Some Thoughts on Language in the Middle School Years (1977)

The education arena is faced with the dilemma of an aging teaching population in which the majority of teachers born in the baby boomer period, either will retire from the teaching community, or continue on a part time basis in the next 10 years. Combined with statistics that point to up to 50% of beginning teachers leaving the industry within 5 years, this dilemma becomes problematic for teacher supply to address the needs of future generations of learners (White & Moss, 2003). Whilst beginning teachers leave teaching for career, family, and personal reasons, they also leave due to negative teaching experiences that impact on their initial teaching beliefs and practices and their development within the first year of teaching, generally referred to as the induction period (Kelchtermans & Ballet, 2002; Valli, 2000; White & Moss, 2003). Whilst there is research literature on the nature of the induction period, this is limited from the perspective of a beginning teacher, in terms of how and what they experience and how and why their teaching beliefs and practices are changed or modified (Schwarz, 2001; Wang, Odell, & Schwille, 2008). Additionally, there is limited research into whether middle years of schooling beginning teachers experience this induction differently from other beginning teachers. This study explored how 4 middle years of schooling educated beginning teachers experienced their first year of teaching. The two females were employed in the same school, and the two males employed in separate schools, and all were in their mid twenties. The aim of the study was to highlight how this induction period is experienced through these four beginning teachers’ personalised narratives, and whether their middle years of schooling teacher education would be of benefit to this teaching development. Narrative research was utilised so as to gather these four participants’ stories of their experiences, perceptions and reflections of their teaching identity and practices within this first year of teaching. The study found that the participants experienced related negative factors that restrict successful teacher development, when compared with other studies that have established similar difficulties within the induction period (Connors, 2007; Kelchtermans & Ballet, 2002). What was crucial in the findings was the impact the key components of leadership, resilience and social skills had in contributing to developing a teaching identity successfully, and how these components were linked to their middle years of schooling teacher education. It is argued that narrative research assists productive teacher reflective practice; therefore as an unintended consequence this helped support these participants in building a positive teaching identity (Schwarz, 2001). Based on these findings, this study recommends that aspects of middle years of schooling teacher educated programs, particularly leadership, resilience and social skills, be more prominent in all teaching programs, and narrative research utilised for future beginning teacher studies and for the benefit of successful beginning teacher development.

Objectives The purpose of this study is to examine the trend of changes in adolescents' physical activity using data on adolescents' physical activity over the past five years from the first year of middle school to the second year of high school. In addition, it is intended to provide basic data for improving healthy physical activity by checking how the participation time of adolescent survey participants who experienced the COVID-19 epidemic has changed. Methods This is a secondary analysis study using data from the ‘Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey 2018’. Analyses were conducted using descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, correlation analysis, and latent growth model analysis with the SPSS/AMOS 25 program. Results First, The average physical activity time of adolescents decreased each year from middle school to high school, but remained at similar levels during the first and second years of high school. Second, The physical activity during the first and second years of middle school showed the highest positive correlation, while the correlation between the first year of middle school and the second year of high school was the lowest. Third, the latent growth model analysis showed that a nonlinear change model was more appropriate than a linear change model for the trends in adolescent physical activity. Specifically, the decrease in average physical activity time was pronounced during the middle school years and became more gradual during the high school years. Lastly, the changes in physical activity before and after the COVID-19 pandemic were significant, and the reduced levels of physical activity persisted thereafter. Conclusions Changes in adolescent physical activity were related to transitions between school levels, with particularly rapid changes observed before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This highlights the need for appropriate encouragement of physical activity tailored to the growth stages of adolescents and active measures to enhance physical activity levels that declined after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Changes in self-esteem during the middle school years: a latent growth curve study of individual and contextual influences

The development of reading skills in language minority (LM) learners, particularly during the middle school years, remains unclear despite the increasing need for educators to serve this rapidly growing population. In this study, the English reading comprehension growth of middle school LM learners was investigated using a longitudinal design and the simple view of reading as a theoretical framework. Students were assessed at four time points between fifth and seventh grades on standardized measures of listening comprehension, word reading, and reading comprehension. Individual growth modeling revealed that both listening comprehension and word reading assessed in fifth grade predicted the elevation of students’ developmental trajectories in reading comprehension. However, neither skill predicted students’ growth in reading comprehension, and there was no significant variation across children in growth rates, indicating that students in seventh grade remained on a trajectory established in fifth grade. The implications of the slowing rate of reading comprehension development during the middle school years are discussed.

Girls in Foster Care: Risk and Promotive Factors for School Adjustment Across the Transition to Middle School.

Learning is enabled in an environment that promotes connectedness. This belief led me to an exploration of connectedness and the discovery that connectedness has more than one connotation in the literature. For some it means making connections within curriculum areas, which is closely associated with the understanding that connectedness means teaching and learning within a community of learners. Another body of literature understands connectedness as a person's sense of belonging within the family, school and wider community. Embedded in all these understandings of the term is either implicit or explicit reference to empowerment. An exploration of learning necessarily involves an exploration of students and teachers perceptions of effective learning. The exploration of learning focuses on: teacher and students understanding of learning, student expectations and achievements within the classroom, the opportunities for participation and contribution. The various understandings of connectedness, empowerment and learning are linked in the exploration of the following themes within the classroom: Building caring relationships, Setting high and achievable expectations and Providing opportunities for participation and contribution (Bernard, 1991; 1997; MindMatters, 2000). The context is the middle years of schooling as the last 10 years has produced research that delivers findings asking teachers in the middle years to negotiate a curriculum that is based on people. Effective teaching and learning is essential if students are to achieve their potential, should be cooperative and be fostered within a reflective community atmosphere. Relationships are to the fore in all concepts of effective middle schooling and this case study explores relationship as they exist at Garden College in year seven. It is these relationships that promote a sense of belonging to and empowerment within the learning community, thus enabling learning.;If schools are to 'expedite the development of effective middle schooling' (Schools Council, National Board of Employment, Education and Training, 1993, p. 65), by addressing the issues highlighted above, I believe the concepts of connectedness, empowerment and learning must be fully explored by the community of learners in each school.

Describes the basic tenets of social and emotional learning; discusses the emotional and social challenges that middle school children face; and provides suggestions for parents and teachers to help promote smooth sailing through these rocky middle school years.

Sentence structure and punctuation are core to the effective communication of ideas in written text. When writers use sentence structure and punctuation that makes sense, the reader is able to focus their attention on the ideas being communicated. When sentence structure and punctuation do not make sense, the reader has to read around the text to cobble together the intended meaning. For example, readers might have to re-read the text, read back and forwards across phrases and clauses to decipher references and lexical chains, slow down their reading rate, sometimes consciously superimpose standard sentence structure and punctuation, or choose to overlook some chunks of text that don’t seem to fit. Successful middle years writers write with the reader in mind. This chapter begins by introducing a quick-write prepared by a thirteen year boy in response to a stimulus about homelessness. We consider the role of sentence structure and punctuation for this young writer as he moves beyond the quick-write phase. The next section discusses the term ‘standard’ in the phrase standard sentence structure and punctuation, and why we deliberately shun the term ‘correct’. We also consider the situation where a writer deliberately plays with language through the strategic use of highly controlled non-standard sentence structures and punctuation. Ironically, this instance of non-standard sentence structures and punctuation is highly effective at achieving its communicative purpose. The two forms of grammar used in the Australian Curriculum (AC): English (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2018) and the metalanguage (technical terms) that students will use for talking about the structure of written text are overviewed. Specially, we introduce the appraisal framework to explain the difference between traditional and functional grammar, and transitivity analysis to describe the parts of a clause. Different clause and sentence types and the forms of punctuation that are commonly used in the middle years of schooling are outlined. The final part of the chapter overviews some principles for teaching writing in the middle years of schooling, finishing with a three-stage pedagogical orientation that explains the changing roles for students and teachers. Various sections of the chapter include opportunities for the reader to pause, ponder and take action.

Losing and gaining friends: Does friendship instability compromise academic functioning in middle school?

Middle years’ teachers in primary schools are increasingly required to teach curriculum-specific subjects at a depth requiring considerable content and pedagogical knowledge, as well as a detailed understanding of the particular literacy requirements specific to each subject. Science teaching, in the latter years of primary schooling, is particularly demanding for non-specialist teachers. Many teachers struggle with feelings of (in)adequacy and (in)competence to be ‘science literate’ and ‘good’ science teachers, providing sufficient and valuable science learning opportunities for their learners. This paper describes one primary school’s attention to teachers’ feelings of wellbeing and competence in relation to themselves as science teachers. A survey instrument, informed by the particular school context and the literature on teachers’ beliefs of self-efficacy, was used in the school and its local hub group. The study has implications for pre- and in-service teachers faced with similar teaching requirements, literacy demands and challenges to their professional and personal wellbeing. The teacher’s findings highlight the value of collaborative research partnerships to enhance both student learning outcomes and teacher wellbeing.

The levels of engagement in mathematics experienced by students during the middle years of schooling (Years 5 to 8 in New South Wales) has been of concern in Australia for some years. Lowered engagement in school has been attributed to factors such as inappropriate teaching strategies, curricula that is unchallenging and irrelevant, and cultural and technological conditions that continue to evolve (Sullivan et al. Australian Journal of Education 53(2):176-191, 2009). There is currently a gap in this field of research in terms of a lack of longitudinal studies conducted in an Australian context that feature students’ voices and their perceptions of mathematics teaching and learning during the middle years. As part of a qualitative longitudinal case study spanning 3 school years, 20 students in their final year of primary school (aged between 11 and 12 years) were asked to provide their views on mathematics teaching and learning. The aim of the study was to explore the students’ perspectives of mathematics teaching and learning to discover pedagogies that engage the students. During focus group discussions and individual interviews the students discussed qualities of a “good” mathematics teacher and aspects of “good” lessons. These were found to resonate well with current Australian quality teaching frameworks. The findings of this study indicate that students in the middle years are critically aware of pedagogies that lead to engagement in mathematics, and existing standards and frameworks should be used as a starting point for quality teaching of mathematics.

Age of entry and the high school performance of immigrant youth

This study draws on the practice of digital storytelling (DST) to address the limited use of technology in middle school multilingual classrooms. Through critical and multiliteracy frameworks, DST can help create a more engaging and inclusive learning environment that supports the literacy development of multilingual learners (MLs). After reviewing and synthesizing empirical studies on DST as it applies to the middle school years, we provide a crosswalk focusing on four core areas: content, context, communication and language, and student identity. The crosswalk reveals how DST integrates Web 2.0 technology and promotes language and literacy development among middle school MLs.

Here in Washington, we talk a lot about the need for change - changing our priorities or the way we do business. For children, however, change can be frightening, and the middle school years are a time of dramatic change for them. Young adolescents are grappling with confusing and often difficult changes in their emotions, their bodies, their schools, their schedules, and the social and academic expectations placed upon them. Middle school administrators, teachers, and support staff face unique challenges, and to succeed, these professionals need help and support from parents and community leaders as well as the government. Unfortunately, government has not always lived up to its end of the bargain. When President Bush signed No Child Left Behind, burdening the middle grades with new high expectations for accountability and assessment, the Bush Administration and Congress promised to provide the funding schools and teachers would need to make the program successful. That promise was not kept. We do need change in Washington - change in the way we think about our middle schools and in what we can do to help meet the high expectations we have set - and change in the high expectations we want young adolescents to set for themselves. My interest in middle school education began as attorney general of the state of Rhode Island. I was elected to that position after having served as Rhode Island's United States attorney. As U.S. attorney, I prosecuted bank robbers, polluters, corrupt public officials, those accused of fraud, drug dealers, and other traditional adult criminals. But when I was elected state attorney general, something changed - I was prosecuting children. In fact, nearly 2,000 juvenile cases came across my desk each year involving everything from drug offenses and gang-related activity to so-called status offenses, like truancy and running away from home, that are not crimes for adults. As I tried to understand what was behind these cases, what had gone wrong in these young peoples' lives, a common tipping point seemed to be failure in middle school. It was middle school where these kids started to get seriously off track. At the same time, these young adolescents also appeared still open to positive influences. At that age, students are still children, and dedicated teachers can instill in them the importance of education. High school seemed too late; the bad habits like truancy had already taken hold. We also found that one of the best predictors of middle school failure was truancy, often catastrophic truancy - 60, 90, or 100 days of unexcused absence from school. Studies show that youth who are chronically truant are more likely to use drugs, become delinquent, and drop out of school - data that bears out what we were seeing in Rhode Island (Henry & Huizinga, 2007). So, in an effort to build the proverbial fence at the top of the hill instead of waiting for the wrecks at the bottom, my office tried to intervene. We started with truancy enforcement. We discovered that local police officers mistakenly thought they could not pick up kids for truancy. Working with the police department and the local faith community, we established a program for officers to take truant young people back to their schools. This approach worked in theory, as the schools and the police department came together to implement the project. But at the grassroots level, teachers objected. Faced with overcrowded classrooms, reluctant to deal with students brought back to school by a police escort, unwilling to take time away from the children who did show up to class trying to learn, teachers sent a clear signal back to police officers (Find a police officer who does not have a teacher somewhere in the family!) that these kids were a disrupture presence in the schools. The fence we were trying to build, it seemed, was still too far down the hill. We realized that dealing with the entire city of Providence was probably too ambitious. …

Educational looping is an educational method where teachers remain with the same core group of students over multiple academic years. The current research on this topic shows a strong positive correlation between the effects of looping and the growth of personal relationships between students and teachers, but neglects to examine the connection between looping and student educational growth. This paper explores the relationship between looping and academic gains, as well as between looping and retention of content material over time. This paper explores both the relationship between looping and academic gains and between looping and retention of content material, and attempts to explain the relationship between looping and student performance on state assessments. Additionally, the research also examines whether students who looped with one teacher throughout their middle school years retain more content knowledge than students who had different teachers during middle school. The focus on middle school is important to the academic community because most research on looping has focused on younger students. In order to compare the quantitative effects of looping, this study compared student performance on the Louisiana state assessments at the end of each school year in 2009, 2010, and 2011. By analyzing two groups of students in Louisiana, one that looped with the same science teacher for three years, and one that had three different science teachers, we can determine that based on the state test scores, the two student populations were significantly similar at the end of the first year, significantly different at the end of the second year, and significantly similar at the end of the third year. In addition to the results from the state tests, the students were also given a retention assessment in August 2011 and May 2012 to see if students who looped retained more information than students who did not loop. Results from these assessments showed that looping did not cause a positive change in student retention of content knowledge. By breaking down the groups into different categories, a few small positive trends were found, but overall, the study was thwarted by a number of complicating systematic factors. Subsequently, a positive trend is seen in favor of looping after the first two years of the study, yet after the third year, an overwhelming amount of external factors prevented this trend from continuing.