How better can we prepare students for the roles awaiting them as citizens than by engaging them in addressing challenging issues of the day? We describe our experience as a researcher--practitioner partnership with this objective in a yearlong program involving academically low-performing urban middle schoolers and a student-centered…

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to describe a middle-level science teacher's transition to an inquiry-based, progressivist, student-centered model from a traditional, teacher-centered model as well to document the student-participants' perceptions of the new model. The study population consisted of one-hundred…

The talents that neurodiverse individuals bring to STEM fields are being increasingly recognized, thus it is important to ensure neurodiverse youth have opportunities to experience an array of STEM fields as viable career options. Based on the results of a systematic review, this article provides recommendations for how informal STEM learning…

Background: Many girls do not want to engage in physical activity (PA) in places that do not provide feelings of safety, comfort, or protection. Nor will they engage in PA if it might compromise gender norms and place them at risk of being teased by peers. Media influences (e.g. social media, advertisements) target young girls and circulate gender…

The purpose of the present investigation was to analyze the pedagogical infrastructures in three cycles of seventh graders' co-invention projects that involved using traditional and digital fabrication technologies for inventing and creating complex artefacts. The aim of the projects was to create high-end multi-material makerspaces by expanding…

Why is formative assessment -- a proven powerful instructional practice -- so elusive in classrooms? As a regional professional learning provider for several years, Amy Burton rarely observed the use of formative assessment, even though, when asked, teachers could define it -- a quick check, during instruction, of what all students understand so…

We present a case study that examined the role of teacher belief change and agency development through enactment of an innovative student-centered STEM program in three public urban secondary schools. In the program, 9th grade STEM classrooms were restructured to incorporate daily small group instruction facilitated by 10th grade near-peers. We…

This article describes an example of a decision-making in nutrition unit that was transformed when students were provided an opportunity to drive the curriculum and extend their learning beyond the classroom.

A growing number of schools are adopting social-emotional learning (SEL) programs to address students' social, emotional, and academic needs. The proliferation of school-based SEL programs has spurred more research to investigate the ways in which educators enact SEL in schools. However, very few studies have considered the role school leaders…

We designed and implemented two instructional approaches to plant education, with the intention of supporting positive attitudes toward plants among sixth-grade students (11-13 years old). In one instructional approach, students prepared a book about plants that have interesting characteristics. In the other approach, students visited a botanical…

The purpose of this research was to explore how beginning middle school teacher candidates describe their emerging visions for teaching. This collective case study of one cohort of teacher candidates in a middle grades teacher education program was informed by the literature on vision and by standards for middle level education. Twenty-two…

Student-centered instruction is featured in reforms that aim to improve excellence and equity in mathematics education. Although research on stereotype threat suggests that student-centered instruction may have differential effects on racial minority students, the relationship between student-centered mathematics instruction and student engagement…

The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine the practices and perspectives of four music teachers who integrated popular music and informal music learning practices into their secondary school music programs in the United States. A primary goal was to understand music teachers' process of enacting change. Data included 16…

The importance given to student-centered teaching methods and techniques is increasing as a reflection of the constructivist approach. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the attitude of teachers working in secondary schools to use student centered teaching methods and techniques and compare it based on the gender, subject,…

This article presents a field-tested approach for integrating music arranging into middle and high school music ensembles. This project-based unit of study builds on scholarship in informal music learning and social constructivism. Reflections from former high school students who participated in the project help illuminate these connections. The…