Call for Manuscripts
The editors of the Middle Grades Review are pleased to announce a call for the next three issues.Issue 9(1):Open Call
Submission Date: March 1, 2023, Anticipated Publication Date: June, 2023
Middle Grades Review provides a provocative forum for debate within the field of middle grades education. Inviting a critical perspective, the Review is a peer-reviewed, multi-media venue for scholars and practitioners who wish to broaden the discourse of middle grades education by challenging conventional wisdom. In this general issue, the Review seeks pieces that explore the three key themes of democratic education, innovation, and social justice, in relation to middle grades education and early adolescence
Issue 9(2):Theme Issue: Organizational Structures for Equity in the Middle Grades
Submission Date: May 15, 2023, Anticipated Publication Date: September, 2023
Since the emergence of what became known as the middle school concept in the 1960s (Alexander, 1963; NMSA, 1982), several elements have been consistently promoted by middle grades education advocates today. These elements include teaming, advisory, flexible scheduling and grouping, and integrated curriculum (Bishop & Harrison, 2021). Over time, impressive advances have been made in curriculum and pedagogy in relation to diversity, equity and inclusion (e.g., Brinegar, Harrison & Hurd, 2019). Less progress has been made, however, in relation to the organizational structures of middle grades education. What do the structures of teaming, advisory, flexible scheduling, and grouping look like when they are culturally responsive or sustaining? What opportunities do these and other structural elements of middle grades schools afford to promote diversity, equity and inclusion? What intersections or clashes are revealed between these structures and efforts to advance a more just education for young adolescents? This call from Middle Grades Review invites researchers, teacher educators, and teachers to submit manuscripts that describe, examine, and/or inquire into how such structures can generate or inhibit a more inclusive classroom and school environment for all students and educators. Authors should state in their cover letter that their manuscript is for this special theme issue.
Issue 9(3):Open Call
Submission Date: September 30, 2023, Anticipated Publication Date: December, 2023
Middle Grades Review provides a provocative forum for debate within the field of middle grades education. Inviting a critical perspective, the Review is a peer-reviewed, multi-media venue for scholars and practitioners who wish to broaden the discourse of middle grades education by challenging conventional wisdom. In this general issue, the Review seeks pieces that explore the three key themes of democratic education, innovation, and social justice, in relation to middle grades education and early adolescence
Types of Submission
1. Essays pose opinion, positing or discussing theory, and/or offering critique (under 3000 words, excluding references). Using an academic tone, essays take a stance on a specific topic, issue, conceptual framework or policy to bring a new perspective. Essays call for readers to act and think anew.
2. Research and Inquiry are reports of original research that represent any paradigm or methodology (under 7500 words, excluding references). Although not required, the Review prioritizes inquiry that involves middle grades students in at least one of the following ways: as participants, consultants or co-researchers.
3. Practitioner Perspectives are accounts of teacher and/or student practice (under 3000 words, excluding references). Practitioner perspectives discuss practices grounded in relevant literature and research. They describe implementation through personal experience, share observations and/or findings, and consider the implications of such practices.
4. Responses are brief responses to previous articles in any of the above three categories. Responses should stimulate debate in the middle grades community by extending the original manuscript’s content, or by presenting an opposing interpretation or perspective (under 2000 words, excluding references).
Because the Review is an online venue, authors are encouraged to include digital media that support the manuscript. These include links to other sites, embedded audio and/or visual, and visual representations of student work or other data. Submissions must not have not been previously published, nor should they be under review elsewhere. All manuscripts are written in APA format, 7th edition. Submissions first undergo editorial review. If found suitable, manuscripts are then peer-reviewed by university faculty, middle level education researchers, and middle grades teachers.