"The Modern Middle School: Addressing Standards and Student Needs," a new book co-authored by three professors with Coastal Carolina University ties, is designed to help educators understand and meet the unique challenges required for successful teaching in the middle school environment.

The book is by Gilbert H. Hunt, dean of Coastal's College of Education; Dennis Wiseman, associate provost for academics at Coastal; and Sandra Pope Bowden, dean of the School of Education at Charleston Southern University and a former education professor at Coastal. Published recently by Charles C. Thomas, Ltd. (Springfield, Ill.), the book will be distributed internationally..

According to the authors, successful middle school teachers in today's schools must adopt a teaching philosophy that accommodates both the strong focus currently being given to increasing student achievement based on standardized testing and an equally important focus on student-centered approaches to teaching and learning and the development of the whole child. .

"The methods outlined in the book reflect our basic philosophy that the teacher ultimately determines the quality of the school and that the learning environment should be student-centered while maintaining a strong academic foundation," said Hunt..

Topics discussed in "The Modern Middle School" include the psychological development of middle school students, approaches and skills relevant to effective instruction, planning the curriculum, and assessing and reporting student progress..

This is the third book on which Hunt and Wiseman have collaborated. They have also co-authored "Best Practice in Motivation and Management in the Classroom" and, with Cosatal education professor Timothy Touzel, "Effective Teaching: Preparation and Implementation," now in its third printing. "The Modern Middle School" is the second edition of "The Middle Level Teachers' Handbook: Becoming at Reflective Practitioner" by Hunt, Wiseman and Bowden, which was published in 1998. .

Wiseman, who joined the Coastal faculty in 1974, earned a Ph.D from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Hunt joined the Coastal faculty in 1975 and earned a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.