In an effort to prepare American high school students for future careers, many states have implemented specific career readiness standards and programs. One such program is known as Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO), which are hands-on, credit-bearing experiences outside of the classroom with an emphasis on community-based career exploration.…

While both citizen science engagements and computational thinking practices can mutually support student ownership in the science classroom, both face similar challenges to adoption in that they require teachers to openly position themselves as learners alongside their students. This dual role--as a teacher and as a learner--poses self-efficacy…

Rural communities in forested regions across the United States are in the midst of a transformation driven by a complex mixture of economic, policy, and demographic dynamics. This research examines, through survey results, rural youth educational aspirations in two forest- dependent regions and the role that perceptions of the local school,…

Schools, community organizations, and major cultural entities can address educational inequities by engaging parents and children in arts processes, projects, and performances. Three cases featuring work in the arts show promise in contributing to the positive academic and social development of learners across the socio-economic spectrum. Learning…

"Honors Work: Seeing Gaps, Combining Gifts, Focusing on Wider Human Needs" describes the authors' collaborative work with high school girls to bring Canadian activist Leigh Boyle and "The Lipstick Project" story to Maine in April, 2017. "The Lipstick Project," which Boyle founded and directs, is a women-run volunteer…

A large percentage of the international secondary students in the United States come from Asian countries. Their enrollments are closely connected to the cultural, curricular, and extracurricular diversity of their American schools. Despite their contribution, stereotypical depictions of these students and deficit-informed research still abound in…

From 2016 to 2021, the Better Math Teaching Network (BMTN) aimed to transform high school mathematics teaching in New England. Researchers and teachers worked together to make high school Algebra I classes more student centered. The BMTN was piloted with a group of nine teachers during the 2015-2016 school year and added teachers the following…

Public Law 2015, Chapter 261 created the Public Higher Education Systems Coordinating Committee to recognize more formally the importance of cooperative efforts between Maine's two public systems of higher education. The Committee is comprised of the Chancellor of the University of Maine System (UMS), the President of the Maine Community College…

By 2030, experts expect one in five American workers to have an immigrant background. And there are already 44 million immigrants in the United States. Most arrive with unmet workforce training needs. Even those with advanced degrees from their own countries can face language and cultural barriers that can leave them stuck in jobs that squander…

Public Law 2015, Chapter 261 (LD 1441) created the Public Higher Education Systems Coordinating Committee to recognize more formally the importance of cooperative efforts between Maine's two systems of higher education. The Committee is comprised of the Chancellor of the University of Maine System (UMS), the President of the Maine Community…

Across the United States, schools and districts are redesigning high school toward the goal of better engaging and preparing students for success after graduation. This report highlights four innovation schools and districts--(1) Noble High School in Maine; (2) International High School at Langley Park in Maryland; (3) the Science and Math…

The transition from school to work is wonderful and exciting, but the process can also be scary. Each of us goes through it--turning 18, opening a bank account, applying for a first job, and the myriad of activities entailed in legally becoming an adult. While some students, in accordance with the law, remain in school until they are 21, at…

This paper describes innovative ways of bringing mathematical learning into community venues in rural settings. We selected highly engaging mathematical activities, adapted them for middle school youth and their families, and brought them to the "locavore" contexts of Farmers Markets and community agricultural fairs. "STEM…

"Dual enrollment" refers to programs in which students take postsecondary courses while simultaneously enrolled in high school. While programs differ among and within states, all programs share the goal of supporting students to complete their postsecondary education more quickly and cheaply while also fulfilling high school graduation…

In this paper we discuss how the products of student work during long-term, interdisciplinary curricular units at King Middle School, a grades 6-8 public school in Portland, Maine, through their aesthetic qualities, transformed people's understanding of what children were capable of. We argue that, to effectively understand student work of this…