Eight teams of elementary and middle school teachers developed pilot online courses for the North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) in the USA. A qualitative case study with focus groups and a follow-up survey helped to identify common needs of these non-traditional course designers during course development efforts. Findings suggest virtual…

This report examines a Massachusetts pilot program for quarterly benchmark exams in middle-school mathematics, finding that program schools do not show greater gains in student achievement after a year. But that finding might reflect limited data rather than ineffective benchmark assessments. Benchmark assessments are used in many districts…

In recent years professional developers have reached a consensus about what constitutes effective professional development, referred to in the literature as "learner-centered professional development." InterMath is a professional development project that was developed to address the recommendations for high quality professional…

Several studies have demonstrated that games have been effectively used as an instructional strategy to motivate and engage students. This paper presents the use of the process of game development as an instructional strategy to promote higher order thinking skills. An analysis of the various aspects of game development including graphics,…

The purpose of this study was to develop and gather validity evidence for silent reading fluency passages. A number of passages were written following a traditional story grammar structure (character, setting, events) and placed on a computer for students to read silently. We describe in detail, the manner in which content-related evidence was…

The purpose of this study was to document the instrument development of maze measures for grades 3-8. Each maze passage contained twelve omitted words that students filled in by choosing the best-fit word from among the provided options. In this technical report, we describe the process of creating, reviewing, and pilot testing the maze measures.…

The evaluation of the Texas Rural Technology (R-Tech) Pilot sought to understand how districts implemented R-Tech grants, the effects of implementation on student and teacher outcomes, as well as the cost effectiveness and sustainability of R-Tech. The Texas legislature (80th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2007) authorized the creation of…

When Gilberto Zelaya visited South Africa in 2000, he was struck by the high level of voter participation and turnout in that country. Back in the United States, Zelaya decided to work on voter participation in this country. As the voter empowerment director for the Montgomery County Board of Elections in Maryland, he organized a pilot program in…

In 2001, the U.S. Department of Education and the Ministry of Education in China entered into a bilateral partnership to develop a technology-driven approach to foreign language learning that integrated gaming, immersion, voice recognition, problem-based learning tasks, and other features that made it a significant research and development pilot…

Charter schools are publicly funded but operate outside the regulatory framework and collective bargaining agreements characteristic of traditional public schools. In return for this freedom, charter schools are subject to heightened accountability. This paper estimates the impact of charter school attendance on student achievement using data from…

In this article, the authors describe the balanced literacy pilot program at Monroe Middle School in Tampa, Florida. Monroe implemented the program as part of a districtwide effort to improve student literacy. It uses a four-pronged approach to improve literacy: (1) read-alouds; (2) independent reading; (3) shared reading; and (4) guided reading.…

The National FFA Organization's Partners in Active Learning Support (PALS) is a program that utilizes high school members from FFA chapters as peer mentors. The purpose of this study was to examine needs of a sample of PALS advisors and mentors. An on-site pilot study was initially conducted, which included 3 individual interviews with program…

Most people would probably agree that participation in quality youth programs and neighborhood-based, informal relationships and opportunities is a good thing for young people. The problem is that not nearly enough children and youth are engaged in these growth-enhancing opportunities. What can educators learn from young people about designing…

This report covers the second year of a 3-year process evaluation of the Prime Time Initiative of Palm Beach County, Florida, a system-building effort to strengthen the availability and quality of after-school programs in the county. During the past two decades, the after-school field has expanded enormously. This growth has occurred partly in…

This article focuses upon the need for character education through examining and promoting the values demonstrated by historical storytelling and encouraging the adoption of values for citizenship development. It is noted that historical figures should not be chosen by political correctness but should be examined instead for their transcending…