This article describes the development of an innovative clinically rich STEM middle school residency program, one with emphasis in middle grades mathematics program and another in middle grades science aimed to cultivate responsive middle School STEM teachers who are prepared to teach and reach the next generation of young adolescent learners. In…

This article describes how preservice teachers (and one inservice teacher) gained content knowledge and pedagogical skills through reading a documentary novel, a genre that combines fictional storytelling with historical primary sources. Preservice teachers read the novel as a required text in a site-based undergraduate course focused on…

Educator leadership requires continuous development, including extended professional learning opportunities for principals in the field. This is also true for district leaders who likely have even fewer robust opportunities to grow professionally. We conducted a comparative interrupted time series of publicly available student achievement data…

In this component mixed methods study, we analyzed two STEM teacher candidates' constructivist practices during their alternative route to licensure summer teacher education program. The findings suggest that the STEM teacher candidates incorporated all six components of constructivism in their instruction, although each candidate focused on…

With the ever-evolving implementation of technology in the teaching and learning of geometry, the task of designing and/or finding suitable questions or problems that can facilitate and promote mathematical reasoning and accurately assess students' understanding of the subject matter can be a challenge. It is the aim of this article to share the…

This study aims to examine the components of collective argumentation of pre-service middle school mathematics teachers during geometric construction activities. To scrutinize this issue, case study research was utilized. The participants were 14 pre-service middle school mathematics teachers who worked collectively by forming four groups. During…

In studies over recent years, there has been an increasing interest in teachers' predicting middle school students' thinking processes. However, as far as we are aware, there are no studies examining students' thinking in terms of mathematical thinking components. This study primarily aimed to determine the mathematical thinking of middle school…

The charter school sector plays an important role in efforts to reform the education system and better serve the nation's public school students. To help understand this role, more than a decade ago the National Evaluation of Charter Middle Schools examined how admission to about 30 charter middle schools affected students' achievement. On…

Charter schools play an important role in efforts to reform education and better serve the nation's public school students. However, little is known about whether charter schools improve students' outcomes in the long term, including the likelihood of enrolling in and completing college. This study obtained data on attainment of college milestones…

In the wake of current sociopolitical movements, research on the lives of Black girls and women is gaining momentum. However, studies providing Black girls space to voice their experiences within learning and afterschool environments remain a crucial--and often ignored--component of this conversation. This study had three primary objectives. The…

The importance of engaging students with complex societal challenges has led to the adoption of various interdisciplinary teaching and learning practices in both K-12 and higher education. However, interdisciplinary learning is one of the most complex domains of contemporary educational practice, and, despite its significance, remains…

As COVID-19 has suddenly transformed the landscape of learning in the United States, teachers are doing what they do best: figuring out how to effectively respond to support their students on their own. However, by creating digital networks that include university-school-family partnerships, the reach of teachers and teacher educators can…

Perceptions of middle level learners vary, and unfortunately, some are deficit-oriented, labeling young adolescents as "hormonal" and "erratic" without a deep understanding of their emotional and physical development or the knowledge and skills that they bring to a classroom. In this paper, we provide empirical evidence for…

Background: For years, physical activity settings had portrayed a discourse that does not allow to add new and different elements in its practice. This discourse established a status quo that has affected in many ways the structure, the pedagogy and practice of physical activity settings. This is the case of out-school programs. Purpose: The…

The main purpose of this study is to identify alternative concepts that students possess on the colour of blood and determine the strength of those concepts as well as the reasons for why students constructed them. The sample of the study consisted of participants who were selected from three different cohorts of students (i.e. middle-school,…