The 9th International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2016) is held under the auspices of the International Educational Data Mining Society at the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel, in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, in the USA. The conference, held June 29-July 2, 2016, follows the eight previous editions (Madrid 2015, London 2014, Memphis…

During discussions about planning, Tim Kemp and Charlotte Bickmore recently concluded that despite the name they give to their major Year 8 unit (The Making of the United Kingdom), they tend mainly to focus on England, and even more especially, on London. They have a good point. Ask an average Year 8 student to describe Britain in, say, 1700, and…

The ubiquity of documentary films in social studies courses, along with their potential to influence what students learn, clearly show that documentary films matter in social studies education. While the high rate of documentary film usage by social studies teachers indicates that they are amenable to bringing new films into their classrooms, they…

The teaching of evolutionary theory has historically been problematic, often times marred with legal and moral battles. In recent years, state boards of education have prohibited or somehow compromised the role of evolutionary theory in school science. Consistent with the diversity of beliefs in contemporary society, preservice science teachers…

Boys and girls have different needs. Trying to teach them equally instead of equitably is doing disservice to both. When children reach middle school, the issue of gender becomes a huge concern for both genders as they get conflicting messages about their role requirements from society. As such, middle school teachers must accept the differences…

Nine years after the National Science Education Standards' release, just how well do science teachers in grades 5 to 8 actually use them to plan content, define improved teaching, and assess real learning? Find out the answers to these key questions in this groundbreaking collection of 15 essays by teachers, researchers, and professors whose…

This article describes a new curriculum which explores a disturbing side of the Progressive Era. The national education program Facing History and Ourselves is a 25-year-old organization best known for its trenchant examination of the Holocaust and other genocide campaigns. Facing History discovered in the course of that work that many of the…

The purpose of this article is to highlight ways in which middle school content area teachers can more effectively assess English Language Learners (ELLs) in their classrooms. This article poses five questions to guide middle school content teachers in making adaptations and accommodations when using traditional classroom tests. The objective of…

One of the most important and difficult challenges facing social studies educators, particularly world history teachers, concerns the role of Islam--one of the world's fastest growing and most dynamic religions--in historical and contemporary domestic and international affairs. What teachers choose to teach about Islam and how they present it are…

"Opposing Viewpoints" and "Opposing Viewpoints Juniors" have long been standard titles in upper elementary, middle level, and high school collections. "Opposing Viewpoints Juniors" should be required as information literacy/critical thinking curriculum tools as early as fifth grade as they use current controversies to teach students how to…

The use of children's literature in urban social studies classrooms to facilitate students' engagement in literate behaviors and simultaneously develop a framework for understanding social action is an under-researched area. This paper discusses the use of literature for children and young adults in an urban middle school language arts and social…

The Theatre Arts Standards of Learning identify the essential content and skills required in the theatre arts curriculum for the middle school and core high school courses in Virginia's public schools. The standards are designed to be cumulative and progress in complexity by course from the middle school through the secondary level. Throughout…

Critical literacy is about how people see and interact with the world; it is about having, as a regular part of one's life, the skills and desire to evaluate society and the world. It is especially focused on issues of power: Who has it and who is denied it; how it is used and how it is abused. More specifically, it often revolves around issues of…

This study examined how local schools responded to students' outside-of-school summer courses, particularly regarding the awarding of credit and appropriate placement. It involved 262 middle and high school administrators of students who had attended a gifted summer program at a local university. Survey data showed the critical influence of the…

Prominent U.S. economists and educational leaders have argued that citizens must become technologically literate to maintain economic growth (Bybee, 2003; Colaianne, 2000; Greenspan, 1997). All students of both genders need to acquire the skills necessary to become consumers capable of critically assessing the technologies they use, resulting in…