Articles by Topic

The SEL On-Ramp: Easy to Do Strategies to Remove Non-Academic Barriers

It’s never been “easy” to be a teacher. This year is no different, to say the least.  I’ve traveled to more than 20 schools since August of 2021, from Fort Myers, Florida to Spokane Washington, and the sentiment is shared.  Students are still reeling from being home, being back, being with masks, then without, then

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AMLE Partners with Mississippi Department of Education on State-Wide Middle School Transitions Toolkit

When the Mississippi Department of Education reached out to AMLE to partner on a transitions toolkit for schools across the state, we jumped at the opportunity to support the work. The multi-disciplinary team they assembled aimed to create a roadmap for schools that supported consistent, positive transitions for middle school students while allowing each individual

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Playbook Challenge

Association for Middle Level Education, American Student Assistance Announce Winners of Funding Contest for Educators to Kickstart Middle Grades Career Exploration Programming

The three schools will each receive a $5,000 prize to bring their career exploration program to life during the 2022-2023 school year. The contest follows the launch of AMLE and ASA’s joint publication, Career Exploration in the Middle Grades: A Playbook for Educators. The first of its kind specifically for middle schools, the Playbook and

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Waves of Change

Riding the Waves of Change and Challenge in Middle School Leadership

School Administrator Resilience is critically important as they strive to bring a sense of normalcy back into their buildings and support students and teachers. Principals can support teachers’ resiliency to improve teacher retention and build capacity. But how do leaders support teachers’ resilience and develop and grow in their own resilience? Elena Aguilar defines Resilience

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The Struggle is Real

The Struggle is Real

Creating Opportunities for Productive Struggle in Math, ELA, Social Studies, and Science While productive struggle has been the focus of much research for the past two decades (e.g., Ewing et al., 2019; Hiebert and Grouws, 2007; Townsend et al., 2018), much of that research centered on mathematics content. Here we posit that productive struggle can,

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Advisory Program

An Advisory Program for the Whole Child and Whole School

How one school’s daily advisory program became a cornerstone of their culture The evidence is clear that young adolescent students benefit from having their academic and personal development guided by an adult advocate. Many schools promote this goal through an advisory program, or regularly schedule times when students can interact with a small group of

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Trending Topics

AMLE Celebrates Inaugural Schools of Distinction

AMLE recognized its inaugural class of Schools of Distinction earlier this month, in conjunction with the organization’s 49th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. The twelve schools were selected for their fervent commitment to implementing the essential attributes and characteristics of successful middle grades schools. In addition to being celebrated during a special awards ceremony, each

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Reimagining School – What should it look like and who is it for?

Cornelius Minor and Kass Minor help #AMLE22 attendees find their bottom lines as educators Cornelius and Kass Minor believe that kids don’t just learn in school. They become. It’s an attitude reflective of what we know about middle grades best practice, making them the perfect keynoters for #AMLE22 and our return to in-person conference. We

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Kindness is harder than it looks.

Houston Kraft reminds #AMLE22 attendees that connection doesn’t happen by accident. Houston Kraft, author and co-founder of CharacterStrong, took the main stage at #AMLE22 yesterday for his keynote address on Deep Kindness. From the outset, he made clear that he had a mission for those in attendance. “If we want more kindness on our campus,

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