<p> The young adolescent learner is in a unique and distinctive phase of development, and as such requires a developmentally responsive educational program delivered by specially prepared middle level educators. The purpose of this qualitative mixed methods study was to compare current California policies for middle school teacher licensure and preparation programs with the most recent research on young adolescent development. A second purpose of this study was to investigate the design and implementation of middle school specific teacher preparation programs in California in relation to the most recent research on young adolescent development. </p><p> The findings of this study indicate that the young adolescent student is in a unique phase of development, which requires a specialized developmentally responsive educational program, delivered by specifically prepared teachers. The evidence further demonstrates that strong middle level teacher preparation programs, such as the program at CSU San Marcos, are designed to prepare teachers to address these complex developmental needs of the young adolescent student. An additional finding was that the current California teacher licensure and preparation requirements have not kept pace with the research on the young adolescent learner and are thereby misaligned with the best practices determined for this age group. A restructuring of the policies for California teacher licensure and preparation requirements to align with the research on best practices for the young adolescent learner is recommended. </p><p> The voluminous body of research on the young adolescent learner consistently demonstrates the need for developmentally responsive schools staffed by specially prepared middle level educators. The current licensing and teacher preparation systems in place in California are poorly coordinated with known best practices and, are failing to meet the needs of the middle level learner. There is a need for restructuring of schooling for the young adolescent learner in California, including the method for preparing and licensing teachers for the middle level, in order to provide developmentally responsive schools.</p>

<p> This is a multiple case study of the ways middle grades social studies teachers, as curricular-instructional gatekeepers, may make decisions to provide their gifted students with purposeful differentiated instruction. More specifically, this study explores what teachers believe they should do to instruct gifted students, in what ways teachers prepare and adapt curriculum and instruction for gifted students, and how instruction for gifted learners can take place in a middle school social studies classroom. Through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and supportive visual evidence, six middle grades (6-8) social studies teachers disclosed in what ways they differentiate their middle grades social studies curriculum and instruction for their gifted adolescent learners. Through Hatch's (2002) Inductive Analysis model, findings were recorded and presented in the form of individual teacher observation and thematic cross-case analysis. </p><p> Findings suggest that middle grades social studies teachers take into consideration factors that influence their curricular-instructional beliefs, directly affecting the decisions they make in terms of curriculum selection, instructional delivery, and the methods of differentiation employed to meet the needs of their gifted students. Much of what teachers planned, prepared, and adapted was often influenced by the needs of their students, but also addressed mandates of their school and district agendas. This conflict between meeting the needs of both students and administration resulted in gatekeeping that often favored administration, while reducing the frequency of best practices for middle level gifted students in social studies classrooms. </p><p> Implications for the study include how teacher confidence, or the lack there of, effects instructional practices. Time constraints in middle level curriculum pacing and increased assessment also limited opportunities for rigorous, relevant, and differentiated social studies instruction for gifted students. Middle level social studies teachers of gifted call for clearer and more illustrative descriptions of what the academic ceiling for gifted social studies might look like in general. There are distinctive contrasts between models of differentiation and neighboring concepts of individualized and personalized learning. While in theory differentiation is meaningful, middle level social studies teachers find it difficult to implement methods of differentiation in their classroom with desired frequency. There is a distinctive bond between the fields of social studies, English Language Arts, and research skills. Middle level social studies teachers of gifted seek greater opportunities for meaningful professional development options. Lastly, there is a call among middle level social studies teachers for the inclusion of gifted initiatives in teacher education programs. </p><p> Topics that could be explored for future research include a continued effort to expound applicable gatekeeping practices, the provision of purposeful professional development and learning for teacher populations, continued application and practice of differentiation in the field of social studies education, increased inclusion of social studies in the elementary classroom, the awareness and servicing of gifted learners in the middle school social studies classroom, and the increased inclusion of gifted populations with undergraduate and graduate social studies education programs.</p>

<p> RESEARCH PROBLEM: Educational systems find themselves in a constant state of flux with continuous restructuring and the work of teachers increasing in complexity (Hargreaves, 1998). The nature and pace of this institutional change along with the highly emotional nature of the classroom set the stage for what can become highly stressful experiences. Educational systems appear to assume, in part by virtue of its absence in training, that teachers have the requisite social and emotional competencies necessary to negotiate the emotional terrain of the classroom. The growing problem of teacher burnout and attrition contradict this assumption. A burgeoning body of research on mindfulness reveals the potential of mindfulness-based practices to decrease stress and improve well-being. A wide variety of neuroscientific research has shown the effects of mindfulness practices on brain activity and physiology. Most recently, studies on the effects of various mindfulness-based interventions in education have shown promise. </p><p> METHODS: This qualitative study explores the ways in which mindfulness practices influence the lived experiences of teachers in a public middle school. The teachers in this study participate in a course designed for educators. This course combines a variety of mindfulness practices and practical in-the-moment strategies that can be incorporated into everyday life. At the conclusion of the course, teachers participated in focus group discussions and individual interviews during which teachers provide rich descriptions of their experiences. </p><p> RESEARCH QUESTION: What is the lived experience of middle school teachers engaged in mindfulness practice? </p><p> KEY FINDINGS: 1. Mindfulness increases awareness of oneself and others and enhances teachers&rsquo; ability to choose a response rather than succumb to automatic reactions. 2. A mindful response includes specific common mechanisms including pausing, distancing, appraisal, reappraisal, and choice. 3. Mindfulness improves communication both in terms of transmission (speaking) and reception (listening). 4. Increased awareness fosters a greater sense of empathy and compassion which thereby promotes the expression of a mindful response. 5. Mindfulness reduces feelings of isolation through an increased recognition that negative experiences and struggles are common. Participation in the mindfulness course also results in feelings of close connection and community within the group.</p><p>

<p> Since 9/11, the repercussions of religious intolerance have reached center stage, highlighted by religious hate crime statistics, governmental policies, and documented cases of increased anxiety. Religious illiteracy is also highlighted as a phenomenon across the American landscape. Conceptual arguments hold that knowledge of other religions can promote religious tolerance through intercultural discourse and understanding, elements of a proper civic education. Beyond a practical gap between religious intolerance in the United States and the educational measures taken to resolve the issue, little empirical evidence exists concerning teaching about religion in public education. </p><p> These gaps elicited the main research question of this study: What are the implications of teaching about religion to sixth grade students at a public charter school who learn about religion through the <i>Core Knowledge Sequence</i>? Two subquestions subsequently arose during data collection: (a) What practices and strategies are utilized by teachers and administrators to prepare for and implement a unit on religion? (b) What perceptions do students, teachers, and administrators have on the interplay between teaching about religion and character education? </p><p> I conducted a single, descriptive case study of a sixth grade class engaged in a history unit on Judaism and Christianity at a school that utilized the <i> Core Knowledge Sequence</i> to answer these questions. Daily character education lessons were also integral to the school curriculum and were included in the case. Through a combination of observations during both instructional and noninstructional periods, interviews with students, teachers, and administrators, and collection of pertinent documents related to the unit and school environment, I illustrated the case with rich, thick description. Data analysis began concurrently with data collection through open coding, with patterns identified. Further open and axial coding collapsed patterns into categories before three themes emerged that informed the presentation of the data findings and interpretations of the study: promoting understanding, maintaining respect, and preparing for the future. Potential recommendations based on findings were reflected in a theoretical model for a school and included increasing and tailoring professional development, implementing inquiry-based learning (IBL) strategies with the C3 framework, and fostering a respectful school and classroom environment through character education. As a primarily exploratory study, these findings served to augment the empirical literature on religion and public education for further research.</p><p>

<p> Effectively integrating technology into the educational system is paramount to the continued success of the U.S. educational system. Not meeting the needs of students can be detrimental to the continued growth and competitiveness of the United States. Educational systems must reflect the rapid changes in society and the way students communicate, socialize, and think. K-12 educational leaders have an increasing interest in understanding how to equip students with 21st-century skills designed to enhance their ability and willingness to become productive and knowledgeable citizens. This qualitative descriptive case study examined the perceptions of a purposive sample of middle school educators to determine what skills and competencies influenced their use and promotion of technology in education. The following three research questions guided this study: How do rural Virginia middle school educators describe the use of technology in middle school education? What challenges do rural Virginia middle school educators face when attempting to integrate technology in education? How do rural Virginia middle school educators prepare for and view effective integration of technology in education? The theory of constructivism provided the conceptual framework for examining how the participants in this study used and promoted technology in their educational settings. Data were collected by conducting in-depth interviews of 10 rural Virginia middle school educators. The anecdotal responses of the participants provided insight into their perceptions and practices. Four major themes emerged in this study: motivations for using technology, obstacles, training, and technology perceptions. </p><p>

<p> The purpose of this ethnographic case study was to examine how a white male teacher creates a culturally relevant pedagogy infuses arts integration to create an authentic learning environment for his students. This study traced student engagement, perceptions of, and performance in their English language arts class. This study concentrated on 21 Latino students and 3 black students in a middle school ELA classroom in an underperforming urban school. The questions that guided this study were, 1. How does this White male teacher integrate art within English language arts framed by the Common Core? 2. How does art integration and public display of art shape students&rsquo; perceptions of school and English language arts? 3. How does a white male teacher create a Culturally responsive pedagogy while navigating the required modules and common core standards. Data included field notes during class as well as audio, and visual recordings, interviews with the teacher and students, and student artifacts to trace the ongoing learning and teaching in the class. Findings show that giving students a platform to publish their work in a more public sphere outside of the classroom can be a crucial element in a culturally responsive pedagogy. This teacher helps his students get their ideas and questions out of the classroom into the school environment. The students embrace this more creative way of learning and thinking and it fuels their learning.</p><p>

<p> Emerging research indicates human cognition can derive from interactions within their environment and &ldquo;soon few will believe human thinking is computer-like. Instead, as with all animals, our thoughts are based on bodily experiences&rdquo; (Glenberg, 2015, p. 165). </p><p> This study explored how classroom teachers plan and implement purposeful planned movement (PPM) for embodied cognition. There are different types of movement with some movement activities not necessarily serving the purpose of enhancing cognition for academic content. Purposeful planned movement is movement designed to enhance cognition of academic content (Lyding et al., 2014). Insights from teachers effectively planning and implementing PPM in academic classrooms to teach could explain how to utilize this type of instruction (Lyding, 2012; McGregor et al., 2015). </p><p> Findings emerged from a multiple site and multiple case study of four middle grades social studies and English/Language Arts teachers. A cross-case analysis, synthesis of the findings, and thematic interpretations were conducted to explore why and how teachers use PPM for embodied cognition. Interpretations of the literature connected the teacher&rsquo;s use of movement to forms of embodied cognition. The connections help explain positive empirical results from using movement to increase learning within the literature. The findings bridge gaps in the literature on teachers&rsquo; perspectives, planning, experiences, and examples of implementing PPM for embodied cognition.</p><p>

<p> This study incorporated an intervention that combined discussion and sentence writing to promote vocabulary development. Fourth grade students were assigned to either an intervention or control condition. Teachers in the intervention classrooms used a word learning protocol that was designed to provide students with student-friendly definitions and a minimum of 15 exposures to each target word through both receptive and expressive tasks. These tasks called upon students to begin to make connections between spontaneous and scientific concepts to support their word learning. Teachers in control classrooms followed instructional routines as specified in their school&rsquo;s reading series. Multiple choice assessments from the district adopted reading series for vocabulary and comprehension along with a researcher-developed sentence writing task were used to measure growth in word knowledge. On the multiple choice vocabulary assessment, the intervention group outperformed the control group on one of the three weekly assessments from the reading series. There were no differences in comprehension scores on weekly reading tests across groups. On the sentence writing task, results indicated that the intervention group outperformed the control group with the intervention group showing a statistically significant difference in the rate at which they learned words.</p><p>

<p> This study employed a quantitative, ex-post facto non-experimental design to examine the effect of whether teaching honors, regular, or special education classes in either an elementary or middle school setting influenced the experience of teacher burnout. Participants included 69 teachers from two counties in a Southern state. The study survey consisted of one measure: Maslach Burnout Inventory &ndash; Educator Survey (MBI-ES). A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed that there was no significant main effect for both teacher specialty and grade-level taught in regard to the experience of teacher burnout on the MBI-ES. Additionally, when both teacher specialty and grade-level taught were looked at separately in regard to the experience of teacher burnout, there was no main effect. Educational leaders at both the district as well as the school level may use these results to provide in-service training to help teachers develop coping techniques to deal with the experience of burnout symptoms. Furthermore, this study suggests recommendations for future research in the area of teacher burnout such as use of a mixed method research design as well as the inclusion of high school teachers.</p><p>

<p> This exploratory case study was designed so that I could investigate the writing processes of sixth-grade students when composing traditional and digital compositions. With the increase in multimodal composing in classrooms, understanding how students compose and what traditional print text skills can be appropriated for digital composition is important. This knowledge will guide educators in how to effectively develop pedagogies to support digital writing development. I used a teacher-research paradigm to guide this study. I found several key factors that influence student writing through document analysis, participant interviews and stimulated recall sessions. Knowledge of purpose impacted student awareness of audience that in turn impacted revision processes. In addition, I discovered that students&rsquo; traditional writing knowledge was insufficient when composing digitally. While students possessed declarative knowledge for what they wanted to compose, they were unable to produce the types of digital compositions that met the rhetorical demands of the task. While digital writing motivated the students, they did not possess the knowledge to produce a digital composition that maintained the integrity of their compositions. During interviews, it became evident that the participants lacked rhetorical knowledge about digital composition and reverted to the knowledge they possessed about print writing. Utilizing the more familiar rhetorical knowledge they possessed about composing traditional text created digital compositions that did not utilize the affordances that digital writing offers to create meaning. These finding can impact the way digital composition is taught in school to ensure that students possess the necessary rhetorical skills for creating digital compositions.</p><p>