In 2007, the Texas Legislature (80th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2007) authorized the creation of the Texas Rural Technology (R-Tech) Pilot program, which provides $8 million in funding to support rural districts in implementing technology-based supplemental education programs. In order to be eligible for funding, districts must have…

Recognizing the challenges rural districts face in providing broad curricular offerings and supplemental educational services to students, in 2007, the 80th Texas Legislature authorized the creation of a pilot program designed to provide technology-based supplemental educational services to rural school districts that show an overall academic need…

Created by teachers for teachers, the Math Academy tools and activities included in this booklet were designed to create hands-on activities and a fun learning environment for the teaching of mathematics to the students. This booklet contains the "Math Academy--Dining Out! Explorations in Fractions, Decimals, and Percents," which teachers can use…

California public schools are changing both how they teach math, and also what they expect students to learn. In December 1997, state leaders adopted new math standards that include more than basic arithmetic skills. The framework lists five areas of math called "strands," that define what students from kindergarten through seventh grade…

In this study, we seek a better understanding of how individuals and their daily interactions shape and reshape social structures that constitute a classroom community. Moreover, we provide insight into how discourse and classroom interactions shape the nature of a learning community, as well as which aspects of the classroom culture may be…

The chapters in this volume illustrate how teachers are bringing creativity, higher-order thinking, and meaningful learning activities into particular school settings despite pressures of standards and testing. The editors chose the word wise for the title of this book, and they use it frequently to describe the pedagogical practices they have…

When we think of China, with a history dating back more than 4,000 years, with a national literature not excelled by that of any other ancient people, a system of government conducted by her ablest scholars, chosen for more than 12 centuries by competitive examinations, we are not surprised to find her characterized by a spirit of self-confidence.…

Much recent research and funding have focused on building Internet-based repositories that contain collections of high-quality learning resources, often called "learning objects." Yet little is known about how non-specialist users, in particular teachers, find, access, and use digital learning resources. To address this gap, this article…

The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 ("NCLB" or "the Act") defines an aggressive, ambitious and multi-faceted approach for increasing student achievement and closing the achievement gap. Premised on the correlation between student academic achievement and teacher quality, NCLB demands that all students, regardless of…

The research question asked was "Will those children ages three and four who have intensive play experiences in play-based preschools and who can perform at high levels of LEGO building as constructional play also show high levels of mathematical achievement later in formal school settings?". Thus, this study attempts to establish a…

The National Longitudinal Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reform (NLECSR) is a quantitative and qualitative study of behavior, decisions, processes, and outcomes. It employs a quasi-experimental design with matched treatment and comparison schools. NLECSR seeks to determine the effects of CSR models on student achievement in about 650…

Growing awareness of the importance of teacher quality in mathematics and science has stimulated a variety of national reports and funded initiatives for the purpose of improving teaching and learning in K-12 schools. This study examined the work of awardees in one federally-funded program that included a focus on increasing the number, quality,…

Based on an ethnographic case study done in an all-white, rural middle school, this article examines the students' experience with and interpretation of an international education program implemented with a hope of providing more global/international contents to the curriculum. The study shows that these students interpreted other cultures…

The authors present findings from an initial information gathering and analysis of a larger Office of Special Education Programs model demonstration project, "Connections to Success." The article is based on an analysis of a teacher survey conducted at four schools in the project's partner district focused on perceived problems, sources of stress,…

As a profession language educators are paying more attention to teacher-driven research to help clarify and explain those phenomena occurring in our classrooms. The purpose of this paper is to explore the following question: What happens when teachers apply a teacher action research (TAR) strategy for improving their classroom practice? I will…