Middle School Today: Current Best Practices for Adolescent Learners

(Hardback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Middle School Today is clustered into major themes: adolescent development and identity, the adolescent learner, curriculum and instruction, and the contemporary middle school. The book describes the components related to adolescent development starting with simple principles from psychology regarding the physical, cognitive, and social development of adolescents. The book then explores current trends in research regarding contemporary topics such as trauma informed practices, social emotional learning, and social justice. A large section of the book is devoted to curriculum and instruction. This section will reach both broadly and deeply to the ins and outs of designing instruction, implementing instruction, and assessment across all content areas. Readers will have access to resources for teacher candidates and teacher educators to utilize in practice. Finally, the book explores the historical grounding of middle level education, relying on foundational principles from the Association of Middle Level Education (AMLE) and address how teachers can connect best practices to school settings where implementing best practice may be absent.

Reviews

Middle School Today: Current Best Practices for Adolescent Learners is an accessible, practical guide that is conceptually rich, grounded in theory, and illuminated by the practice of responsive education for young adolescent learners. This timely text reflects the state of the field, with sections on inclusive and culturally sustaining learning environments, assessment-driven differentiation, literacy across the curriculum, school scheduling, restorative discipline practices, student mental health, and much, much more. Anecdotes and examples from middle grades classrooms ensure readers with all levels of experiencefrom preservice teacher candidates to veteran teachers and graduate studentswill be able to use the ideas and information in this book to guide effective practice, prompt robust discussion, and foster critical reflection. -- David C. Virtue, Taft B. Botner Distinguished Professor of Middle Grades Education, Western Carolina University
This comprehensive text compels teacher candidates, novice teachers, and their faculty mentors to consider critical aspects of both adolescent development and teacher practice in purposeful ways. The authors provide bridges between information and school context through sections like Pause and Reflect, classroom scenarios, and suggestions for making best use of evidence-based strategies. Presented with a practical and enthusiastic voice, this well-crafted, engaging text is poised to make a significant contribution to the field of early adolescent education. -- Jeanneine Jones, professor emeritus, University of North Carolina Charlotte
What a gift to hear the voices of middle level practitioners, students, parents, educators, and leaders. The text provides practitioners with insights and practices that highlight middle level education through the lens of young adolescents assets. The authors are deeply immersed in young adolescent theory and practice as they have created a model laboratory school for young adolescents at their university. Using the voices of young adolescents and their teachers, this book embraces readers in the beauty that surrounds middle level education. -- Nancy Ruppert, professor, University of North Carolina at Asheville

Author Bio

Holly Henderson Pinter, Ph.D. is an associate professor of middle grades education at Western Carolina University. Holly completed a PhD in 2013 at the University of Virginia. Her teaching and research center on the implementation of standards based mathematical teaching practices, pre-service teacher education policy and practice, and developmentally responsive teaching at the middle level. Holly teaches methods and pedagogy courses in the elementary and middle grades department as well as serving as the Math 1 teacher and instructional liaison at the universitys laboratory school, The Catamount School, and serves as program coordinator for the middle grades education.
Kim K. Winter, Ph.D., is the Dean of the College of Education and Allied Professions at Western Carolina University. She is a former Associate Dean at Western Carolina. Kim has also had roles as Associate Professor, Associate Chair and Middle Level Program Director at the University of Texas at Arlington. At the university level, Kim has taught a variety of courses: middle level curriculum, instruction, and assessment, language arts and literacy methods, young adolescent development, ELL methods, and young adult literature. She has taught Language Arts and Writing to both elementary and middle school students in Texas and Indiana. During 2007-2008, Kim took faculty leave and returned to the classroom to teach seventh and eighth grade English/Language Arts. Recent research projects include digital video analysis of and reflection on teaching among pre-service teachers; alignment of state and national English standards; the study of deficit thinking among teacher candidates; and the induction and retention of teachers.
Kayleigh Kassel, MAEd serves as the English Language Arts Teacher Leader at The Catamount School (TCS), a lab school, in Western North Carolina. In addition to teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, she also is an adjunct professor for the College of Education at Western Carolina University (WCU). Kayleigh has earned both a bachelor's and master's degrees from WCU in Middle Grades Education with a concentration in literacy. Her research focus is studying trauma-informed practices and the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) on students' needs and success.