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In this article the authors illustrate how Peter Senge's 5 disciplines: (1) systems thinking, (2) personal mastery, (3) mental models, (4) building shared vision, and (5) team learning can be used for the development of a learning organization in middle schools. Thompson, S., & McKelvy, E. (2007). Shared vision, team learning and professional learning communities. Middle Ground, 10(3), 12-14.

Context of teacher learning is described. Strategies are suggested for promoting teacher learning. Maute, J. (2003). The spirit of teaching learning. Middle Ground, 6(3), 10-12.

This book is the result of research by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). Their position is that the use of technology can be used to transform the nature of the curriculum itself. The e-book version has links to resources that make it a wealth of information regarding universal design for learning (UDL). UDL is a framework that can help you turn the challenges posed by high standards and increasing learner diversity into opportunities to maximize learning for every student. Drawing upon new knowledge of how the brain works and new technologies and media now available for teaching and learning, UDL frames a systematic approach to setting goals, choosing or creating flexible materials and media, and assessing students accurately.

The report was written by Linda Darling-Hammond and a team of researchers from the Stanford University School Redesign Network. It examines what research has revealed about professional learning that improves teachers' practice and student learning. The report describes the availability of such opportunities in the United States and high-achieving nations around the world, which have been making substantial and sustained investments in professional learning for teachers over the last two decades.

Across the country, teachers are providing students with the opportunity to use technology to make valuable contributions to their learning community. November, A. (2008). The digital learning farm. Middle Ground, 12(1), 10-13.

The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) is designed for students aged 11 to 16. This period, encompassing early puberty and mid-adolescence, is a particularly critical phase of personal and intellectual development and requires a programme that helps students participate actively and responsibly in a changing and increasingly interrelated world. Learning how to learn and how to evaluate information critically is as important as learning facts.

PILS is short for the Parents Involved in Learning System. We are an online service designed to help parents and teachers jointly and more closely and astutely monitor and evaluate individual student development and academic performance.

The benefits and criticism of increased assessment or testing are discussed. Increased testing helps teachers monitoring students' learning process and their own teaching strategies and school curriculum. The main criticism is "lack of value to education in its current incarnation." Suggestions of improved assessment are recommended.

This special report uses video interviews and other Web-based media to tell the story of America's decades-long struggle with improving our students' proficiency in math. It looks at international comparisons of student performance in math, and (here in the U.S.) at teacher preparation, the value of technology to math learning, and the importance of quantitative literacy as a foundation not only for work in science and technology, but also for a future as a problem-solver and an engaged citizen in today's world.

Effective middle level educators seek to design homework that is motivating, enriching, and relevant. Homework is part of a comprehensive effort to help students learn skills and relate new information to their prior knowledge and experiences. Examples of Benjamin Bloom's taxonomy of higher-order thinking skills and RAFTS assignments are provided. Wormeli, R. (2002). Help with homework. Middle Ground, 5(4), 19-21.