The Encyclopedia of Middle Grades Education provides a comprehensive overview of the field. This publication includes
seven anchor essays (5000 words) that cover the following topics: the history of the middle school movement, academically
excellent curriculum, instruction, and assessment, developmental responsiveness in relation to young adolescents, social
equity in middle grades schools, leadership in middle level schools, teacher and administrator preparation and professional
development, and future directions in relation to the movement, practices, and policy. Leading scholars in the field of middle
grades education were invited to author these essays.
In addition to the seven anchor essays, the encyclopedia contains alphabetically organized entries (short entries
approximately 500 words, long entries approximately 2000 words) that address important concepts, ideas, terms, people,
organizations, and seminal publications related to middle grades education.
Contributors to the encyclopedia have provided sufficient information so that the reader can place the idea, concept, person,
etc. into its proper context in the history of the middle school movement. Entries are meant to be introductory, after an
overview of the essentials of the topic the reader is guided to more extensive sources for further investigation. Where
appropriate, the reader is also directed to electronic sources such as websites where additional information can be retrieved.