While many initial education benchmarks are being met, new and continuing challenges exist for adolescent girls in the developing world. Discrimination, violence, marginalization, and health-related issues prevail, making proper education at the middle school level crucial during this unique development time. This volume takes a global look at the obstacles and enablers in girls' education that can have lasting institutional, psychological and social consequences.

Introduction: Watering the Seeds: The Challenges and Opportunities for Educating Adolescent Girls Around the Globe Sandra L. Stacki and Supriya Baily Part I: Structural Domain 1. Transitions: Girls, Schooling, and Reproductive Realities in Malawi Nancy Kendall and Zikani Kaunda 2. Girls, Education, and Narratives of Progress: Deconstructing the Discourse on Child Marriage Shenila Khoja-Moolji 3. More than Access: Overcoming Barriers to Girls' Secondary Education in the Peruvian Andes Joe Levitan Part II: Institutional Domain 4. Adolescent Girls' Education, Empowerment, and Marginalization in Gujarat, India: Inclusion, Exclusion, or Assimilation? Payal Shah 5. Doorways: Preventing and Responding to School-Related, Gender-Based Violence in West Africa Emily Forsyth Queen, Lorena Gonzalez, and Shannon Meehan 6. Empowering Girls through Leadership Development: CARE's Model in Action Amanda Moll, Emily Janoch, and Ginny Kintz Part III: Psychological and Social Domains 7. Reflections on Identity, Difference, and Rights in an Islamic High School in Cameroon Caroline M. Berinyuy and Carol Anne Spreen 8. Empowering Indonesian Street Girls: Processes and Possibilities Julia Suleeman and I. G. A. A. Jackie Viemilawati 9. Education as Domination: Girls' Experiences in Desegregated White South African Schools Maria Hengeveld and Mark Daku Part IV: Communal and Cultural Domains 10. Wearing Hijab: Muslim Girls' Schooling Experiences in the United States Wafa Hozien 11. Empowerment of Excluded Girls in Schooling: Exploring Capabilities and Social Justice Change in China Vilma Seeberg 12. Voices on Educational Experience and Challenges: Young Adolescent Girls in Ghana Alex Kumi-Yeboah Conclusion: From Watering to Nurturing: Preparing Richer Ground for Young Adolescent Girls Supriya Baily and Sandra L. Stacki

Sandra L. Stacki is Associate Professor, Hofstra University, NY, USA. Research on empowering women teachers in India won the Comparative and International Education Society's Gail Kelly award. Publications include "Moving Gender Boundaries: Rays of Hope for Female Teachers in India," and co-editing "The Handbook of Research in Middle Level Education: Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment."

Supriya Baily is an Assistant Professor at George Mason University teaching international and comparative education and research methods. Her research interests focus on gender, education and empowerment as well as higher education in India. She is the co-editor of two books and has presented at numerous national and international conferences.