This report summarizes results from three large-scale reviews of research on the impact of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs on elementary and middle-school students--that is, programs that seek to promote various social and emotional skills. Collectively the three reviews included 317 studies and involved 324,303 children. SEL programs…

The Council of the Great City Schools has prepared this eighth edition of "Beating the Odds" to give the nation another look at how inner-city schools are performing on the academic goals and standards set by the states. This analysis examines student achievement in math and reading through spring 2007. It also measures achievement gaps between…

In 1992, the authors collaborated to develop a set of norms for oral reading fluency for grades 2-5. Since then, interest in and awareness of fluency has greatly increased, and Hasbrouck and Tindal have collaborated further to compile an updated and expanded set of norms for grades 1-8. This article discusses the application of these norms to…

This book looks at an issue which is at the heart of every classroom, the role that talk plays in children's learning. Drawing on a substantial research base, the book provides useful suggestions to facilitate successful talk between teachers and children to improve learning and raise standards. Through analysing the talk that goes on in primary…

A study was conducted with forty-seven preservice childhood (elementary) education teachers (42 F, 5 M) enrolled in two mathematics methods classes taught by the same instructor to determine the effect of these college students making curriculum materials appropriate for upper elementary students on the preservice teachers' knowledge of…

This article describes a case study of an international collaboration between two classes of fifth grade students through an online discussion platform with one group more experienced in online knowledge building activities than the other. Before the collaboration, the novice class tended to produce isolated notes filled with information and…

This study investigated the effectiveness of combining conceptual change text and discussion web strategies on students' understanding of photosynthesis and respiration in plants. Students' conceptual understanding of photosynthesis and respiration in plants was measured using the two-tier diagnostic test developed by Haslam and Treagust (1987,…

Educators continually seek effective strategies to address the educational needs of students. Two popular strategies are service-learning and after-school programs. The purpose of this study was to begin to explore the value of embedding service-learning into after-school programs. This study utilized a historical database and compared two groups…

More and more schools in California and across the nation are showing that when school communities accept the possibility and responsibility of bringing all of their students to proficiency levels, they can do amazing things. Six schools located in southern California--Martin Luther King and Harvey of Santa Ana Unified, Morrison Elementary of…

The two city districts that made the greatest strides in math on the latest national assessment relied on similar strategies: building students' conceptual math skills and investing in professional development in that subject for elementary and middle school teachers. While administrators in Boston and San Diego say that many factors were at work…

No Child Left Behind mandates accountability data for school districts. This mandate has led to increased attention to instruction and academic remediation among educational researchers. The current study used schoolwide curriculum-based assessment (CBA) and curriculum-based measurement (CBM) data to plan and deliver mathematics instruction to…

The aim of this study was to explore preservice classroom teacher reflection in a physical education teaching and learning environment and to describe how the teachers' reflections related to their practices. Two preservice classroom teachers voluntarily participated in the study. Data were collected using observations, journals, documents, and…

Instructional planning is an essential professional activity often used by teachers. However, some characteristics of existing university-based teacher education programs may hamper pre-service teachers' learning of instructional planning. Thus, this study adopts the cognitive apprenticeship as a theoretical foundation to construct a web-based…

Research shows that after-school programs with structured literacy components can contribute positively to children's success in school, improvement in their reading and also in general social skills, and that successful programs involve partnerships with the community and continually expanding outreach to parents and caregivers. This program…

One Texas elementary school's teachers uncovered a straightforward method to raise achievement for every child who wasn't succeeding.