Numerous scholars have stressed the importance of personal and social responsibility in physical activity settings; however, there is a lack of instrumentation to study the implementation of responsibility-based teaching strategies. The development, content validity, and initial inter-rater reliability testing of the Tool for Assessing…

Over the past decade, educational policy trends have shifted to a focus on examining students' growth from kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12). One way states can track students' growth is with a vertical scale. Presently, every state that uses a vertical scale bases the scale on a unidimensional IRT model. These models make a…

How many times do teachers assign writing in science class only to be exasperated by their students' lack of writing skills? They often have difficulty making claims and using evidence; instead of explaining their reasoning, they state, "Just because." But teaching writing isn't just for English/language arts (ELA) class. Over the past two years,…

This article discusses the heterogeneity in children's appropriation and use of the internet that make up contemporary digital divides. Based on a survey of Portuguese children in mandatory education (8- to 17-year-olds), it relies on multivariate statistical procedures to build a topological mapping of internet use patterns. Variations in digital…

Gifted children often complain about waiting in class to learn. A qualitative study of 16 children in elementary and middle school in grades 1-8 revealed that sitting and waiting was a universal ingredient of being gifted in those regular classrooms. Children experienced 3 kinds of waiting: school/classroom, instructional, and assignment. Grounded…

Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Science Kits provide sets of science equipment, including worksheets and/or teachers' guides, and are valuable science resources for poorly equipped schools, particularly those located in geographically isolated areas. This paper reports an investigation of how four teachers in four different schools used an Astronomy Science…

Background: Boredom has been found to be an important emotion for students' learning processes and achievement outcomes; however, the precursors of this emotion remain largely unexplored. Aim: In the current study, scales assessing the precursors to boredom in academic achievement settings were developed and tested. Sample: Participants were 1,380…

This practical guide describes ways of working with learners diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) by using Multiple Intelligences Theory. Written for all educators as well as parents, it examines curricular, instructional, school partnering, and leadership issues that may arise for these students in grades K-8. Supported…

This innovative resource describes how teachers can help students employ "literacy tools" across the curriculum to foster learning. The authors demonstrate how literacy tools such as narratives, question-asking, spoken-word poetry, drama, writing, digital communication, images, and video encourage critical inquiry in the 5-12 classroom. The book…

A Boston school for grades 6-12 is making a deliberate effort to help students develop ethical minds. Each year, all students take an ethical philosophy class in which they discuss the school's core values and how these values are addressed in the writings of such philosophers as Aristotle and Rousseau. Through these classes, students develop a…

Each year, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) offers a summer education program designed to assist students with a variety of instructional needs. The 2015 summer education program allowed students the opportunity to repeat required courses needed for promotion, to get ahead by taking required courses before the next school year, or to…

"This is the piece that's been missing." This reaction is common among educators engaged in AIW Iowa, an initiative that engages teachers and administrators in professional learning communities that are improving student achievement, increasing student engagement, and building a schoolwide professional culture focused on improving…

Researchers, policymakers, business, and industry have indicated that the United States will experience a shortage of professionals in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Several strategies have been suggested to address this shortage, one of which includes increasing the representation of girls and women in the…

The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) is transitioning from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test® 2.0 (FCAT 2.0) to align with new student academic content standards. This booklet has been prepared to help understand the reports for the FCAT 2.0. It includes explanations of the reports,…

We use data on students in grades 4-7 in the Canadian province of British Columbia to investigate the effect of having disabled peers on value-added exam outcomes. Longitudinal data for multiple cohorts of students are used together with school-by-grade-level fixed effects to account for endogenous selection into schools. Our estimates suggest…