This dissertation showcases collective sensemaking in action. The study was situated in a larger North Carolina project, in which educators took a systems approach to update the state's instructional guidance infrastructure during content standards reform. Specifically, I investigated how K-5 educators from multiple stakeholder groups--teachers,…

This quasi-experimental study was to design, develop, and implement one multimedia math lesson in third grade to improve students' math learning. The non-equivalent control group design was used. The experimental group had 11 third grade students and the control group had 15 third grade students in an African American predominated elementary…

The development of sustainability literate teachers has been identified as a key challenge for the implementation of education for sustainability in Australian schools (Skamp, 2010) and elsewhere (Nolet, 2009). This paper reports on the first year of a participatory action research project that investigates the learning of school teachers, teacher…

Creating a game for third-grade students that school librarians and teachers can use in their school libraries and classrooms is a unique challenge, especially if that game is based on teaching anatomy. But that's exactly what an instructional team from Auburn University in Alabama decided to do. The team--which consisted of a school librarian who…

Math skills are essential to daily life, impacting a person's ability to function at home, work, and in the community. Although reading has been the focus in recent years, many students struggle in math. The inability to master math calculation and problem solving has contributed to the rising incidence of student failure, referrals for special…

To date, there has been very little research-based mathematics curriculum for talented elementary students. Yet the gifted education and mathematics literature suggest support for curriculum that is both enriched and accelerated with a focus on developing conceptual understanding and mathematical thinking. Project M[superscript 3]: Mentoring…

This book re-examines the dichotomy between the everyday and the disciplinary in mathematics and science education, and explores alternatives to this opposition from points of view grounded in the close examination of complex classroom events. It makes the case that students' everyday experience and knowledge in their entire manifold forms matter…