In this technical report, we present the results of a 2020-2021 study of the alignment between the easyCBM© mathematics and literacy assessments and the content standards adopted in the fifty U.S. states. The study used a three-wave process. First, a team of researchers gathered the status of state standard information for mathematics and English…

Recent education policy analysis has revealed the standardisation of education systems and an intensified focus on learners and learning to meet the requirements of the global economy and neo-liberalism. In this paper we analyse the way that early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand has become increasingly entangled with school sector…

This article reports on the understandings and practices of primary teachers in implementing the arts curriculum since the 2010 introduction of National Standards in Numeracy and Literacy within the New Zealand Education system. The ever-mounting pressure on schools to perform to these standards has resulted in a reduction of emphasis and time…

The OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030 (E2030) project's overall goal is that of looking to the future in terms of how school curricula should evolve given the technological advances and other changes that societies are now facing. Towards that end, the E2030 project centres on the idea that education needs to equip students with the…

One component of the United States' public school curriculum core is social studies. Since the No Child Left Behind Act (2001), elementary social studies has been marginalized, and in some cases, eliminated from the school day in favor of increased time for literacy and mathematics instruction. Kentucky's adoption of the ELA Common Core standards…

National education reform agendas are increasingly prevalent in school systems around the world. Whilst we have a substantial body of research exploring the ways in which schools manage change agendas, there is less discussion of the impacts these agendas may have on beginning teachers and their retention in the profession. Here I report on a…

In the 1990s and 2000s, New Zealand governments monitored national educational performance broadly through cyclical "light-sampling" of primary school students, and the annual proportions of secondary school students who gained formal credentials. In 2008, a centre-right coalition government legislated for national standards of…

Literacy skills acquired during the first years of schooling have been recognised as the key to students' learning success. However, despite the continuing efforts by the New Zealand government and teachers there is still a large proportion of students who struggle to become literate. To address this issue the Ministry of Education funded selected…

With the introduction of the New Zealand government's National Standards, there are increasing demands on teachers to provide evidence of student achievement in the areas of numeracy and literacy. As a result, primary school teachers may perceive that there is neither time nor the need for music activities such as singing, which may be viewed…

The new "Reading and Writing Standards" for years 1-8 (2009) and the "Literacy Learning Progressions" (2010) are the two documents that have been published to inform the New Zealand national standards in literacy. An earlier draft "Literacy Learning Progressions" document was circulated nationwide in 2007 to allow for…

Developing and implementing relevant, challenging, integrative, and exploratory curriculum is critical at all levels of schooling. This article describes one attempt to develop and implement an instance of interdisciplinary curriculum by using copy change with trade books to teach earth science. Specifically, it introduces trade books as a way to…

After an outdoor excursion hunting for a "special leaf" on a delightful fall day, students returned to the classroom and were instructed to capture the leaf on a blank page in their science notebooks. They were asked to document as many details as possible, based on their observations. The overall focus of the notebooks was for students to capture…

The Common Core Standards have defined literacy and outlined the mission for English Language Arts in a way that provides a natural fit with the National Standards for Language Learning. Taking advantage of this connection, language teachers can showcase the importance of learning languages by demonstrating how literacy is learned, practiced, and…

Weather is a topic in science that is applicable to our lives on an everyday basis. The weather often determines what we wear, where we go, and what we do. This month's column focuses on clouds and the part they play in determining our weather. In the K-3 lesson, students learn about different cloud types and sculpt each type out of shaving cream.…

This is the second publication in the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) Project Plus series. Project Plus aims to inform questions of policy and practice by synthesising findings of educational interest from projects funded by the TLRI. This Project Plus focuses on literacy in the early childhood education (ECE) and school…