There are about 16,000 middle schools in the United States; the half million teachers who teach in them affect the academic and emotional lives of about a hundred students while working cooperatively with an array of adult personalities and endeavoring to cover the curriculum. Although research has been conducted on many components of the middle school, an in-depth look at teachers’ experiences with the concept is missing. The purposes of this study were to explore three ideas: the complexities of the work experiences of teachers who participate on interdisciplinary teams in urban middle schools, the possible interactions of the structures and principles of the middle school philosophy with their work lives, and how the reality of interdisciplinary teams connect to the ideals in the middle school and organizational theory literature. I conducted three in-depth phenomenological interviews with 15 urban middle school teachers. Teachers shared their teaching experiences, life histories (to put their experiences in context), and how teaching fits in with their lives. Subject matters, ethnicities, ages, and years experience varied. They came from 9 schools in 5 school districts in the Northeast. I include a brief history of how the junior high morphed into the middle school. The “ideal” practices, programs, and philosophy of the middle school and teaming (as defined by middle school and organizational theory literature) are explained and then contrasted with the realities. Results indicate that the “ideal” characteristics, as described in the literature, do not exist in all urban middle schools. Teachers lamented their absence and described their frustrations with student behavior, colleagues, administrators, and state testing. They also shared the joy they find in seeing their students progress, giving back to the community, and making a difference in students’ lives. I propose that these rewards make up for the incredible difficulties they face daily. I conclude that teachers need team planning time to implement the middle school characteristics and overcome the difficulties of teaching urban students, which include transience, absenteeism, poverty, lack of familial support, and a belief that being smart is “lame.” I also propose increasing community involvement and providing alternative schools.

This collective case study examined students' beliefs and perceptions regarding art education and investigated factors that influence and shape students' art attitudes and their intrinsic valuing of art. The main focus of this investigation was centered on students' voice regarding art education and on the conceptions students hold about the value and significance of art. A phenomenographic orientation guided this research. The study was based on classroom observations, interviews and critiques with 12 highs school art students taking elective art courses. The analysis of data involved a constant comparative method to develop categories and themes. Three major themes were developed to explain and describe the results of this study. 1) Art Attitudes—explored students' beliefs and conceptions about art. A working definition of "art attitude" was developed to serve as a steppingstone in this inquiry. The ABC model, focusing on affective, behavioral, and cognitive modes, was employed to organize data. Students' emotional responses, actions and verbal indications of behavioral tendencies and cognitive evaluations of artistic experiences described their art attitudes. 2) Inspiring Mechanisms—investigated various influences exerting a positive impact on attitude formation. This section was organized into four categories: Introspections, Art Valuing, Consequential Art Experiences, and Family Zone. 3) Inhibiting Mechanisms—examined the negative forces that affect students' art attitudes and their valuation of art. This section was organized into two categories: Disengagement and Creative Trepidations. Study results suggest that the process of attitude formation involves a collection of determinants. Some of them promote increasingly positive attitudes: positive personal experiences, meaningful learning, engagement, self-esteem and nurturing family environment. While other determinants, such as anxiety, boredom, and poor self-perception exert a negative influence. Inspiring and inhibiting mechanisms exert impact on students' perceptions and beliefs about art and their self-concept as artists. These forces shape students' attitudes and affect how they feel, think and respond to artistic experiences. The attitudes that students form consequently determine their willingness or reluctance to expose themselves to new ideas and their eagerness or apathy to learn and experience more about art.

Although public school teaching by its inherent nature presents numerous classroom challenges, the public high school teacher today is faced in addition with multiple external mandates from several outside stakeholders. Given the established track record of professional learning communities (PLCs) to provide teacher support and development, I created a PLC that would serve as an intervention designed to support teachers in their classroom work and with their multiple mandates as well. This enhanced PLC was informed by interviews with administrators, researched best practices of traditional PLCs, and uniquely, by what teachers told me they needed in an optimal PLC experience. The PLC was facilitated and based on inclusive, holistic social justice principles that provided a framework for and experience of inclusive teaching practice, while specifically addressing ongoing teacher concerns and issues raised by the multiple mandates. The PLC intervention I designed was for participants only, and I studied them along a range of outcomes that were compared to a control group of teachers identified from the same general population, but who did not experience the intervention. I used a multiple methods, predominantly qualitative approach, that included closed and open field questions taken before and after the intervention. I concluded by conducting in-depth end of term interviews with the participants in the intervention, enriched by my own field notes and observations. Findings included participants unanimously reporting this PLC uniquely satisfying, both professionally and personally. Professionally, they reported a significant gain across a range of knowledge, skills, self efficacy, and classroom management; an enhanced understanding of student diversity, and of the complex interactions between their choices of pedagogy and curriculum within the learning experience between and among students and teacher—leading to more effective professional interactions. After closely examining a published holistic teaching and learning model, participants exercised their professional power by creating one organizing tool to help them personalize and connect the apparently disparate mandates, and another organizer that schematically designed their future professional development requirements. Post-PLC, participants felt affirmed, empowered, less stressed, more closely affiliated, and spiritually supported by the PLC. Many continue to meet since the study’s conclusion.

The availability and sophistication of visual display images, such as simulations, for use in science classrooms has increased exponentially however, it can be difficult for teachers to use these images to encourage and engage active student thinking. There is a need to describe flexible discussion strategies that use visual media to engage active thinking. This mixed methods study analyzes teacher behavior in lessons using visual media about the particulate model of matter that were taught by three experienced middle school teachers. Each teacher taught one half of their students with lessons using static overheads and taught the other half with lessons using a projected dynamic simulation. The quantitative analysis of pre-post data found significant gain differences between the two image mode conditions, suggesting that the students who were assigned to the simulation condition learned more than students who were assigned to the overhead condition. Open coding was used to identify a set of eight image-based teaching strategies that teachers were using with visual displays. Fixed codes for this set of image-based discussion strategies were then developed and used to analyze video and transcripts of whole class discussions from 12 lessons. The image-based discussion strategies were refined over time in a set of three in-depth 2x2 comparative case studies of two teachers teaching one lesson topic with two image display modes. The comparative case study data suggest that the simulation mode may have offered greater affordances than the overhead mode for planning and enacting discussions. The 12 discussions were also coded for overall teacher student interaction patterns, such as presentation, IRE, and IRF. When teachers moved during a lesson from using no image to using either image mode, some teachers were observed asking more questions when the image was displayed while others asked many fewer questions. The changes in teacher student interaction patterns suggest that teachers vary on whether they consider the displayed image as a "tool-for-telling" and a "tool-for-asking." The study attempts to provide new descriptions of strategies teachers use to orchestrate image-based discussions designed to promote student engagement and reasoning in lessons with conceptual goals.

Though attention to academic language is a key component of the Teacher Performance Assessment and the new Common Core Standards, little has been researched regarding how pre-service teachers build academic language knowledge and integrate it into their practice teaching experience. This study focuses on the construction and delivery of academic language knowledge to pre-service teachers in a one year immersion teacher preparation program. It studies the pre-service teachers' use of academic language knowledge in their planning, teaching, and assessment throughout a practicum and clinical experience, as well as their use of academic language knowledge as part of reflective practice. Through analysis of classroom observation notes, interviews, and artifacts, the data show that after receiving instruction on academic language concepts in the areas of content-area terminology and language use, reading, and writing, pre-service teachers consciously integrated an attention to the terminology and language use of their content area into their practicum experience. However, faced with understanding themselves as teachers while navigating their mentor teacher's expectations, learning the curriculum they are teaching, and developing classroom management skills, etc., attention to academic language instruction in reading and writing was limited. Recognition that content-area terminology and language use is key to accessing content, though, influenced reflection on how content knowledge is accessed. This conscious understanding of the role terminology and language use plays in accessing content knowledge opened the door for a deeper reflection on the role academic language plays in the classroom. And, during their post-practicum clinical experience, these pre-service teachers were able to more knowledgeably reflect on how to integrate specific content-area reading and writing instruction into curriculum. These conclusions suggest that an introduction to academic language concepts and practices can reveal "blind spots" that enable pre-service teachers to better address content-area literacy in their future practice. They also suggest that more focus in academic language instruction in teacher education programs could help pre-service teachers more efficiently learn the complexities of their new role.

This case study provides the data which delineates a plan for a staff development program at the school-site level, allowing for the development of guidelines necessary for the implementation of this plan. Urban high schools face many challenges: continued diminishing budgets impacting on staffing cuts, increased student problems, and reform mandates with inadequate funding. The Department Head, as the curriculum and instructional leader, is at the forefront to provide teaching professionals with access to intensive staff development opportunities. This study describes a staff development planning process as created by one Department Head, that may be utilized by any urban high school without a program in place. The plan involves the collaboration of staff and it is implemented at the school-site. It affords teachers a shared vision with access to pedagogical initiatives accompanied by efforts to ensure a stable and informed staff that can focus on the educational needs of our ever-changing student population. The study is of a descriptive nature. Statistical data gathered in the format of naturalistic inquiry from virtually an entire school staff will indicate what happens when teachers have common goals and utilize a collaborative approach in developing a plan to support fellow practitioners in sharing ideas, cooperating in activities, and assisting one another's intellectual growth. Consensus was established that teachers have a shared vision of the professional activities they want in the planning and design of a staff development program. Most teachers feel they need assistance in upgrading content knowledge and teaching strategies that will support them in working in a collegial fashion to improve teaching and learning focused toward helping all students to achieve high standards of learning and development. Professional development at the school site was strongly preferred as compared to past, singular activities outside of the school building. Teachers want substantial time and resources on a continuum in activities that are job-embedded and reflect the School's philosophy and vision. The results of this case study offer strategies that can be used by high school administrators at the school-site level planning and implementation of a staff development program.

High school science teachers cite "academic preparation" as the primary goal of their instruction. Almost universally, they focus their courses' content and design on the skills and knowledge that they believe are necessary for success in subsequent courses in that particular science. This study challenges the accuracy and efficacy of that priority. Data on completion of high school chemistry courses were disaggregated, analyzed, and compared with grade performance in first-year college chemistry at three institutions of higher education in Maine. Completion of any level of high school chemistry failed to correlate with academic performance in college chemistry. The study compared scores on the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) in mathematics and reading and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in quantitative and verbal areas with grade performance in first-year college chemistry. It revealed positive correlations between test scores and course grades with the mathematics section of the MEA and with both portions of the SAT. Maine high school chemistry teachers cited different priorities for varying levels of high school chemistry. Those teaching the highest level courses reported covering more of the textbook material, but spending less time using a text than did their colleagues teaching lower level courses. Teachers using the American Chemical Society's "Chemistry in the Community" program articulated substantially different course goals, expectations, and use of instructional time than did their colleagues using other text based programs. This study involved administering a pre and post questionnaire to students enrolled in first-year college chemistry, gathering data from their high school and college records, and surveying Maine high school chemistry teachers. The study employed non-parametric statistics, correlations and comparisons of means to analyze the data.

Over the past decade, politicians, businesspersons, and educators have pushed for “higher,” “tougher,” and “world-class” standards for K–12 students. This standards movement includes state standardized, curriculum-based tests. Massachusetts recently developed the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). MCAS is considered a high-stakes test because a passing score determines graduation for students, and sanctions and rewards for teachers and schools. The experiences of 16 Massachusetts English teachers in teaching under the MCAS high-stakes testing requirement were explored using a qualitative research method known as in-depth interviewing from a phenomenological perspective (Seidman, 1998). These participants taught a variety of students in a range of Massachusetts public schools. Over the course of three 90-minute interviews, each participant established context through life histories, detailed their current teaching experiences, and made meaning of these experiences. Using an inductive process of analysis, data were reduced and coded; essential features, relationships, and patterns were explored. The findings were organized into three major themes. This study found that teachers narrowed their curriculum, changed instruction, and designed classroom assessments to match the content and skills that MCAS tests. Teachers associated both gains and losses with these changes. Moreover, this high-stakes test both enhanced and undermined their professional identities. MCAS and related professional activities empowered teachers; MCAS also disempowered teachers by imposing policies that controlled curriculum and instruction, threatened sanctions, and damaged reputations. Teachers voiced their socio-political analysis of the theories that underpin this high-stakes testing movement, the motives behind MCAS, and the current state of education. The findings reveal that the line between educational reform and improved education is neither unidirectional nor linear. Rather, it is a complex web of influences, motives, and actions. How policy winds its way into practice depends on the varied contexts in which teachers perceive and experience reform. This study suggests implications for policymakers, politicians, teachers, teacher educators, and researchers. Among other things, it makes a plea to policymakers and legislators to define what they mean by standards, re-examine the narrow content of the test, and include teachers as legitimate participants in making policy decisions that affect them and their students.

This qualitative research multi-case study examined the biographical and classroom experiences of three small city New England high school social studies teachers to determine how they construct meaning out of their own beliefs and experiences regarding global education and technology. The study used in-depth phenomenological interviews and classroom observations to achieve its purpose. The school participated in the Global Connections & Exchange Program (GCE), a computer-mediated international project. The following steps were used for data analysis: (a) verbatim transcription of all audio tapes, (b) multiple readings of interview transcripts, observation notes, and artifacts, (c) codification and classification of all data, and (d) connection of categories and determination of the relationship between them using the constant comparative analysis method (Merriam, 1998; Rossman & Rallis, 2003; Corbin & Strauss, 1967). The results of this study support five thematic findings: (a) The teachers’ developed sense of global awareness and multi-perspectives was a result of their “spheres of influence”—social, cultural, historical, and environmental—as well as the opportunities and other circumstances that presented themselves during their formative years; (b) The teachers perceived that a majority of their values and beliefs about education, teaching, and learning were acquired outside their teacher education program; (c) The teachers’ values and beliefs influenced the ways in which they saw their role as a teacher, taking into account all aspects of teaching, from the ways in which teachers build classroom community to the ways in which they facilitate the content; (d) The teachers perceived that their teacher education programs offered no formal training as to how a teacher integrates both technology and global perspective into classroom practice; (e) Participation in the GCE Program provided teachers with the opportunity to experience supported authentic professional development in the areas of technology integration and global education in the classroom.

The purpose of this study is to determine middle school teachers' thoughts on ability grouping. Specifically, this study identifies the reasons that teachers retain (R group) or eliminate (E group) ability grouping practices. Data from thirty-one teachers were categorized through the use of qualitative research methodology. This study focuses on three research questions: (1) What do middle school teachers perceive to be the advantages of ability grouping? (2) What do middle school teachers perceive to be the disadvantages of ability grouping? (3) What alternative grouping practices do middle school teachers utilize to replace ability grouping? Teachers who support ability grouping do not believe what they read and hear about ability grouping. For them, ability grouping may not be the best way to work with young adolescents in schools, but it works reasonably well and they do not believe another way of grouping is worth the effort, or works any better. They may not want to change for a variety of other reasons. Their beliefs may limit thinking or they may not want to invest the time, energy, and thought necessary to alter ability grouping practices. These ideas, coupled with the notion that teaching ability grouped classes is easier and change is difficult, form the basis for their perceived advantages of ability grouping. R group teachers state as many disadvantages of ability grouping as they do advantages. E group teachers are more adamant in their perceptions. They state fewer advantages of ability grouping, and many times more disadvantages. They believe that non-ability grouped methods, coupled with other teaching methodologies, are effective ways to teach middle school students. Sixteen of seventeen teachers interested in eliminating ability grouping had taught in both ability grouped and non-ability grouped classrooms. The opposite was true for the teachers who wished to retain ability grouping. Only one of the fourteen R group teachers had taught both ability grouped and non-ability grouped classes. This suggests that to be supportive of eliminating ability grouping in classrooms, teachers must use both types of instruction. Teachers who have chosen to eliminate ability grouping in their schools and classrooms have bridged the gap between acceptance of the status quo and taking action. Their actions are based upon a strong belief that they can be successful and benefit all students, both academically and socially.