Middle School
Education news, analysis, and opinion about schools typically serving 6th to 8th grades and the students who attend them
Curriculum
Middle Schools Often Prioritize English and Math Over Other Subjects. Should They?
An Illinois district is equalizing time across the four major content areas. But the decision comes with trade-offs.
Curriculum
Video
These Two Key Questions Form the Heart of Digital Literacy Instruction
Crucial lessons around digital literacy and digital safety can be framed around these two questions.
Assessment
Opinion
Our Grading System Was Setting Students Up to Fail—Until This Change
Our first reaction to standards-based grading was despair. Then, slowly, things began to change.
Artificial Intelligence
Why This School System Is Integrating AI Literacy With Algebra 1
A new course offered by the Florida Virtual School aims to build students' understanding of math and AI concepts.
Student Well-Being
Video
The First Rule of SEL for Older Students? Don’t Be Boring
Middle and high schoolers are a much tougher audience for social-emotional-learning lessons.
Artificial Intelligence
From Our Research Center
Can AI and Math Work Together? Here's What Teachers Say
Generate practice problems, plan lessons, and help struggling learners were among many recommendations.
Reading & Literacy
Video
How Schools Can Help Older Students Struggling With Reading
With a growing number of struggling readers in the older grades, schools need school-wide strategies and individual interventions.
Reading & Literacy
4 Ways Teachers Identify and Support Struggling Older Readers
For most students, instruction in how to read ends sometime in elementary school. But some kids still struggle well beyond that point.
Student Well-Being
Q&A
This School Counselor Has a Four-Legged Trick for Getting Tweens to Open Up
The 2025 School Counselor of the Year supports hundreds of middle schoolers with help from her therapy dog, Winston.
Student Well-Being
Middle School Is Tough for Boys. One School Found the 'Secret Sauce' for Success
Hands-on learning, choice, and other evidence-based practices help boys thrive.
Student Well-Being
From Our Research Center
What's Behind the Falloff in Social-Emotional Learning for Teens
Surveys from the EdWeek Research Center find that districts' focus on SEL is back down to pre-pandemic levels.
Student Well-Being
Are Today's Students Really Less Independent Than Previous Generations?
Experts say social-emotional learning strategies are available for teachers to help students become more independent.
Assessment
This School Didn't Like Traditional Grades. So It Created Its Own System
Principals at this middle school said the transition to the new system took patience and time.
Reading & Literacy
Reading Interventions for Older Students May Be Missing a Key Component
Many older elementary and middle school students still struggle with foundational reading skills.