We study the effects of various types of education and training on the ability of teachers to promote student achievement. Previous studies on the subject have been hampered by inadequate measures of teacher training and difficulties addressing the non-random selection of teachers to students and of teachers to training. We address these issues by…

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' perceptions concerning the modular technology approach to teaching technology education in Georgia. The study addressed the following basic research question: What do teachers in Georgia perceive to be the main advantages and drawbacks to teaching technology education in a modular environment…

Information provided to high school students by their guidance counsellors and teachers can affect how students view university or college, as well as their expectations and level of preparation for the academic demands of higher education. This article describes two studies conducted with high school students that examined the type of information…

Sequencing of the human genome has ushered in a new era of biology. The technologies developed to facilitate the sequencing of the human genome are now being applied to the sequencing of other genomes. In 2004, a partnership was formed between Washington University School of Medicine Genome Sequencing Center's Outreach Program and Washington…

School structures need not be rigid, controlling, and coercive; in fact, they can be just the opposite. Enabling school structures are centralized and formalized in ways that promote problem solving, collaboration, flexibility, change, and professional judgment. The current research demonstrates the importance of "both" collegial…

Volunteers monitor watershed health in more than 700 programs in the US, involving over 400,000 local stakeholders. New Mexico Watershed Watch is a student-based watershed monitoring program sponsored by the state's Department of Game and Fish which provides high school teachers and students with instruction on methods for water quality…

A secondary school mathematics teacher and mathematics education researcher engaged in a collaborative professional development experience that focused the teacher's reflection on videotapes of his instruction. The purpose was to document and explore the teacher's experiences with respect to his reflections and classroom practice while trying to…

This qualitative study addresses the link between urban high school teachers' beliefs about their students' preparedness to achieve success in science and the teachers' reported curricular responses to those beliefs. Eight high school science teachers from schools representing a range of achievement levels were interviewed using semistructured,…

ACT conducts the only nationwide curriculum survey that empirically identifies current instructional practices and postsecondary expectations in order to develop tests that measure critical skills and knowledge. Every three years, it surveys thousands of middle school/junior high school, secondary, and postsecondary teachers in English/writing,…

This case study analyzes the pedagogy of one US history teacher as he prepared students for active and effective citizenship through multicultural democratic education in an underresourced alternative public high school. In particular, the paper examines his practice and focuses on his incorporation of educational technology (the Internet,…

The Ford Motor Company launched a new pre-engineering curriculum for high schools in the Fall of 2004. Building on an earlier manufacturing program, the development process for the Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies took approximately three years. Ford and the course designers wanted the new program to incorporate the best principles and…

The Congress of the United States, in passing the National Defense Education Act of 1958, reflected an ever increasing desire on the part of the Nation to improve the teaching of science and mathematics in its schools. The lack of adequate facilities and equipment had long been considered a major handicap to effective science and mathematics…

Many, even most, teachers have probably read or heard about the potential of the Internet and feel an obligation to use it in their classrooms. But, despite vast improvements in the quality of educational materials on the Internet, they are left with frustrating questions. How do teachers wade through the overwhelming amount of "information" on…

Developing trusting relationships between teachers and students in urban secondary schools everywhere is a challenging task that is essential to maintaining an effective learning environment. Trust involves a fragile web of relationships nurtured through positive daily interactions. We examined strategies that US urban high school teachers used to…

Roads Scholars, a teacher-driven, interdisciplinary student service program, represented the completion of a goal the author had set when he first became Centennial High School's principal five years earlier--to create an environment where staff members felt empowered to dream, create, and implement programs without seeking his consent. To…