Immersive professional development is often used to provide teachers first-hand experience in developing place-based curricula. Knowing this, we had carefully crafted such a professional development for our participants to learn how to engage their students in local watershed research and ecology. However, following year one of a two-year…

Social media use, activism, and critical digital making are areas where artmaking can serve as both a mode of expression and a civic practice. In light of this context, the authors wonder how art curriculum can both draw on and support this form of civic work. The authors hope to demonstrate in this article that social activism is a highly visible…

Although standards for world language education have brought forth a needed shift in instructional practices--moving from traditional to communicative, proficiency-based methods--research suggests that many teachers have yet to modify their practices. This study follows three teachers at the K-12 level who attended a summer professional…

In the United States, involvement with the juvenile justice system can have a long-lasting negative impact on one's life. Young people who are placed in detention facilities are removed from their homes, their families, and their communities. Their education, their ties to society, and their lives are disrupted. Involvement with the justice system…

Translational science is the cornerstone of biomedicine that transfers laboratory and clinical research to the hospital bedside in various forms of therapeutic interventions. This scientific branch influences public health decisions, the economy, and ongoing research endeavors. The purpose of this study was to develop a youth-friendly…

U.S. schools are facing chronic shortages of qualified teachers, resulting in the hiring of unqualified teachers who are disproportionately assigned to disadvantaged students. Further, changing demographics are resulting in racial/ethnic and cultural mismatch between teachers and students they serve, causing additional educational problems. This…

For countries to remain competitive in the global economy, it is important to cultivate the next generation of native mathematicians. However, this goal has been increasingly challenging in the United States where, despite the tremendous increase in university enrollment during recent decades, the number of students studying mathematics has…

The Florida College and Career Readiness Initiative (FCCRI) is a statewide policy that has required college readiness testing in 11th grade, and then participation in college readiness and success (CRS) courses in 12th grade for students who did not test as "college-ready." CNA Education is evaluating the FCCRI through a five-year grant…

Motivation to learn science plays an important role in the persistence, achievement, and career aspirations of students studying science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Several studies have focused on how supplemental summer programmes build science motivation in undergraduate STEM students, but few studies have focused on how such…

In 2011, working groups from across the eight campuses of Miami Dade College (MDC) conducted a wide-ranging examination of why many students were not completing their programs. These groups identified a number of reasons for student attrition. Students were unclear about how to progress through programs--they had too many course and program…

The idea behind guided pathways is straightforward. College students are more likely to complete a degree in a timely fashion if they choose a program and develop an academic plan early on, have a clear road map of the courses they need to take to complete a credential, and receive guidance and support to help them stay on plan. However, most…

A growing number of community colleges and four-year universities are seeking to improve student outcomes by redesigning academic programs and student support services following the guided pathways approach. These institutions are mapping out highly structured, educationally coherent program pathways for students to follow by starting with the end…

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the first in its latest series of four issue briefs examining critical issues facing middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief explores afterschool and school improvement. In communities across the…

Herein, we describe an effective and tested model of a week-long summer science intensive program for high school students that aimed to elaborate on concepts covered in a high school chemistry or biology course, and to provide high school students an opportunity to learn about studying and pursuing careers in the sciences. The program was…

The CollegeKeys Compact[TM] is a national call to action to school districts, colleges and universities, state education agencies, and nonprofit organizations to identify, share and expand programs and practices that address the needs and challenges of low-income students and help them get ready for, get into and get through college. The College…