This article analyzes how emergent bilinguals discursively support one another during literacy activities in a cross-aged peer-tutoring program in their elementary school. Drawing from Vygotskian sociocultural theory, we frame peer supports as developing a zone of relevance that fosters and sustains peer engagement in literacy discussions.…

The current study by Beck (2014) investigated whether any relationship exists between a cross-section of 48 fourth-grade elementary-school students and their artistic judgments regarding the seven elements of art: color, form, line, shape, space, texture, and value. Each of these elements of art affects our senses and might offer a better…

An important, but as yet unresolved pedagogical question is whether discovery-oriented or direct instruction methods lead to greater learning and transfer. We address this issue in a study with 101 fourth and fifth grade students that contrasts two distinct instructional methods. One is a blend of discovery and direct instruction called…

Despite decades of research, little is known about the dynamics of sustaining change in school reform and how the process of change unfolds. By tracing the nine-year reform journeys of four primary schools in Hong Kong (using multiyear interview, observational, and archival data), this study uncovers the micro-processes the schools experienced…

This study examines the extent to which fourth and fifth grade primary school Social Studies textbooks published by the Ministry of National Education in Turkey between 1980 and 2009 represent neoliberal ideology. In an examination of changes following the restructuring of Turkish primary school education in 2004, this analysis compares pre- and…

The Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) conducted two analyses with the purpose of examining the association between elementary school start time and students' academic achievement in mathematics and reading in Wayzata Public Schools. The first analysis examined the association between elementary school start time and…

Since 2001, the Chinese government had passed a series of policies known as "the two primary responsibilities" to allow the rural migrant children to attend urban public schools. However, what the migrant children actually experienced in and after negotiating access to these schools deserves serious attention from educators, scholars and…

Drawing on data from two studies conducted in US public schools, this paper traces the affective productions and performances of teachers to illustrate the role of affect in delineating (non)normative pedagogical practices in inclusive classrooms. Occupying a borderland space in narrative inquiry that permitted the straddling of differing…

Internationally there is a need for research that focuses on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education to equip students with the skills needed for a rapidly changing future. One way to do this is through designing engineering activities that reflect real-world problems and contextualise students' learning of STEM concepts.…

Over the past decade, there has been a considerable push in emphasizing STEM--an acronym standing for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math--as an integral aspect of educational curriculums. Even though research suggests that females tend to outperform males in standardized testing in STEM areas, they remain underrepresented in STEM careers…

In this presentation discussed in this brief abstracted report, the author presents about an ongoing partnership with the Philadelphia School District (PSD) to implement and research the Ongoing Assessment Project (OGAP). OGAP is a systematic, intentional and iterative formative assessment system grounded in the research on how students learn…

This article is about a year-long teaching and research project conducted with 696 4th graders (mostly 10-year olds) and their 36 teachers in Wyoming/USA. The researchers employed an action research approach. They planned and taught a two-day, Wyoming-themed, interdisciplinary unit, "We Are Wyoming", which integrated Social Studies,…

This study aims to identify the effects of STEM training on the academic achievement of 4th graders in science and mathematics, as well as their views about STEM training. The study group consisted of 4th graders with similar science and mathematics achievement levels from two separate elementary schools with similar socioeconomic profiles in…

Teachers in inclusive classrooms are challenged to provide reading instruction for students with a wide range of instructional levels. This article reports on the implementation of guided reading in four middle years inclusive classrooms, the impact on student engagement and reading progress, and teacher perspectives on the guided reading…

Teachers need practices that can be implemented in the classroom to teach children how to address conflict and solve problems proactively. There are curricula available for teachers to use in promoting improvement in the social behavior of students and for further enhancing their ability to self-regulate their behavior (Smith, Lochman, &…