Stacie Pettit

The purpose of this study was to explore multiple facets of young adolescent identity and related experiences through a scoping literature review. Based on Gardenswartz and Rowe’s Four Layers of Diversity Model, we specifically examined extant literature around five of the internal dimensions: gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and physical ability. Two overarching research questions guided this investigation: What is the range and nature of current findings on young adolescent identity and experience? What gaps exist in research on young adolescent identity and experiences? To address these research questions, our research group conducted a scoping literature review using predetermined search strings related to young adolescents, identity, and experiences. We organized and presented our results in three sections: (a) gender and sexuality, (b) race and ethnicity, and (c) physical ability and disability. For each section, we specified the relevant research details, summarized the nature and characteristics of articles reviewed in a table, and described the themes derived from the reviews of literature. An overall finding was the dearth of research on young adolescent identity and experiences. Our research highlights the importance of an intersectional approach for understanding and studying the totality of young adolescent identity and experiences.

The unique needs of high-ability young adolescents should be met just as those students with other diverse needs even when instruction becomes virtual. This paper highlights the work of two teachers who overcame the challenges of remote and hybrid learning to provide quality lessons on creativity, logic, and problem solving. They are accomplishing this for 4th and 5th grade students in their gifted program through project-based learning and other lessons situated around creativity. The strategies presented that encourage students to exercise creativity would be beneficial for all students.

This research synthesis, highlighting the middle level curriculum, was created as part of a working group within the American Education Research Association (AERA) Middle level Education Research Special Interest Group (MLER SIG) to advance middle level education research. The literature review that informed this research synthesis included middle level-focused, peer-reviewed journal articles from 2016 to the present. Synthesis of the literature and iterative analysis led to organizing a middle level curriculum framework to inform middle level researchers, which included five focused areas for inquiry: (a) the curriculum and equity of experience and opportunity; (b) stakeholder power and the curriculum (development, implementation, and accountability); (c) goals and purposes for the curriculum; (d) teacher learning, roles, and enactment related to the curriculum; and (e) young adolescent well-being and experiences with the curriculum. Twenty-six research questions were developed to support new research in middle level curriculum; each question was cross-referenced with the five categories in the middle level curriculum framework to create a robust starting point for research questions. Recommendations for middle level research include (a) the need for more longitudinal research studies focusing on varying aspects of middle level education, (b) the need for more large-scale research studies examining the same context (e.g., school) or multiple contexts (e.g., school districts) over time, and (c) the need for the MLER SIG to initiate and support research studies addressing one or more aspects of this research agenda and include large-scale data collection and potentially external funding.

We used Standards 3 and 4 of the Association of Middle Level Education (AMLE) 2022 Revised Middle Level Teacher Preparation Standards and The Successful Middle School: This We Believe characteristics as frameworks and presented a synthesis of the research literature (2015–2024) on the curriculum, instruction, and assessment related to middle-level teacher development. This review was part of a larger exploration of middle-level teacher development. Initially, we located 63 articles through our search terms on the curriculum, instruction, and assessment in teacher development. From there, we contributed to an updated research agenda for middle-level education . Through continued analysis and discussion, we identified trends in each area and across these three areas. We review the literature, highlight trends, and offer recommendations for middle-level educators and researchers.

Middle Grades teacher candidates participated in a “field trip” in an Integrated Reading course to model best practices in culturally responsive teaching. The college students visited their downtown city including a regional art museum and memorial sculpture garden commemorating local Black history to experience and contemplate possibilities for literacy integration in their pedagogy. Teacher candidates were encouraged to explore and understand community culture, history, and assets with respect to their future students’ lives, identities, interests, and experiences, and how these considerations should motivate their instructional decision making with literacy applications. A follow-up discussion was facilitated by the course professor along with a final project and presentation to combine key takeaways from the field trip with the coursework objectives. Recommendations are made for both middle grades teachers and teacher educators on opportunities for leveraging community assets with culturally relevant pedagogy and literacy integration as combined lenses for middle grades best practice.

This article describes how preservice teachers (and one inservice teacher) gained content knowledge and pedagogical skills through reading a documentary novel, a genre that combines fictional storytelling with historical primary sources. Preservice teachers read the novel as a required text in a site-based undergraduate course focused on children’s and young adult literature, while an inservice teacher conducted a novel study with her fifth-grade class using the same text. Analysis of course documents, observation notes, and individual and focus group interview transcripts highlighted layers of learning for inservice and preservice teachers and their young adolescent students that supported curriculum and instruction characteristics of successful middle school classrooms. Findings revealed that incorporating a documentary novel study in preservice teacher coursework resulted in increased content knowledge and pedagogical skills necessary for engaging middle level students in learning experiences around integrative and challenging texts. Furthermore, purposeful instruction around a documentary novel featuring highly relatable adolescent characters and a plot that integrated world and everyday life events fostered deep thinking and connections for middle grades students around themes of justice within the context of family, friends, and school and in the shadow of a major political crisis.