ABSTRACT
Mirroring the roundtable discussions conducted at the 2020 Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) conference, this volume highlights the dialogic knowledge-building process critical to advancing middle level teaching and research.
Launching the new AMLE Innovations in Middle Level Education Research series, this collection captures the synergetic dialogue that occurs during professional meetings by collating and centering five recent studies on topics such as mathematics achievement, personalized and project-based learning, and teacher collaboration. A companion essay and critical external response accompanies each study, serving to re-situate original research and reconsider findings in view of professional insights and external critique gained through discussion at AMLE 2020. Ultimately, these response essays foreground potential avenues for future research and alternative thinking, laying the groundwork for implementation of critical discussion in the classroom environment.
This text will benefit researchers, doctoral students, and academics in the fields of middle level education, educational research, and specifically research methods in education. Those interested in teaching and learning, and adolescent development more broadly, will also benefit from this volume.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |13 pages
Introduction
chapter Chapter 1|11 pages
Engendering and Enriching Critical Conversations about Middle Level Education Research
part I|43 pages
Factors Affecting Middle Grades Mathematics Achievement
chapter Chapter 2|12 pages
Middle Level Mathematics Achievement from Teacher and Student Perspectives
chapter Chapter 3|18 pages
Student Readiness to Learn and Teacher Effectiveness
chapter Chapter 4|11 pages
Teaching Mathematics in the Middle Grades
part II|88 pages
Perspectives on Personalized Learning
chapter Chapter 6|33 pages
Mixed Feelings about Choice
chapter Chapter 7|28 pages
Hands-Joined Learning as a Framework for Personalizing Project-Based Learning in a Middle Grades Classroom
part III|44 pages
Understanding Teacher Collaboration in Diverse Classrooms
chapter Chapter 9|11 pages
"All the Way Better"
chapter Chapter 10|21 pages
"You're Not an Island"
chapter Chapter 11|10 pages
Insights from a Case Study on Teacher Collaboration
part IV|47 pages
Exploring Social and Emotional Learning in the Middle Grades
chapter Chapter 13|24 pages
Middle Level Students' Perceptions of Their Social and Emotional Learning
chapter Chapter 14|11 pages
Researching Social and Emotional Learning in the Middle Grades
part |9 pages
Conclusion