What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know, Third Edition

Middle level researchers Dave Brown and Trudy Knowles have updated their bestselling classic What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know with more student voice as well as timely new research, strategies, and models that illuminate the philosophies and practices that best serve the needs of young adolescents. Once again a comprehensive description of truly responsive middle level teaching, the Third Edition features:

• the latest discoveries in neuroscience that inform practical strategies for improving student learning

• the most recent research on physical, socio-emotional, cognitive, and identity developmental processes

• the impact of technology and social media on students’ lives and learning

• new research in middle level education supporting the development of genuine middle schools

• concrete ways to meet new content standards while implementing true curriculum integration

• explicit ways teachers can make the transition from theory to practice in their own classrooms.

Stories of teachers who have embraced curriculum integration, alternative assessment, democratic classrooms, and dynamic learning experiences inspire others to champion Dave and Trudy’s middle school philosophy, while the voices of students help us understand young adolescents’ needs and perspectives.

Trudy Knowles is the coauthor of What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know, Second Edition (Heinemann, 2007) and the author of The Kids Behind the Label: An Inside Look at ADHD for Classroom Teachers (Heinemann, 2006). She  is a professor in the education department at Westfield State College in Westfield, Massachusetts and provides workshops throughout the country on ways to help all students become successful in school. Her research and writing focus on democratic teaching and ways to give students a voice in their own learning.

A former teacher and coach at the middle and high school levels, Dave Brown is coathor of What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know, Second Edition (Heinemann, 2007) and the author of Becoming a Successful Urban Teacher (Heinemann, 2002). He is a former middle school teacher with years of experience teaching and coaching sixth through eighth graders. He regularly conducts research with middle-level teachers and young adolescents as a professor at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and provides in-service sessions nationally on young-adolescent development, appropriate middle-level design, and culturally responsive teaching.