In a drab hearing room in Austin, Tex., members of the State Board of Education, seated at small desks arranged in a broad, socially distanced circle, debated whether eighth grade science students ...

White lab coat buttoned, glasses perched firmly on his head, eighth-grade science teacher Todd Munoz lies flat on the classroom table. Atop his stomach is a bowling ball. Next to him is a student ...

ORLANDO, Fla. — During his eighth-grade science class, teacher Ryan Morris talks his students through a written exercise. He reads aloud question No. 1, and he emphasizes that students must include ...

Middle schoolers embody a messy no-man’s land: young enough to get excited by stickers and play-acting, but mature enough to crave autonomy and opportunities to improve their world. Younger ...

Science is usually one of the more hands-on subjects in middle school: Students design research questions, draw diagrams, and conduct experiments. But the country’s 8th graders are less likely to do ...

Tyraine Ragsdale, aka Grand Hank (left), challenges 8th grade students’ perception during an interactive science demonstration at the Allen M. Stearne middle school in Philadelphia on February 6, 2024 ...