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In the middle grades, the transition to using text more regularly to acquire content knowledge may be challenging for some content area teachers. Many students have difficulty with recalling important information, reading to learn, and engaging in meaningful text-based discussions during science and social studies. Question generation is one evidence-based...
Determining the main idea of informational texts is challenging for students with reading disabilities because they have difficulty monitoring for meaning, remembering what they have read, and identifying the most important information. This affects students’ summarization because students need to be able to identify main ideas to integrate those...
This presentatation was given at the Pacific Coast Research Conference on February 20, 2020, by Dr. Diane Haager. This is an annual research meeting held on the west coast for researchers concerned about teaching, learning, and schooling for students with mild to moderate disabilities.
Adequate reading skills are necessary for college and career readiness and success in the work force, but many students do not have sufficient reading skills. The 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress demonstrated that fourth- and eighth-grade students had made little to no progress in reading since the previous report in 2017....
Use these downloadable teacher and student cards to support your instruction of common word problem types. For more materials related to math word problem instruction, visit the Schema-Based Instruction Instructional Toolkit.
Throughout Middle School Matters’ work with schools across the nation, several important “building blocks” for enhancing the use of research-based practices emerged. This document summarizes that information by sharing 10 important elements for successful school adoption and implementation of research-based practices.
In this article, Middle School Matters researchers describe four steps educators can use to build capacity for long-term innovation. These ideas are based on recommendations in the Middle School Matters Field Guide, which is available for free download at greatmiddleschools.org.
This model lesson demonstrates providing explicit instruction in summarizing text as a reading comprehension strategy. For more information and to download the document, visit the Middle School Matters Institute website.
The Middle School Matters Coaching Forms assist school leaders and instructional coaches with informal classroom observations, walkthroughs, and feedback meetings. The forms are not meant to aid in the evaluation of teachers; instead, they are tools to record observation notes and guide productive conversations between instructional...
Research-based principles and practices in math intervention research can be applied in the middle grades to improve student outcomes. These research-based strategies will enable middle grade students to develop important mathematics knowledge and skills to become algebra-ready. For more information and to download the document, visit the Middle...
Using data to drive decisions that improve student and school performance requires open and honest dialogue among teachers, administrators, parents, and other stakeholders. Principals should provide guidance, support, and tools to ensure teachers are knowledgeable and prepared to use data effectively to inform classroom decisions. For more information and to...
Through consistent modeling, teaching, and encouraging of appropriate behaviors, educators can significantly reduce students’ antisocial and maladaptive behaviors that reduce and inhibit effective classroom instruction and student learning. For more information and to download the document, visit the Middle School Matters Institute website.
Revising and editing are two essential pieces of the writing process. Revising refers to improving the content of the writing (ideas, order, clarify), and editing focuses on correcting basic grammar, spelling, and punctuation. When teachers give students strategies for revising and editing, students develop the capacity to self-regulate...
Peer and self-assessment strategies provide opportunities for students to obtain helpful feedback and establish learning goals. Using rubrics to guide peer and self-assessment clarifies expectations and gives structure to the writing process, leading to improved writing and deeper content. Frequent writing assessments provide teachers with guidance for adjusting...
For more information and to download the document, visit the Middle School Matters Institute website.
For more information and to download the document, visit the Middle School Matters Institute website.
Why goal setting? Teaching students to use data to understand their own performance, set learning goals, and monitor progress toward those goals can motivate students to achieve more! To be effective, data must be reported in a user-friendly format and align with learning objectives and long-term goals that schools and...
This feedback form is not meant to aid in the evaluation of teachers. Instead, it is a tool to record research-based practices observed during classroom instruction (or students’ independent use or application of those practices), identify practices in need of refinement, guide productive conversations between instructional leaders and teachers,...
For more information and to download the document, visit the Middle School Matters Institute website.
For more information and to download the document, visit the Middle School Matters Institute website.
This strategy prompts students to pause at regular intervals to generate and answer their own questions about the text they’ve read, citing information from the text. For more information and to download the document, visit the Middle School Matters Institute website.
This feedback form is not meant to aid in the evaluation of teachers. Instead, it is a tool to record research-based practices observed during classroom instruction (or students’ independent use or application of those practices), identify practices in need of refinement, guide productive conversations between...
For more information and to download the document, visit the Middle School Matters Institute website.
The research-based practices included in these instructional toolkits were derived from the Middle School Matters Field Guide and have been a focus at various professional development events hosted by the Middle School Matters Institute. Each toolkit includes a brief description of the practice, research citations, professional development...
Several key players are needed on the Middle School Matters Leadership Team to ensure successful scaling up of research-based practices across a campus. This tool provides descriptions of each key role, followed by checklists of recommended qualities or skills. School leaders may use these checklists to determine appropriate individuals...
From June 15 to 17, 2015, district leadership teams and leaders from two schools in each district attended the third annual Middle School Matters Institute Summer Conference in Austin, Texas. Participants joined national researchers, staff members from the George W. Bush Institute and The Meadows Center for...
The Middle School Matters Coaching Forms were designed to assist school leaders and instructional coaches in observing specific research-based principles described in the Middle School Matters Field Guide. For more information and to download the forms, visit the Middle School Matters Institute.
Throughout each school year, the Middle School Matters Institute (MSMI) provides a series of webinars for schools to engage in continued professional development. These webinars focus specifically on one content dimension of the Middle School Matters Field Guide and feature an MSMI researcher. Webinars are recorded and...
This series of practice guides is based on information in the Middle School Matters Research Platform and Field Guide. Each guide, aimed at practitioners, presents key information in a question and answer format. For more information and to download the practice guides, visit the Middle School Matters website.
Action Plan Templates The Action Plan Template helps school leaders set goals, develop specific action steps, and set deadlines. For more information and to download the templates, visit the Middle School Matters Institute website.
The second edition of the Middle School Matters Field Guide is a collection of research-based principles, practices, and strategies deemed essential for middle school success. All recommendations are based on rigorous research conducted in the middle grades over the past 15 years. For more information and to download the document,...
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