<p> This study sought to fill the gap in the literature concerning gifted students and academic motivation by examining the academic motivation in 126 non-gifted (<i>n</i> = 66) and intellectually gifted (<i>n </i> = 60) middle and high school students. The study used archival data to answer the following questions: What is the relationship between motivational variables, test anxiety, and student GPA for both non-gifted and gifted students? Are there differences in motivation across student group and across gender? And does a unique profile of motivation exist for intellectually gifted students? Study results revealed positive relationships between certain aspects of motivation and academic performance within the non-gifted students and the gifted students. Findings indicated that intellectually gifted middle and high school students tend to be more motivated than their non-gifted peers and experience significantly less test anxiety than their non-gifted peers. Gender differences in motivation were found only within the gifted group on intrinsic goal orientation, with gifted female students reporting more intrinsic goal orientation than their male counterparts. While a unique profile of motivation did not arise for intellectually gifted students, the gifted students were more likely to fall within cluster groups with high motivation, high sense of control over academic outcomes and high perception of their ability to successfully complete academic tasks. These students tended to have a higher GPA and experience very little test anxiety when compared to students with low motivation.</p>

<p> The United States must provide quality science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in order to maintain a leading role in the global economy. Numerous initiatives have been established across the United States that promote and encourage STEM education within the middle school curriculum. Integrating active learning pedagogy into instructors' lesson plans will prepare the students to think critically - a necessary skill for the twenty first century. </p><p> This study integrated a three-week long Near Space Balloon project into six eighth grade Earth Science classes from Valley Middle School in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was hypothesized that after the students designed, constructed, launched, and analyzed their payload experiments, they would have an increased affinity for high school science and math classes. </p><p> A pre- and post-survey was distributed to the students (n=124), before and after the project to analyze how effective this engineering and space mission was regarding high school STEM interests. The surveys were statistically analyzed, comparing means by the Student's t-Test, specifically the Welch-Satterthwaite test. Female students displayed a 57.1% increase in math and a 63.6% increase in science; male students displayed a 46.6% increase in science and 0% increase in math. Most Likert-scale survey questions experienced no statistically significant change, supporting the null hypothesis. The only survey question that supported the hypothesis was, "I Think Engineers Work Alone," which experienced a 0.24% decrease in student understanding. </p><p> The results suggest that integrating a three-week long Near Space Balloon project into middle school curricula will not directly influence the students' excitement to pursue STEM subjects and careers. An extensive, yearlong ballooning mission is recommended so that it can be integrated with multiple core subjects. Using such an innovative pedagogy method as with this balloon launch will help students master the scientific process and experience real team collaboration, as they did in this successful mission.</p>

<p> This study examined the efficacy of peer tutoring, specifically Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS), as supplemental instruction for middle school students with reading difficulties. A multiple baseline across individuals design was used to demonstrate changes in oral reading fluency and reading comprehension. The results of this study suggest that students who participated in PALS did not substantially increase reading fluency or comprehension when analyzed on the basis of non-overlapping data points. Nonetheless, two of the three underperforming students improved their reading skills such that they were no longer in the at-risk range by the end of the study. The third lower-performing student did make important gains over the course of the study. Notably, the lower-performing participants perceived themselves as having made gains in reading and they attributed these gains to working with a partner. The limitations and implications of future research are discussed. </p>

<p> In this study, the focus was on determining leadership strategies that promote teacher empowerment among urban middle school science teachers. The purpose of the paper was to determine if leadership strategies are related to teacher empowerment. The emphasis was on various forms of leadership and the empowerment of teachers in context in restructuring the democratic structure. An effective leadership in science education entails empowering others, especially science teachers. In this regard, no published studies had examined this perspective on empowering teachers and school leadership. Therefore, this study determined if a relationship exists between leadership strategy actions and teacher empowerment. The significance of the study is to determine a relationship between leadership strategies and teacher empowerment as a positive approach toward developing successful schools. Empowerment is essential for implementing serious improvements. Empowering others in schools must form a major component of an effective principal&rsquo;s agenda. It is becoming clearer in research literature that complex changes in education sometimes require active initiation. For this study, a quantitative methodology was used. Primary data enabled the research questions to be answered. The reliability and validity of the research were ensured. The results of this study showed that 40% of the administrators establish program policies with teachers, and 53% of teachers make decisions about new programs in schools. Furthermore, the findings, their implications, and recommendations are discussed. </p>

<p> The purpose of this mixed-methods action research study was to examine the use of collaborative common academic team time at ABC Middle School. A review of the literature indicated that effective middle school academic team meetings allow for interdisciplinary team teachers to collaborate on curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Additionally the literature indicated that the frequency and productivity of these meetings have a correlation to student achievement. In seeking to understand how academic team time is spent, the following three research questions were analyzed: (1) To what extent do middle school academic teams focus team meetings on curriculum development and integration across content areas? (2) To what extent do middle school academic teams focus team meetings on the sharing of instructional ideas and strategies that will improve student learning? (3) To what extent do middle school academic teams focus team meetings on assessments that will enable students to show that they have learned? The findings and recommendations from this study will assist district administration, building administration, faculty, parents, and students in the planning process for school activities, curriculum, instruction, assessment, programs, scheduling, and professional development.</p>

<p> This study takes place in a Mid-Atlantic public charter school over the course of a semester with eight seventh- and eighth-grade students in a visual art painting class. The author aimed to discover whether the integration of art therapy techniques within her curriculum might increase the self-efficacy students felt towards art-making. The study employed the ethnographic method of action research to allow the researcher to implement the study within regular classroom instruction and routine. This method also allowed more in-depth and cross-sectional analysis by the researcher due to regular exposure and established relationships with the subjects. Four exercises, modeled after commonly-used art therapy exercises, were inserted into the beginning of classroom instruction along with immediate individual reflection. Along with the student artwork, four other bodies of data were analyzed including: field observations, one-on-one interviews, written responses and an initial benchmark survey. Thematic analysis allowed the researcher to identify themes that would gauge levels of student engagement, compare content of the work and recognize student affect. Results from analysis confirmed the hypothesis as evidence revealed an increase in self-efficacious behaviors and attitudes towards art-making for students. This study confirmed adolescent artistic developmental stages as well as developmental tendencies towards gaining and displaying control. These findings correspond to the need for differentiated teaching to adolescent students and the importance of educator awareness and consideration of developmental needs. This study also highlights the possibility of enhancing the student experience when the practice of art education and techniques of art therapy are carefully and intentionally combined. It provides a model of an empathetic approach to curriculum for the purpose of providing a holistic art education. </p>

<p> This qualitative study addressed the problem of students' lack of trust of and interest in U.S. history and focused on students' experiences with official and unofficial versions of history in the middle school social studies classroom. A collective case study of five African American students was conducted in an eighth grade classroom at Carroll Academy, a public, urban charter school in Ohio. Interviews, questionnaires, observations, artifacts, and logs were collected and analyzed with a critical, interpretivist lens. </p><p> The findings included: (a) the students were suspicious of the official historical story in the form of their textbook and teacher; (b) they shared similar rationales for the perceived motivations behind the dishonest accounts in their textbooks, and the rationales changed in similar ways throughout the course of the project; (c) although they had limited experience with unofficial history before the project, they preferred to use unofficial historical sources with the condition that one eventually corroborates accounts with official sources; (d) the experience of studying family histories created race-related instances of contradiction between unofficial and official accounts in the classroom, and (e) students developed productive forms of resistance to the grand narrative in U.S. history by the end of the study. </p><p> The findings of the study offer implications for teachers of social studies. By using family history projects, teachers can engage students while helping them learn critical and historical thinking skills. They can provide a more inclusive social studies curriculum and can better understand their students' backgrounds and historical knowledge.</p>

<p> Schools suspend 28.3% of African American males in traditional middle schools using a graded curriculum compared to 11% of all students (Krezmien, Leone, &amp; Achilles, 2006; Losen &amp; Skiba, 2010; Planty et al., 2009). African American males are more than two and half times more likely to receive a suspension than the average middle school student (Losen &amp; Skiba, 2010). Researchers have consistently found that the disproportionate suspension statistics for African American males are not solely attributed to socioeconomic or other demographic factors (Skiba et al., 2002; Wallace et al., 2009; American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2008). From 1973 to 2006, a timeframe marked by increased focus on zero tolerance and high-stakes testing, African American suspension rates almost tripled (Losen &amp; Skiba, 2010). The perpetuation of the achievement gap, increased dropout rates, and higher prison rates are all distinct characteristics of the increased use of suspensions of African American males (Advancement Project, 2010; Finkel, 2010; Balfanz, Spirikakis, Neild, &amp; Legters, 2003). There is a direct relationship between failing grades and suspensions (Safer, Heaton, &amp; Parker, 1981). Traditional schools using graded curricula are not increasing achievement levels for African American males. Conversely, research suggests alternative grading practices, including non-graded curricula, can increase intrinsic motivation, student engagement, positive student attitudes, academic achievement, and positive behavior (Butler &amp; Nisan, 1986; Kohn, 1994; Linnenbrink &amp; Pintrich, 2003; Cotton, 2000). The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study is to investigate the extent of disproportionality and elevated rate of suspensions among African American males in middle schools with an alternative, non-graded curriculum. The study attempts to establish what, if any, statistically significant difference exists between the independent variable, type of school curriculum assessment, and the dependent variables, suspension proportion and suspension rate. The population of the study consists of middle school African American males in alternative schools using a non-graded curriculum from two different regions of America. The results are meaningful because the data suggests that there is no difference in the proportion of African American males suspended in the alternative setting versus the traditional setting. The results of the study are also encouraging because the data suggests there is a difference in the percentage of African American males suspended in the alternative setting versus the traditional setting. It is the researcher&rsquo;s belief that high-stakes testing and utilization of graded curricula attribute to the elevated rate of suspensions among African American males. However, there is a need of further research to clarify the contributing factors to the disproportionality of suspensions.</p>

<p> Middle school professionals are confronted with the inability to effectively intervene during acts of bullying affecting LGBT youth. Research supports the need to provide educational training for middle school staff, in order to eliminate this form of victimization and create a safe learning environment for these students. The purpose of this grant-writing project was to seek funding for the existing Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) program titled <i>Safe Space Kit (SSK),</i> which had never before been implemented in a middle school in the Long Beach Unified School District. Washington Middle School (WMS) was the selected agency to implement this intervention along with the support from the Center of Long Beach (CLB). A review of literature and interviews with key members from both agencies involved, helped identify the need to educate these professionals. Neither the actual submission and/or funding of this grant project were required for the completion of this project.</p>

<p> This yearlong study in an 8^th grade classroom explores a blogging literacy event that illustrates how reading, digital writing and oracy work together to better support student learning, reasoning and dialogue. While many studies separately confirm the role of talk and writing in promoting learning, few studies address how writing informs talk practices, and no known studies examine how purposeful, individual blogging about literature promotes productive classroom dialogue. </p><p> Students within this eighth grade classroom are expected to write and participate in a blog with their classmates about literature they select and read independently. Students then discuss the literature and their blogs in small group conversations with their classroom teacher, leading to rich, meaningful discussions. Focal data consists of student blogs, video recorded small group conversations, audio recorded student and teacher interviews, written student reflections, observation field notes and photographs of student artifacts. </p><p> This study explicates the potential of writing acting as a springboard to further student reasoning through conversation. It documents the flexibility of teacher talk to take student contributions and align them in meaningful ways with educational language and purposes. Even within the confines of regimented curriculum agendas, the study illustrates how teachers can play a variety of roles in which they employ a repertoire of skills and strategies, making decisions in the moment to build on what students bring to the classroom and engender a classroom environment of risk-taking, meaning-making and learning. </p>