The problem investigated was the need for effective and efficient learning for middle school science students to meet expectations set in Goals 2000. The use of the 4MAT Instructional Method was investigated as a possible method for attainment of current science standards. The study included one middle school science instructor's classes with 89 participating students. Measurements were taken and comparisons drawn using three assessment methods to determine if improved academic achievement and attitude scores resulted. Data analysis yielded no significant conclusion in either academic achievement or attitude improvement; however, observations of the researcher indicated potential usefulness of the 4MAT approach. The t-value calculated in the assessment methods was insufficient with a .05 probability of error present in the findings. The limitations of the study skewed the results and outweighed the possible observational insight.

<p> This qualitative case study explores student, parent, and teacher perceptions of school racial climate and its impact on students&rsquo; academic and personal lives at a charter middle school in South Los Angeles. The study also explores teacher handling of the impact of racial tensions at this school with a majority Latin@ student enrollment and a predominantly Black teaching staff. School climate refers to the perceived quality of interpersonal interactions among teachers, students, staff, and parents. A positive school climate is associated with increased academic achievement and decreased disciplinary problems. Conversely, schools wrought with interethnic conflict or a <i>poor</i> racial climate divert focus and resources away from student learning and toward chronic disciplinary problems and teacher attrition. This case study demonstrates how Black administrators handled displacement by a large immigrant Latin@ population by instituting a system of Black privilege to protect political and economic space. The massive immigration of Latin@s offered a critical opportunity for coalition building with Blacks. However, a competition-based framework emerged, rendering this case study a microcosm of missed opportunity in South Los Angeles and beyond.</p>

<p> This mixed methods, multisite case study examined the relational ecology of two urban middle schools that had adopted school-wide restorative practices (SWRPs) and the changes that occurred as a result of the reform initiative. The study was conducted in two Title I middle schools in the Oakland Unified School District in California. A positive relational ecology existed in these two urban middle schools which was built on the interacting and interrelated themes of relational trust, being heard, a relational-based, student-centered culture, and a commitment to the principles of social justice. The positive relational ecology created a strong foundation upon which change could occur at the organizational, individual, and pedagogical levels. Various structures within the schools, including circles, instructional leadership teams, student councils, and peer mediation, created space for teachers and students to be heard and empowered, which subsequently facilitated change and growth for many administrators, teachers, and students. High turnover, lack of initial and ongoing training, and the development of quasi- or non-restorative processes jeopardized program fidelity. Findings revealed that in these restorative schools, relational ecology and change were inseparable, and that they moved and influenced each other. A positive relational ecology created an environment that enabled leaders and staff to feel safe as they embarked on the journey of change. Changes in the ways that members of the school communities related to each other on a daily basis provided additional motivation to continue the change effort, and these changes then in turn strengthened the relational ecologies. Findings of this study are significant and have implications for schools and school districts, policy makers, and teacher and leader education. Future research should include longitudinal, mixed methods studies that assess the school culture before and after implementing SWRPs, as well as experimental or quasi-experimental designs that compare restorative and non-restorative schools. Such studies may provide more empirical evidence that links healthy relational ecologies to student achievement, less teacher turnover, decreased conflict, and healthier communities, thereby strengthening the case for rejecting punitive and discriminatory zero tolerance school discipline policies and adopting restorative justice in education instead.</p>

<p> Because African American males are being educated in suburban environments where they are not performing as well as their White peers, this study sought to understand how these males make meaning of being educated with primarily White teachers in suburbia and to understand how they perceive their teachers' efficacy and expectations. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)</p>

It is imperative to acknowledge the crisis state of African American adolescents as they transit into young adulthood. Professional literature has documented the usage of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana and other drugs during the transitional period. Chemical substance misusage among some adolescents resulting in critical incidents continues to gain increased interest for the counseling profession and others. Special emphasis is placed on drug prevention education program in schools. A selected group of adolescents were administered the PRIDE survey instrument for this research study. The instrument was designed to assess the student's history, pattern, attitude, prevalence and critical incidents involving cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana and other drug misusage. Descriptive research techniques were utilized for this study. Ninety-one respondents were randomly selected among the population of two hundred students. The research findings were overwhelming. Based on the findings, there is no significant difference in drug usage among adolescents in rural and metropolitan areas in the United States.

The current study examined the relationship between the three components of racial-ethnic identity (REI)- Connectedness, Embedded Achievement, and Awareness of Racism- and academic engagement in middle school African American (n=62) and Latino (n=30) youth. We hypothesized the three components of REI would be able to predict academic engagement in the youth, as well as an interaction between ethnicity and the REI components. A hierarchical regression revealed Connectedness and Embedded Achievement were both accurate predictors of student’s academic engagement. In addition, an interaction between Embedded Achievement and ethnicity was also present in the current study. The results indicate that African American youth who have higher levels of Embedded Achievement are more likely to have a higher academic engagement levels while the academic engagement of Latino youth remained fairly constant regardless of level of Embedded Achievement.

Resilience is the ability to survive and persevere during difficult times. Resilient people also thrive after overcoming adversity. Adolescents have many developmental tasks to overcome in their quest to becoming adults. Difficulty with these tasks can lead to academic and personal failures. Adolescents with low resilience often struggle with low self-esteem. If students are identified early as having lower levels of resilience, professional school counselors have an opportunity to provide resilience-enhancing activities. Prior to middle school, students are assigned all of their classes. During middle school, students begin to select their elective courses which may be representative of their interests and current emotional status. By looking at students' elective courses, I looked for patterns of resilience that may help professional school counselors proactively identify students in need of additional guidance in order to be academically successful. This study utilized a convenience sample of middle school students enrolled in the 8th grade (N = 190) of a large suburban school district located in the southwest United States to measure levels of resilience and elective course enrollment. Gender of the participants was 107 females and 83 males. The students reported their ethnicity as 5.8% African American/Black, 11.1% Asian, 12.6% Hispanic, 1.1% Native American, 1.6% Pacific Islander, 59.5% Caucasian/White, and 8.4% multiracial. I measured resilience in this study using the Resilience Scale and comparisons based on elective course. Data analyses include descriptive statistics and ANOVAs. Based on a statistical significance criterion of p < .05, students enrolled in athletics scored significantly higher in resilience than did non-athletics students enrolled in physical education/outdoor education (p = .035). Additionally, Caucasian females were significantly less resilient than Caucasian males (p = .031). Limitations of the study, implications of the results for practice, and recommendations for future research are presented.

This thesis is a narrative of a project called the James River Anthology. The project was an experiment in "process theater" for the all-boy student population of Seven Hills School in Richmond, Virginia. Students were asked to write their own monologues and create masks inspired by the James River in the 2004-2005 school year. The performance was held on April 28th, 2005 at the Lewis Ginter Recreation Center. A grant from Partners in the Arts was awarded for this project to fund visiting artist, Heather Hogg, author of this thesis.

This study examined the perceptions of gifted middle school students who attended one of two middle school gifted service options as they transitioned into high school. Gifted middle school students from either a center-based gifted service option or a school-based gifted service option from middle schools in a suburban district in Central Virginia participated in the study. Participants who had completed three consecutive years within the gifted service option were purposively selected for the study. Students completed a pre-transition survey at the end of their eighth grade year and a post-transition survey early in their ninth grade year. The survey asked students to identify their high school program choice and provide a reason for their choice in order to establish high school program choice trends among the different gifted service options. The surveys also assessed the differences in the students’ perceptions of the transition from middle school into the chosen high school as it pertains to academic, organizational, and social constructs of the high school program. Students from the center-based gifted program were more likely to choose to attend one of the regional Governor’s schools, and chose to do so because of personal interest and the perception of academic rigor. The students from the school-based gifted service options were more likely to choose to attend one of the district’s specialty centers, and chose to do so because of personal interest and parental encouragement. Prior to transitioning into high school, both the center-based gifted and the school based gifted students had high perceptions of the grades they earned. However, after transitioning into high school, only the center-based gifted students continued to have a high perception of grades earned. Prior to the transition into high school the center-based gifted students had higher perceptions of the academic, organizational, and social constructs. Differences were not found among the post-transition perceptions of the academic, organizational, and social constructs between the two gifted middle school groups; however, the extremely small sample size of the post-transition survey may have impacted these results.

As mathematical modeling gains popularity in K-12 classrooms, it is important to define what this entails for both students and teachers. The following study reviews various definitions of mathematical modeling and how these definitions are relevant for middle grades (5-9) teachers. Following a professional development workshop on mathematical modeling, four middle school teachers expressed their views about teaching mathematics through modeling tasks. This study documents the teachers' perceptions of what it means to model with mathematics, which tasks are most appropriate for their students, and why this is important in each of their classrooms. Although the teachers varied in their views depending on the context and circumstances surrounding each modeling task, they agreed that mathematical modeling helps students build critical thinking skills and provides an opportunity to align mathematics concepts with engaging, realistic phenomena.