Connect for Kids / Child Advocacy 360 / Youth Policy Action Center - Middle

Beating the Odds 2005: Urban Schools

Mon, 02 May 2005 12:19:02 -0500

The fifth annual Council of the Great City Schools' annual Beating the Odds report compared 2002, 2003, and 2004 test scores in urban districts from 38 states, and found improvements in both fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math. In fourth-grade reading, 51 percent of urban school students scored at or above proficient level, a 7.9 percentage point increase from 2002. Fourth-graders scoring at or above proficient level in math went from 44.1 percent to 55.3 percent, an 11.2 percent increase from 2002.

Get-Out-the-Vote Ads, By Kids & For Everyone

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:37:03 -0500

In Brighton, NY, city officials, parents and schools are all involved in helping their kids become politically active and aware. One result: kid-conceived and kid-produced ads on the importance of voting, developed in conjunction with the National Student Parent Mock Election. Rob Capriccioso reports.

Stuck In the Middle

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:05:16 -0500

Middle school is an educational minefield for many, with research indicating that academic achievement often plummets during early adolescence. Why is teaching and learning so hard in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades? Connect for Kids' Caitlin Johnson has a personal perspective as a creative writing teacher in a Washington, D.C. middle school.

Middle Grades: Feeling the Squeeze

Tue, 16 Nov 2004 19:05:17 -0600

Once the outgrowth of reforms to improve school environments for young adolescents, middle schools are now facing new challenges for boosting academic achievement. A 2000 Education Week report looked at how these changes may require shifting priorities and assumptions about young teens.

National Assessment of Educational Progress

Mon, 13 Dec 2004 13:56:30 -0600

The National Assessment of Educational Progress tracks the educational achievements of fourth, eighth, and twelfth grade students over time in selected content areas.