfonline.com har udgivet en rapport under søgningen “Teacher Education Mathematics”: Abstract Abstract This article explores how a laboratory middle school (LMS) serving students from low-performing elementary schools and students with academic or social-emotional challenges is developing as a trauma-responsive school. The authors explore the literature, school/community context, student cases, and the ways in which classroom and school-wide practices are trauma-informed. Trauma-informed practices focus on individual students as well as whole classroom and school-wide initiatives, potentially benefiting all, not only those students experiencing trauma. At LMS, a community of care system, evaluation committee, tribe and village meetings, the democratic classroom approach, project-based learning, as well as focused enrichment and remediation are all initiatives that have demonstrated some success. Documentation of such successes merits exploration in other middle schools. The LMS team seeks… Continue Reading

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tandfonline.com – Middle Grades Principal Credentialing: A Vanishing Requirement

tandfonline.com har udgivet en rapport under søgningen “Teacher Education Mathematics”: Abstract Abstract Limited research explores how school administrators learn the leadership skills, knowledge, and dispositions that will support young adolescents, particularly how administrators are prepared and credentialed to lead middle grades schools. The purpose of this research was to examine which states offered and/or required administrator credentials specific to middle grades and why states do or do not offer or require such credentialing. Analysis of the data indicates that states are moving away from specific credentialing for middle grades school administrators, with only one state still offering such a credential. Although state credentialing officers indicated the value of a specific middle grades principal credential, the need for flexibility for districts and credential candidates was the overarching reason for eliminating or… Continue Reading