ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Sexty Southerners: Sexting Content and Behaviors among Selected Southern Undergraduates
Author: Hudson, Heather K.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Undergraduate Students,Regional Characteristics,Correlation,Telecommunications,Handheld Devices,Photography,Physical Fitness,Health Education,Student Surveys,Statistical Analysis,Risk,Statistical Significance,Electronic Mail

Sexting is defined as sending/posting/sharing sexually explicit messages or nude/semi-nude images via electronic communication. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess and determine relationships of sexting behavioral intentions, sexting behaviors, and sexting content among selected Southern undergraduate students. Methods: Survey instruments were administered to multiple sections of a required undergraduate Health and Fitness course at a midsized, Southern university. Survey instruments were analyzed using a series of descriptive statistics, t-tests, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and Spearman's Rho correlations. Results: Of nearly 500 (n = 469) undergraduate participants, nearly three-fourths of participants (73.1%) have ever sexted, while 35% have sexted within the past 30 days. Statistically significant differences were found in sexting content among gender, race, number of lifetime and current sexual partners, and number of lifetime sexting partners. Statistically significant (but moderate) positive correlations were found between sexual and sextual partners, sexual images, sexual messages, and risk reduction sexts. Discussion: The majority of participants engaged in a variety of sexting behaviors with varied content. Further, those who sext also discussed STI/HIV prevention, as well as other risk reduction behaviors.
Health Information Seeking Behaviors and Preferences among Latino Immigrants: The Role of Acculturation and Functional Health Literacy
Author: Rojas-Guyler, Liliana
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Immigrants,Hispanic Americans,Access to Information,Help Seeking,Acculturation,Health,Semi Structured Interviews,Adults,Individual Characteristics,Age Differences,Gender Differences,Educational Attainment,Information Sources,Barriers,Literacy,Language Proficiency,English (Second Language),Surveys,Statistical Analysis,Qualitative Research

Purpose: To determine sources of health information of Latinos and assess associations with acculturation level, functional health literacy and demographics. Methods: Focus groups (n = 40) and Semi-structured survey interviews were conducted with adults (n = 212). Results: Over 60% of respondents had lived in the country for less than 10 years, were women with less than a high school degree, and under the age of 40 years old. Motivation for seeking health information was reported to be primarily due to illness (n = 146, 71.9%) and mostly for themselves (n = 191, 90%). The majority of participants chose to take the survey in Spanish and preferred Spanish for health information. Younger participants, recent immigrants, women, participants with lower education levels and lower acculturation to American culture were more likely to use other People and Self-Help strategies as sources of information. Although most found information trustworthy and easy to obtain, 10% did not find their top source of information trustworthy, 20% reported difficulty accessing the information and 25% found the information insufficient. Barriers identified such as language and trust are explored and discussed. Lastly, participants with marginal and inadequate Functional Health Literacy (FHL) and low Acculturation/English proficiency were less likely to use Media sources and more likely to rely on friends, family and traditional medicine or healers. Conclusion: Specific implications for professional practice are presented; specifically, consideration for language preferences; formatting and material for audiences; readability and comprehension levels; cultural relevance and appropriateness; and physical location availability; and measures of literacy, FHL and acculturation.
Teaching in the Middle Grades Today: Examining Teachers&apos; Beliefs about Middle Grades Teaching
Author: DiCicco, Mike
Date: 2016-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Middle School Teachers,Teacher Attitudes,Educational Attitudes,Secondary Education,Case Studies,Beliefs,Teacher Role,Discovery Learning,Learner Engagement,Relevance (Education),Student Development,Student Attitudes,Individualized Instruction,Technology Uses in Education,Barriers,Teacher Surveys,Semi Structured Interviews,Secondary School Curriculum

Since the beginning of the middle school movement in the mid-1960s, middle level advocates have called for a school experience for young adolescents grounded in adolescent development that engages students in meaningful learning (Alexander &amp; Williams, 1965; Eichhorn, 1966). The aim of this exploratory multicase study was to understand middle level teachers' beliefs about middle level instruction in the current educational environment. To gain this understanding, researchers asked 10 current middle grades teachers with varying levels of experience to discuss their beliefs regarding their primary purpose as a middle grades teacher, the current status of middle level teaching, their best and worst instructional lessons, and their perceived barriers to teaching at the middle level. The teachers described the role of teaching in the middle grades as challenging and stressful, but of great importance. In general, they described instruction that included discovery, student engagement, and relevance in an effort to address students' academic development. There was minimal mention of the non-academic aspects of adolescent development. Finally, teachers viewed curriculum restrictions, students' attitudes toward learning, difficulty with differentiation, and lack of technology as significant barriers to their success in the classroom.
Beyond Digital Citizenship
Author: Mitchell, Lynn
Date: 2016-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Middle School Students,Technological Literacy,Citizenship Education,Political Issues,Democratic Values,Citizen Participation,Information Technology,Social Justice,Empowerment,Activism,Youth

Conversations in middle school about digital citizenship tend to focus on the responsibilities of citizenship and the issues of surveillance, safety, cyberbullying, and internet etiquette. While these are important and essential conversations, digital citizenship education needs to consider youth political identity and democratic participation in digital spaces if educators wish to take full advantage of the empowering potential of participatory technology. The potential for youth to shape diverse identities through digital technologies has significant implications for youth empowerment and agency and helps dismantle reductive narratives that have tended to define middle school youth. The role of digital citizenship education must be expanded to include critical social justice education. Such a reconceptualization of digital citizenship will result in curriculum that understands and supports the role digital technologies play in the development of youth political identity and help empower young people to impact positively on political issues. Little research has been done on the convergence of youth political identity and participatory technology spaces which are designed specifically for social justice and supported by social justice pedagogical ideals. Online social justice spaces support user empowerment through critical social justice education, community building, and orientation toward social action. If the context of youth lived experience is a technological one, the expression of youth political identity and youth activism through digital pathways requires attention and support from educators interested in digital citizenship education.
Understanding the Unique Needs of Adolescent Refugee Students
Author: Bouton, Bobette
Date: 2016-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Middle School Students,Refugees,Student Needs,Adolescents,Developmentally Appropriate Practices,Student Empowerment,Equal Education,Empathy

This essay argues for an expanded understanding of three of the Essential Attributes--Developmentally Responsiveness, Empowerment and Equity--established by &quot;This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents&quot; to address the unique needs of adolescents who are refugees. It provides a practical framework for readers to assist their understanding of the kaleidoscope of issues that face our refugee adolescent population (NMSA/AMLE, 2010). For each of the essential attributes, practical application for the middle grades classroom is offered. These ideas are to assist teachers in meeting the needs of their students who come from a refugee background and to give a foundation in an area that is often overlooked in the current educational system.
The Middle Grades Principal: A Research Agenda
Author: Bickmore, Dana L.
Date: 2016-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Principals,Middle School Students,Early Adolescents,Outcomes of Education,Leadership Effectiveness,Administrator Attitudes,Faculty Development,Curriculum Implementation

Advocates for middle grades education suggest that principals are critical to the implementation of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and organizational structures that meet young adolescent needs. Yet, there is little evidence associating principal practices outlined by middle grades proponents to outcomes or how principals learn the knowledge and practices middle grades advocates propose. This essay explores the limited research connecting middle grades principal leadership with school and student outcomes, how middle school principals learn the practices outlined by proponents of middle grades education, and proposes a research agenda and questions about middle grades principal learning.
The Promise of Character Education in Middle School: A Meta-Analysis
Author: Diggs, Calvary R.
Date: 2016-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Early Adolescents,Middle School Students,Citizenship Education,Social Development,Emotional Development,Meta Analysis,Correlation,Academic Achievement,Student Behavior,Success,Values Education,Program Effectiveness,Effect Size

Early adolescence is a developmental stage characterized by changes in reasoning, social cognition, and desire for autonomy in youth aged 11-14 (or grades 6-8). This period is also associated with heightened impulsivity and risk-taking that has been linked to school-related challenges such as antisocial behaviors and declining grades. Character education, a particular brand of social-emotional practice, has been promulgated as a developmentally responsive program that can promote prosocial behavior and academic success by building upon existing developmental strengths. However, research findings to date are primarily informed by elementary school program outcomes. Due to this limitation, a meta-analytic review of recent research on middle school character education programs and interventions was completed. Findings demonstrate positive associations between character education and academic and behavioral success, as well as social and internal perceptions.
Considering the Virtual Classroom: A Call to Middle Level Education Programs
Author: Eisenbach, Brooke B.
Date: 2016-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Middle School Teachers,Middle School Students,Developmentally Appropriate Practices,Teacher Education Programs,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Online Courses,Teacher Competencies,Technological Literacy

Today's classrooms are changing and moving beyond the walls of a traditional school environment. With each passing year, a growing population of middle level learners are logging into full-time or blended learning virtual courses. However, teachers often lack the training and experience necessary to address the developmental needs of middle level learners within this new context. Highlighting the realities of the 21st century classroom, the author urges us to consider our post-secondary education programs and the manner in which we prepare our teacher candidates to teach middle level learners within a virtual platform.
The Need for Large-Scale, Longitudinal Empirical Studies in Middle Level Education Research
Author: Mertens, Steven B.
Date: 2016-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Middle Schools,Educational Research,Research Methodology,Longitudinal Studies,Early Adolescents,Databases,Statistical Analysis,Federal Aid,Grants,Research Needs

This essay describes and discusses the ongoing need for large-scale, longitudinal, empirical research studies focused on middle grades education. After a statement of the problem and concerns, the essay describes and critiques several prior middle grades efforts and research studies. Recommendations for future research efforts to inform policy decisions are provided, including roles for the Middle Level Education Research Special Interest Group (MLER SIG) of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and other national organizations.
Where Am I in Our Schools&apos; White Spaces? Social Justice for the Learners We Marginalise
Author: Milne, Ann
Date: 2016-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Social Justice,Minority Group Students,Ethnicity,Indigenous Knowledge,Culturally Relevant Education,Secondary Education,Urban Areas,Cultural Maintenance,Foreign Countries,Identification (Psychology),Middle Schools,Whites,Social Bias

We live in the world of the intensely market-driven lower case &quot;i&quot;. Since the launch in 1998 of the &quot;iMac&quot;, Apple Inc. has spawned a plethora of lower-case &quot;i&quot; devices and programmes. What do these mean? According to Steve Jobs (1998), the &quot;i&quot; signified &quot;the marriage of the excitement of the internet, with the simplicity of Macintosh&quot; (Jobs, 1998), so the &quot;i&quot; stands for internet then? Jobs suggested in the same speech it could also stand for individual, instruct, inform, and inspire. Whatever the &quot;i&quot; signifies, which it seems can be anything you want it to be, there is no denying that it is pervasive. The small &quot;i&quot; is also insidious. It crept into the vocabulary, into homes, our pockets and handbags, and spun off into other products. The small &quot;i&quot; typifies many other takeovers, which marginalise or replace what we valued before, and become our new way of thinking. The question then asked in this article is this: As these devices, and this language have become ubiquitous in schools as essential tools to equip the children for the future, what has happened to the upper case &quot;I&quot;? Where has the uppercase &quot;I&quot; gone--not only in a neoliberal market-driven education systems--but for students of colour, where is the &quot;uppercase &quot;I&quot; in the omnipresent &quot;white spaces&quot; (Milne, 2013) which permeate the schools? Where is the crucially important &quot;I&quot; for Identity? Where is Indigeneity? This article describes the struggle to retain students' ethnic identity and indigenous knowledge with resistance at Kia Aroha College, a designated-character, Grades 6 to 12 secondary school located in Otara, South Auckland, New Zealand. The article tells the story about a predominantly Maori and Pasifika community in urban Aotearoa New Zealand where young people, their families, and a school community chose to create a different tomorrow. It is a story of convergence; of restored memory of cultural tradition, values and beliefs, appropriate knowledge, information and technology, applied wisdom and spirituality. It is the story of Otara: where ancient and new technologies meet.
Learning through Crisis and Paradox in Justice-Oriented Teacher Education
Author: Hughes, Hilary E.
Date: 2016-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Education,Teaching Methods,Power Structure,Program Descriptions,Middle School Teachers,Faculty Development,Experiential Learning,College School Cooperation,Course Descriptions,Preservice Teachers,Social Justice,Disadvantaged Schools

In this article we explore some of the challenges, constraints, and what we refer to as glimmers of revelation that occurred during an experiential, community-based teacher education course that we designed and co-taught in spring 2015. Trying to take seriously Kumashiro's (2009) notions that justice-oriented teacher education happens &quot;only when &quot;we ourselves&quot; are still struggling with questions about the &quot;what else,&quot; &quot;how else,&quot; and &quot;where else&quot; that are involved&quot; in this kind of teaching [emphasis added] (p. xxv), we explore moments where we grappled with the paradox, partiality, uncertainty, and discomfort (Kumashiro, 2009) that often accompany our commitments as middle grades teacher educators attempting to enact anti-oppressive teaching practices.
Specialized Middle Level Teacher Preparation: Moving from Advocacy to Actualization
Author: Cook, Chris M.
Date: 2016-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Middle School Teachers,Teacher Education,Middle School Students,Early Adolescents,Advocacy,Self Actualization

Is specialized middle level teacher preparation necessary? This essay offers the authors' thoughts regarding middle level teaching and the necessity of specialized middle level teacher preparation. The reader is encouraged to further the discussion of middle level teacher preparation from advocacy to actualization.
How Do Selected Novice Middle School Teachers from Various Certification Pathways Perceive the Effectiveness of Their Teacher Preparation?
Author: Hesson, Nicole
Date: 2016-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Beginning Teachers,Middle School Teachers,Middle School Students,Teacher Effectiveness,Teacher Certification,Preservice Teachers,Preservice Teacher Education,Comparative Analysis,Teacher Education Programs

This study compared the three most common pathways of traditional preparation for novice middle level teachers (elementary, middle level, and secondary) and attempted to answer the central question of which group felt best prepared for middle level teaching. Selected novice teachers from each of the three pathways were interviewed and asked to reflect on their preparation program. All participants were graduates of the same large, urban, public university. The state has recently redesigned its certification structure and teacher education institutions have redesigned their programs to reflect these changes. This study sought to discover if the restructuring resulted in greater feelings of preparedness among novice teachers. This study was exploratory, but initial findings indicate that there was very little difference in feelings of preparedness among the three pathways for teaching at the middle level with respect to program components and understanding of the needs of middle level adolescents. There was limited difference among the three pathways with respect to content preparation. This poses an interesting policy question: If the state's intent in restructuring the certification tiers was to ensure more prepared teachers for the middle level and this exploratory study shows little difference in feelings of preparation, was the decision to restructure teacher certification a worthwhile endeavor? The study offers possible programmatic changes to increase feelings of preparedness as well as ideas for further research around this topic.
A Different Kind of Kid, a Different Kind of Teacher Education: Middle Grades Teachers Reflect on Their Preparation to Teach Young Adolescents
Author: Ochanji, Moses K.
Date: 2016-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Middle School Teachers,Early Adolescents,Adolescent Development,Self Efficacy,Teacher Effectiveness,Middle School Students,Comparative Analysis,Qualitative Research,Interviews,Teacher Education

Good teaching at the middle grades comes out of a deep understanding of the unique cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and moral needs of young adolescents. Specialized preparation therefore is necessary to help teacher candidates understand how to operationalize the intersection of young adolescent development and the effective pedagogy that addresses their needs. This paper focuses on a qualitative study of experienced middle school teachers who graduated from a middle level preparation program or an elementary or secondary preparation program in terms of how well prepared they felt and feel to meet the widely varied needs of young adolescents. Confidence in preparation leads to high self-efficacy, which is important for perseverance and effectiveness. Graduates of a middle level preparation program reported higher levels of confidence in their preparation to teach young adolescents.
&quot;Where I&apos;m From&quot;: Utilizing Place-Based Pedagogy and Multimodal Literacy in a Graduate Children&apos;s Literature Class
Author: Bemmett, Stephanie M.
Date: 2016-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Childrens Literature,Place Based Education,Grade 4,Grade 5,Grade 6,Grade 7,Grade 8,Rural Schools,Student Attitudes,Graduate Students,Multiple Literacies,Poetry,Classics (Literature),Middle School Students,Middle School Teachers,Books,Censorship,Intellectual Freedom,Qualitative Research,Interviews

In this study, I examined integrating place-based education pedagogy and multimodal literacies into a graduate level children's literature class. The findings suggest including place-based education pedagogy allows middle level graduate students to connect to geographically-based children's literature. The findings also propose that incorporating multimodal texts into classroom assignments expands graduate students' perceptions of text. Implications for implementing the assignment into 4-8 grade classes is discussed.
What Does Motivated Mean? Re-Presenting Learning, Technology, and Motivation in Middle Schools via New Ethnographic Writing
Author: Olmanson, Justin
Date: 2016-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Middle School Students,Student Motivation,Ethnography,Early Adolescents,Interaction,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Personal Narratives,Grade 8,Observation,Science Instruction,Teaching Methods

This article offers a critique of the way middle schoolers are often positioned as generalizable objects that can be acted upon to produce measurable increases in motivation and learning. The critique invites a reconsideration and cultural analysis of some of the dominant discourses and perceptions of technology, young adolescence, and the study of motivation. The use of New Ethnographic Writing--a method that performs a cultural critique via extended scenes--connects to the roles and status of motivation, technology, and educational research methods deployed within public schools. Coupled with weak theory, this approach offers a way to understand young adolescents as navigating and wayfaring within complex everyday ecologies that escape notions of developmental level, test scores, motivational indices, and GPA calculations. New Ethnographic Writing and weak theory invite a productive re-orientation to the interactions that take place every day in schools. This invitation comes via a methodological sideways move that draws on non-representational theory and literary non-fiction to form a mode of address that makes relational and momentarily cartographic types of knowing and understanding possible.