The present study aims to improve the quality and the effectiveness of Science Education in early grades along with the goals of UNESCO's emerging agenda for sustainable development and the 4th goal about quality in education. It examines the interaction between formal and non-formal education in designing and organizing complete educational…

Primary school practices are often bound by traditions that perpetuate compliance and skills-based, decontextualized, rote memorization activities. These histories of practice, prevalent in schools serving mostly Black and Brown children, make it inordinately difficult for students to author themselves as knowledge builders (i.e., with epistemic…

Educators today are faced with learning to implement the Common Core Standards in Language Arts and Math. Administrators are requiring grade level general education teachers/special education teachers to meet in Private Learning Communities in order to discuss the best ways to implement the CCS as well as to discuss best practices for writing…

Due to globalisation and rapid technological change, today's educators need to help students develop multi-literacy competencies to enable them to function successfully in our culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) and increasingly connected global and digital society. A qualitative, longitudinal case study attempted to uncover the…

This article reports on a study in which activity theory was used to design, implement, and analyze a 10-week curriculum unit about how honeybees collect nectar with a particular focus on complex systems concepts. Students (n = 42) in a multi-year kindergarten and 1st-grade classroom participated in this study as part of their 10 regular classroom…

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, reading skills for African American male students in Grades 4 and 8 have improved over the past decade. However, a significant reading achievement gap still exists between African American male students and their European American counterparts. The purpose, as well as the central…

Mainstream research in the education of students with significant disabilities, which seeks to improve the ways these students can participate successfully in general education settings, has established the importance of teachers and classroom contexts in mediating relations between students with significant disabilities and their peers in the…

Many childhood educators are attempting to shift from the dominant "recitation" format of discussions found in today's classrooms. This study draws on reader response, and sociocognitive and sociocultural theories to investigate children's perceptions of social skills and leadership moves after participating in small-group discussions of…

The purpose of the study was to examine if there was a significant difference between first-grade English Learners (EL) who constitute a majority (greater than 50%) of the English language mainstream classroom (homogeneous grouping) and first-grade EL who constitute a minority (less than 50%) of the English language mainstream classrooms…

This article examines Reading Recovery as a microcosm for issues related to race and access. Tenets of critical race theory are presented to explore how racial biases are systemic in our ways of being, teaching, and conducting research. Specifically, I present data for African American children involved in Reading Recovery in one Midwestern…

The implementation of a new mathematics syllabus in the elementary context is problematic, especially if it contains a new content area. A professional development model, Transformative Teaching in the Early Years Mathematics (TTEYM) was specifically developed to support the implementation of the new Patterns and Algebra strand. The model was…

Rates of childhood overweight have reached epidemic proportions (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001), and schools have been called on to play a role in the prevention of this medical condition. This article describes a multiyear health promotion effort--the Athletes in Service fruit and vegetable (F&V) promotion program--which…

Sociocultural theories provide a useful lens for interpreting behaviors as individuals enter contexts requiring social interactions. These theories help us understand that learning is stimulated and nourished by interactions with others, supporting a view that learning is essentially a socially inspired process. This emphasis on the social and…