Taking Center Stage – Act II (TCSII)

A Portal for Middle Grades Educators

Targeted Resources

Recommendation 1—Rigor

These online resources are organized to serve as catalysts for discussion and professional collaboration targeted to the topic of rigor.

Related Links

• Academic Achievement in the Middle Grades: What Does the Research Tell Us? (PDF; Outside Source) Atlanta, Ga., Southern Regional Education Board, 2003.
• Academic Literacy: A Statement of Competencies Expected of Students Entering California’s Public Colleges and Universities, (PDF; Outside Source), Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates for the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California, Spring 2002.
• Achieving Academic Excellence Through Rigor and Relevance, (PDF; Outside Source), Willard R. Daggett, September 2005.
• Bloom’s Taxonomy, (DOC; 24KB; 1p.) Original Taking Center Stage.
• California Career/Technical Education Model Curriculum Standards, (PDF; 4MB; 441pp.)
• Civic Literacy and the Civic Mission of Schools, Cricket F. L. Kidwell.
• Curriculum development for special populations:
  
  • Special Education Services and Resources
  • Resources and FAQs Regarding English Language Learners
  • Gifted and Talented Education
  • Migrant/International Students
  • Homeless Education
    
• English-Language Development Standards, Grades 6–8
  
  • Grade 6 (PDF; Outside Source)
  • Grade 7 (DOC; 144KB, 9pp.)
  • Grade 8 (PDF; Outside Source)
    
• English Language Learners, Original Taking Center Stage, 155-171.
• Gaspar DePortola Middle School, (PDF; Outside Source), standards-aligned curricula.
• Kennedy Middle School (PDF; Outside Source), carefully aligned curriculum.
• McKinleyville Middle School, (PDF; Outside Source), standards-based report cards.
• Middle Grades Content Standards, California Department of Education.
• Prototype Student Performance Report, (DOC; 60KB; 3pp.) Original Taking Center Stage, 34-36.
• Rigor/Relevance Framework (Outside Source), William Daggett.
• Rubrics for writing from the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (Outside Source)
• Schools That Develop Children (Outside Source), James D.Comer, American Prospect Journal online, Vol. 12, Issue 7, April 23, 2001.
• Special Education Services and Resource
• Teaching and Learning Resources (Outside Source) from the Coalition of Essential Schools.
• Television Viewing - Guidelines for the Middle Grades, Caught in the Middle 1987.
• Tipping Point—From Feckless Reform to Substantive Instructional Improvement (Outside Source), Mike Schmoker, Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 85, No. 6, February 2004.
• Turnaround Schools (Outside Source), Educational Leadership, Vol. 62, Summer 2005.

Note: Taking Center Stage—Act II (TCSII) includes references and links to third party resources (outside links) that middle grades educators and stakeholders may find thought provoking and a catalyst for discussion and professional collaboration in their quest to improve their schools. Specific references or links by the California Department of Education in TCSII to third party resources, products, processes, or services, or the presence of trade names, trademarks, or other vendor identifiers, do not constitute assessment or imply endorsement by the Middle Grades Improvement Office or the California Department of Education.

Targeted Resources Index

Back to Top