Historically, research has placed considerable emphasis on developing a systematic body of knowledge about education in which little voice has been given to teachers themselves. The critical role that teachers play in this generative process such as reflecting, acting and theorizing upon practices that shape life in the classroom has largely been ignored in favor of technical innovation and organizational procedure. As schools straggle to reform and restructure, an understanding of how teachers interpret their practices in context and how the culture of schools influence, constrain, or encourage these practices become critical aspects of school success or failure. This study examined the perspectives on inclusion of seven middle school teachers as they attempted to include exceptional students in regular classes. The study utilized three forms of data collection: observations were made of participant interactions as they led their everyday school lives; document analysis was used as a means to gain an understanding of programs affecting exceptional students, and interviews were used to give voice to teacher’s perceptions regarding inclusion, allowing description in their own words rather than those imposed by an outside inquirer. Data collection and analysis sought to identify emerging themes, categories and patterns, allowing for the creation of substantive theory grounded in empirical data. The key issues that emerged in the study were considered in terms of three general categories. The first, teaching and learning, revealed stark contrasts in opinions regarding the type of human support thought necessary for successful inclusion. Regular educators clung to the traditional notion of solitary teachers directing all class activity, while exceptional educators preferred a more team-oriented approach. The second, school structure, revealed that highly collaborative structures were only partially successful in creating additional conversation between regular and exceptional educators. Collegiality was affected by lack of staff experience with the process as well as its implementation in a top-down fashion. The third, school culture and climate, revealed that regular educators believed the school was prepared for a limited amount of inclusion. Although exceptional educators acknowledged school readiness, they did not believe that inclusion was an important item on the school’s reform agenda.

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"The principal of Woodrow Wilson Junior High School selected a tentative home room committee of teachers during the post school planning period. This group discussed the problem at hand, the purpose of the home room and the home room program as well as the guidance to be derived through the home room. The writer, as a member of that committee, has collected materials, studied the home room and through programs. These will serve as a guide for the pupils of Wilson Junior High School. The plan is that the children will become interested in these topics and will suggest others for consideration in the home room"--Introduction. / "1952"--Cover. / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Marian W. Black, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-48).

"The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of an activity program which was started in Tomlin Junior High School during the 1949-50 term. It is not an analysis based on statistics, nor is it an attempt to present an ideal program as a pattern for other schools to follow. Rather it honestly attempts to describe how the teachers in a given school worked through the group process to meet one of the paramount needs of that school in a way that would contribute most to the boys and girls enrolled in the school"--Preface. / "August 9, 1950." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: H. A. Curtis, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58-60).

The purpose of this multi-site comparative study was to engage music educators in a process to uncover broader perspectives on their pedagogy by breaking down the barriers between general education pedagogy and music education. The curriculum planning and instruction of music teachers were observed through Schwab's Commonplaces framework to identify connections between their initial approaches and changes made during the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. Participants were seven New York City middle school general music teachers. Data were collected from participants in two sets, each consisting of one questionnaire in Qualtrics, and one interview on Zoom for a total of four instruments. The data analysis process was as follows; (a) data organization, (b) first cycle structural coding, (c) second cycle coding, and (d) synthesis and cross-case analysis. The study addressed the following research questions: (a) How can the curriculum planning, and instruction of music teachers be observed in relation to Schwab's commonplaces? (b) What connections might be inferred between these observations and any later curriculum or instructional changes (or lack thereof) made by teachers? (c) How might the schooling changes resulting from the Covid-19 outbreak have impacted these decisions? (d) What impact and/or changes in student engagement and learning might be observed by teachers during the period of this study? The findings were as follows; (a) Commonplace lens/es for curriculum planning and instruction were misidentified by participants, Learner was the most emphasized Commonplace instruction lens and four participants were unable to differentiate between curriculum and instruction, (b) Teachers' more accurately identified the Commonplace lens/es in the second data set, Learner was the most emphasized Commonplace lens for curriculum planning and instruction, and student feedback and/or engagement influenced curriculum changes, (c) COVID-19 affected participants' emotions, attitudes, and decision-making, school reopening structures frequently changed, participants simplified curriculum content for remote and reduced instruction time, and altered curriculum and instruction to prioritize students' social-emotional well-being and engagement, and (d) Student engagement and learning looked different due to COVID-19 schooling changes, in-person students showed improved engagement and quality of work, other subjects affected student engagement and learning, which improved after curriculum changes.

Middle school students work with many types of maps in school, however most maps they use are qualitative thematic maps that only show differences in kind as compared to quantitative thematic maps that show differences in amounts. This thesis investigates sixth-grade students' abilities to analyze three types of thematic maps: dot maps, choropleth maps, and graduated circle maps. Two hundred and two Oregon sixth-graders were tested on their abilities to interpret map symbology, make inferences from the data, categorize values into regions, and ask geographic questions concerning data distributions. The results indicate that students can understand these three quantitative thematic maps for these purposes. These results also raise the question, "Why aren't there more quantitative thematic maps presented to students in middle school curriculum?"

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