This text highlights partnerships between schools and teacher preparation programs where candidates have opportunities to learn in their coursework alongside teachers in the classroom in clinical settings, bridging the theory?practice divide and helping candidates better understand the simultaneous and multi?dimensional nature of teaching and learning in schools. All of the authors in this text describe how their programs go beyond informal arrangements and include a collaborative relationship between the school and university. As a Handbook of Resources, this text provides details about roles, relationships, expectations, organizational structures, and the challenges of partnerships, which will help those who wish to establish a clinically?based model and move confidently from vision to implementation. The authors of the chapters clearly describe the details of their partnerships so their stories can be a resource for others in similar contexts or situations. In doing so, each chapter highlights the different ways to develop partnerships, as well as provides opportunities for universities, schools, and districts with established partnerships to share their stories, wisdom, and expertise and offer inspiration, encouragement, and ideas. The authors of these chapters acknowledge the tensions inherent in the process of developing, implementing, and sustaining an effective, viable partnership by providing insight into how challenges are addressed at different stages of a partnership and what benefits, successes, and differing perspectives exist in this type of relationship. There are a variety of schools represented in this body of work??rural, suburban, private, public, large research intensive, and small private. By design, we believe any school can find themselves in this text as the authors offer suggestions and ideas that can be implemented in other structures. With that said, we want to emphasize that the examples provided are meant to inspire creativity and possibility as programs develop partnerships rather than offer a wholesale approach or a recipe. Viewing the reader as the expert at their institution, this text offers insights into ways to shape the ideas and structures to fit their context.

This insightful book presents and discusses the dialogues that took place in the New Directions in Middle Level Education Research session at the 2022 Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) conference. Carefully crafted and expert-led chapters draw upon four recent studies that were published in Research in Middle Level Education Online, the research journal of AMLE, and which were featured in a roundtable discussion at the 2022 AMLE conference. Each section of the book includes one of the four studies accompanied by two companion pieces offering different perspectives on the work. In the companion essays, the original authors enrich and extend their research by incorporating feedback from the conference session discussions, revisiting their findings and conclusions, considering alternative approaches to further research, and proposing new or clarified implications for practice. The book also comprises contributions from middle level education experts, who offer responses to each study, offering perspectives, critiques, and commentaries. Reflecting the generative, dialogic, knowledge-building process that took place at the AMLE conference, it showcases the collaborative work of middle level researchers who draw ideas and inspiration for their studies from prior research and accounts of practice, as well as their own experiences in the field. This book is an excellent resource for researchers, doctoral students, and academics in the fields of middle level education, educational research, and research methods in education.

The second edition of The Encyclopedia of Middle Grades Education has been revised, updated, and expanded since its original publication in 2005. The Encyclopedia is a comprehensive overview of the field; it contains alphabetically organized entries that address important concepts, ideas, terms, people, organizations, publications, and research studies specifically related to middle grades education. This edition contains over 210 entries from nearly 160 expert contributors, this is a 25% increase in the number of entries over the first edition. The Encyclopedia is aimed at a general audience including undergraduate students in middle?level teacher preparation programs, graduate students, higher education faculty, and practitioners and administrators. The comprehensive list of entries are comprised of both short entries (500 words) and longer entries (2000 words). A significant number of entries appearing in the first edition have been revised and updated. Citations and references are provided for each entry.

This volume offers a cross-national analysis of teacher education programs designed to prepare teachers for work in middle level schools. The book showcases 15 detailed case studies of courses at institutions across North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa—including from countries currently underrepresented in middle level literature—which provide detailed information on programming whilst foregrounding the political, social, and cultural factors which have influenced priorities within teacher education. Underpinning the book is a comparative case study framework, used to identify divergences and commonalities within and across nations whereby factors such as globalization, policy, and socio-cultural views of teaching and adolescence are explored as determinants of the nature, success, and challenges of middle level teacher preparation. This text will benefit scholars, academics, and students in the fields of middle level education, teacher education, and international and comparative education. Those involved with educational policy and politics, as well as teacher training and the sociology of education more broadly, will also benefit from this volume.

The International Handbook of Middle Level Education Theory, Research, and Policy is a landmark resource for researchers, graduate students, policy makers, and practitioners who work in middle level education and associated fields of study. The volume provides an overview of the current state of middle level education theory, research, and policy; offers analysis and critique of the extant literature in the field; and maps new directions for research and theory development in middle level education. The handbook meets a pressing need in the field for a resource that is comprehensive in its treatment of middle level research and international in scope. Chapter authors provide rationales for middle level education research and definitions of the field; discuss philosophical approaches and underpinnings for middle level education research; describe and critique frameworks for quality in middle level education; review research about young adolescent learners, middle level school programming, and educator preparation; and analyze public policies affecting middle level education at national, regional, and local levels.

National and international teacher education organizations and scholars have called for an increased emphasis on clinical practice in educator preparation programs. These recommendations include specific efforts to increase the duration, diversity, and quality of experiences that teacher candidates engage in during their time in P-12 schools while earning their teaching license. This book includes a robust set of chapters that include conceptual, theoretical, and empirical chapters related to innovative approaches in clinical practice in educator preparation. Authors include teacher educators from around the United States and Canada from a variety of types of higher education institutions. The book provides readers with examples, evidence, and ideas to thoughtfully consider their future direction in examining, planning, and implementing clinical practice experiences for teacher candidates.

Current research around the middle grades has brought a heightened attention by teachers, policymakers, and researchers recognizing that this stage is a time when a students’ health and social and emotional well-being directly impacts their academic progress. To date, school leaders and teachers have not been well served by explicit resources for middle grades education that focus on aspects of the health and well-being of young adolescent learners to support the planning of curriculum and teaching and to support teachers and leaders working with this age-group. The purpose of this research – based volume is to fill that gap and to enable school leaders, teachers, academics, and teacher candidates to develop successfully an understanding of the health and well-being aspects of young adolescent learners and provide them with the necessary tools and information to address the health and well-being needs of young adolescent learners.