As English learners face the double demands of building knowledge of a second language while learning complex grade-level content, teachers must find effective ways to make challenging content comprehensible for students. This updated English learner practice guide, "Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and…

Learning to read marks a critical transition in a child's educational trajectory that has long term consequences. This dissertation analyzes how California's current policies in beginning reading instruction impact two critical conditions for creating opportunity--access to qualified teachers and rigorous academic curriculum--by examining the…

The goal of the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Practice Guide, "Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School," is to provide four recommendations for teaching complex content to English learners while simultaneously building academic language and writing and oral language proficiency. This…

Through observations, life history research, and qualitative data analysis, this study seeks to answer the question: Who and what influences elementary school teachers to ultimately use or not use art in their current classroom practice? This study examines the personal histories of nine elementary school general education teachers in the United…

The "Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School" practice guide was developed by the What Works Clearinghouse™ (WWC) in conjunction with an expert panel to support teachers in providing language instruction. The practice guide provides teachers with guidelines and examples of ways to…

Many complex problems affect the lives of our citizens, including our children. A particularly important problem is a lack of a sense of community and connectedness (Belenky, et. al, 1986; Bellah, et. al, 1985; Dewey, 1938; Houser & Kuzmic, 2001; Palmer, 1998). There is a feeling among many that we are no longer connected to something larger…

This study set out to examine parents' perceptions of the malleability of their child's academic competencies. A total of 97 mothers and fathers were asked to rate their child's potential for improving her/his competencies in mathematics and Finnish, using both intrapersonal and interpersonal criteria in their ratings. These two criteria were…

This qualitative study examined the integration of arts and academic curricula at a performing arts school by focusing on the curriculum as it is understood and perceived by the students. The study centered on five students at a performing arts magnet school who were chosen based upon contrasts in their arts classes in order to represent a range…

NCLB and Reading First are negotiated in implementing beginning reading instruction. The article describes and analyzes how two critical conditions for creating opportunity--access to qualified teachers and rigorous academic curriculum--are met by examining the enactment and adaptation of a prescriptive core reading program disproportionately…

This study investigated the relationship between principal leadership style, school socioeconomic status (SES), and student achievement for 6 elementary schools. Each school's spring 2007 Mississippi Curriculum Test (MCT) scores were used in the areas of Reading, Language, and Mathematics as a measure of student achievement. The principal's…

In this article, "standards blending"--the integration of core academic and school counseling standards--is demonstrated as a culturally responsive strategy to assist in closing the achievement gap for a group of third-grade African American males. The small-group intervention described resulted in knowledge gains in both the school counseling and…

This study examined the longitudinal effects of 2 first-grade universal preventive interventions on academic outcomes (e.g., achievement, special education service use, graduation, postsecondary education) through age 19 in a sample of 678 urban, primarily African American children. The classroom-centered intervention combined the Good Behavior…

This book is developed to help teach curriculum through the use of movement and dance, while giving students a chance to use their creative problem-solving skills. The text describes a step-by-step process through which instructor and students can learn to transform academic concepts into actions and dances. Theoretical information is also…