This study sought to investigate how students access and how teachers foster creativity in the curriculum and find solutions to student and teacher disengagement with creative alternatives to traditional assignments and assessments at a public school in the Northeast of the United States. The inability of many public school teachers to properly…

This cross-sectional study examined the links of social-emotional competencies (SECs: emotional regulation, relationship skills, and planning of schoolwork) with emotional well-being (EWB) and academic engagement (behavioral and emotional) among 1085 lower secondary school students. A latent structural model was tested using Mplus. The model…

Opportunity and learning gaps between upper-middle-class students and lower SES students that impact academic performance and social development are widening. The purpose of this Action Research study was to understand the interests of students, as well as the academic support most needed, to cultivate the development of 21st century skills and…

This article explores the written reflections and multimodal analyses of 31 middle school students who engaged with video games as texts. For four consecutive days, students spent 30 minutes playing video games and then 30 minutes writing reflections on their experiences and perceptions, resulting in 124 total reflections. Students focused on how…

The purpose of this multiple intrinsic case study was to describe how Northeastern United States middle school teachers and students engaged with a new automated writing evaluation tool used to score and provide feedback on extended essay assignments to improve teaching and learning writing. Richard Elmore's (1993) instructional core framework is…

This follow-up report provides a revised Literacy Assignment Analysis Framework that incorporates discussion and teacher scaffolding. This new framework serves as a guidepost for studying sets of assignments across multiple days or weeks within a single classroom, school, or district. A closer look at more assignments from real classrooms provides…

In modern school education, the integration of technology has revolutionized traditional teaching methods and introduced innovative approaches to curriculum design. Class blogs and student blogs have emerged as dynamic web 2.0 tools that hold immense potential to transform the learning experience in schools. This abstract explores the utilization…

Nationally, student performance in math has been flat, and achievement gaps persist. And with a growing economy driven by industries in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, educators are tasked with instilling interest in and preparing students for college studies and careers that will supply these in-demand jobs. Now,…

Prepared for school district and education leaders, "Checking In" is the first in the "Equity in Motion" series, which scrutinizes how issues of equity are translating into the daily activities of schools and educators. Nearly every state has adopted new, more rigorous standards for college and career readiness over the past…

This study examined the functional relation between the use of a computer-based graphic organizer (CBGO) with embedded technology features and the improvements in the personal narrative writing by upper elementary students with high-incidence disabilities. In addition, this study explored the improvements in the students' digital literacy skills…

School engagement is a key factor in maintaining school attendance and in diminishing dropout rates. In this study, four dimensions that compose school engagement--cognitive, affective, behavioral, and agentic--were evaluated with a self-report questionnaire (Veiga, 2013), and comparisons between rural and urban schools were made. A total of 802…

Launched in June 2016, the Smithsonian Learning Lab (SLL) provides access to the digital resources from across the Smithsonian's 19 museums, 9 major research centers, and the National Zoo, to be used as real-world learning experiences. It is designed to aid students in building lasting knowledge and critical skills that take learners from simply…

This paper examines the nature of academic classroom tasks middle school teachers are designing and using that integrate one-to-one technological devices/computers: technology integration (substitution/augmentation/modification/redefinition-SAMR); 21st century skill (4Cs) integration; task complexity (DOK); and student work aspects (work product,…

We have been telling students that doing well in school creates opportunities--that showing up, doing the work, and meeting teachers' expectations will prepare them for their futures. Unfortunately, that is a myth. Far too many students graduate from high school still unprepared for the lives they want to lead. They enroll in college and land in…

How can so many students be graduating from high school unprepared to meet their goals for college and careers? Three years ago, TNTP set out to answer that question. Researchers suspected that they could gain a better understanding of students' daily experiences by observing those experiences in action, looking closely at the work students were…