A number of states have taken steps toward promoting student wellness, with many of their state boards of education in the middle of the action. This article contains some examples of states leading on student wellness by addressing physical fitness, social and emotional learning (SEL), and mental health supports. The Every Student Succeeds Act…

Problem solving has long been a focus of research and curriculum reform (Kilpatrick 1985; Lester 1994; NCTM 1989, 2000; CCSSI 2010). The importance of problem solving is not new, but the Common Core introduced the idea of making sense of problems and persevering in solving them (CCSSI 2010, p. 6) as an aspect of problem solving. Perseverance is…

When in 2002 Maine launched its pioneering Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) that equipped every one of the state's 30,000 seventh- and eighth-grade public school students and teachers with their own Apple iBook, all eyes were on the endeavor. As the first statewide one-to-one deployment, MLTI's $37 million education experiment…

The most telling experience in Percy Clark's 41 years as a professional educator may well have been the first--a raw rookie thrown into a classroom of 30-plus 7th graders who, in the teacher's most charitable depiction, "just didn't fit in anywhere." In the years since, Clark has served in various settings with differing needs--as a…

On January 18, 1803 President Thomas Jefferson asked Congress to fund an expedition to the source of the Missouri River. This expedition would become known as the Corps of Discovery, which would spend twenty-eight months exploring, studying, and documenting the wonders of the western frontier. Led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark,…

Grounded in integrated and excerpt style (Emerson, et al., 1995), this article chronicles Mr. Lehrer, an English teacher who provides his students access to standard and nonstandard writing conventions. Student writing samples and discursive practices illustrate enhanced awareness of distinctions between nonstandard language (African American…

Funding for compensatory education programs for grades K-6 in Michigan has, since 1971, been based on the results of statewide achievement tests rather than on socioeconomic factors. The Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) achievement tests are administered to public school students in fourth and seventh grades. To be eligible for state…

Research indicates that thoughtful technology use can positively influence learning process inside and outside the classroom, and one-to-one computing has been gaining popularity. Although some view such initiatives as passing, others look at the mounting research and see opportunities to reshape the nature of instruction and learning. This brief…