Regardless of the source of the curriculum, classroom teachers make the necessary and crucial, final decisions of specifically what and how to teach. This paper examines how three, fourth-grade teachers, who planned together voluntarily, decided what learning activities were "practical" for their students. In their seminal work, Doyle…

The research featured in this paper is part of the CORE-PACE Research Partnership, which is focused on producing research that informs continuous improvement in the CORE districts as well as policy and practice in California and beyond. In this report, the authors used data from multiple interim assessments to examine how the rate of student…

The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the analytic frames children (ages 9 to 11) employed as they worked together to make sense of an ill-structured problem, what those same children did when their frames collided in the context of deliberative dialogue, and what they learned from the process of negotiation. Data included pre- and…

Problem scoping--determining the nature and boundaries of a problem--is an essential aspect of the engineering design process. Some studies from engineering education suggest that beginning students tend to skip problem scoping or oversimplify a problem. However, the ways these studies often characterize students' problem scoping often do not…

Developed specifically for grades 3-5, this resource presents classroom-ready lessons that support the ISTE Standards for Students. Use the lessons, which focus on four essential skills-- communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity--to take instruction and learning to the next level through the use of technology. Each chapter…

The beliefs of teacher regarding their students' learning in mathematics are an essential factor due to their importance in developing a desirable mathematics classroom culture. The purpose of this study is to investigate the mutual relationship between the construction of sociomathematical norms in classroom mathematical culture and teachers'…

Making decisions about English reading instruction is as core a component to teaching as providing the instruction itself. When providing support to learners at risk for poor reading outcomes, for which currently there is a large percentage in South Africa, it is especially important to ensure that the decisions that are made have the highest…

Theory and empirical work suggest that teachers' social capital influences school improvement efforts. Social ties are prerequisite for social capital, yet little causal evidence exists on how malleable factors, such as instructional management approaches, affect teachers' ties. In this cluster-randomized trial, we apply a decision-making…

Data-based decision making (DBDM) is an important element of educational policy in many countries, as it is assumed that student achievement will improve if teachers worked in a data-based way. However, studies that evaluate rigorously the effects of DBDM on student achievement are scarce. In this study, the effects of an intensive…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how data are used in classroom placement routines. The authors explore educators' assumptions about the purposes of the classroom placement routine, detailing the ostensive (i.e. structure and template) and performative aspects of the routine itself, and the implications of data use for equity and…

This study was conducted to describe the moral judgment of 12 third- through fifth-grade children with and without emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and to explore how feelings affected their thought processes. Data were gathered via three individually conducted moral dilemma interviews with each child participant. These procedures produced…

History labs invite students to examine primary and secondary source documents related to an essential question. The sources used in a history lab should represent multiple perspectives so that students are aware of the varying accounts of and opinions about historic events. By being exposed to multiple perspectives, students also learn about…

Successful school reform is dependent on the quality of decisions made by educational leaders. In such decision making, educational leaders are charged with using sound research findings as the basis for choosing school reform initiatives. As part of the debate regarding the usability of various evaluative research designs in providing information…

West Virginia uses multiple state assessments to measure student achievement and inform program decision-making. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 requires participation of students with disabilities in statewide assessments to be consistent with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001 and current with…

Science involves children in exploring and gaining understanding about the world they live in. Use of a creative and imaginative approach to science can enhance this learning in many ways (Coates and Wilson, 2003). When presented with the challenge of teaching a series of science lessons on food and nutrition to a mixed class of years 4 and 5…