Although the successful middle level school was designed to address both the affective and cognitive development of young adolescents (NMSA, 2003), academic achievement is the outcome of paramount importance in the current political context of accountability, high-stakes testing, and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In their efforts to reform, many middle level schools have implemented programmatic components like the teaming of teachers, advisory periods, and exploratory curricula. Few have truly explored the relationship between these structural changes and a school's organizational health. This mixed-methods study focuses on three dimensions of organizational health (teacher affiliation, resource support, and academic emphasis) and their rela tionship to academic performance. Findings indicate a positive relationship between a school's academic emphasis and students' academic performance. In an effort to more fully explore this finding, qualitative data are presented.

This mixed-methods study focuses on school improvement planning in middle schools in east Tennessee. Utilizing the improvement plans of 17 middle schools and surveys that were administered to 493 teachers and 35 administrators, this study found that there was (a) an overemphasis on academic goals, (b) an overreliance on the use of "homemade" data collection instruments, (c) a lack of attention to the effectiveness of school leadership, and (d) no mention of research-based, middle school best practices. Policy recommendations are offered.

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