Professional learning should be designed in a way that is responsive to the needs of teachers and intentionally planned with adult learning principles in mind. This article outlines one practitioner's professional journey to redefine how professional learning is designed with best practices in adult learning in mind. Strategies utilized during…

In this article, we focus on two components of the Online Curriculum Consortium for Accelerating Middle School (OCCAMS) project: the curriculum frameworks and the curriculum development process. The frameworks include the Integrated Curriculum Model (advanced content, unit themes, and process/product), culturally responsive curriculum, and talent…

This study will utilize a quantitative method to the explore the association between third grade students' home computer access and their ability to attain a proficient score on the Fall 2019 English Language Arts standardized state assessment. The secondary focus will explore the association between third grade students' home computer access and…

Much research has noted the misalignment between kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) academic standards and curriculum materials used in classrooms. Many states and education organizations have been pushing for greater use of standards-aligned curriculum, especially during the past several years. In this report, the authors share results…

Learning how to formulate, comprehend, and evaluate arguments is an essential part of helping students develop the ability to make better, more reasonable judgments. The Common Core identified argumentation as a fundamental life skill that is broadly important for the literate person. According to the authors, having students engage in an inquiry…

This manuscript presents the results of an analysis between the easyCBM® literacy assessments, Grades K-3, and Ohio's Learning Standards related to literacy at those grade levels. Results indicate some alignment at each grade level, with the greatest degree of alignment in Grade 3.

Over the course of a year, the first author met with the teachers at Holden Elementary School in Kent, Ohio as they explored each dimension of the C3 Framework's Inquiry Arc, focusing on the creation of compelling questions, understanding each of the disciplinary pathways in depth for grades K-5, and appreciating the value of taking informed…

Charter schools represent an increasingly important form of school choice in the United States. Charter schools are public schools, with a difference. Compared to traditional public schools, they are exempted from some of the state laws and regulations that govern traditional public schools. In this way, parents come to have a greater number of…

Using state-representative surveys of teachers and 94 interviews with state leaders and educators from 2016 to 2019, the authors examine perceptions of the policy environments for instructional content standards in Texas and Ohio and their association with teachers' practice. They find that Texas teacher perceive their policy environments for…

During a two-week inquiry-based 5E learning cycle unit, children made observations and inferences to guide their explorations of animal traits and habitats (Bybee 2014). The children became "animal detectives" by studying a live-feed webcam and digital images of wolves in their natural habitat, reading books and online sources about…

Colleges and employers are demanding greater knowledge and skills from our graduates than ever before. As Ohio continues to help students in meeting higher expectations for what they should know and be able to do, student achievement is higher statewide. From 2016 to 2017, every subject area had an increase in first-time test takers scoring…

In this paper, we report findings from the second year of a three-year research and professional development program designed to help elementary school teachers engage in dialogic teaching to support the development of students' argument literacy. We define argument literacy as the ability to comprehend and formulate arguments through speaking,…

The Center on Standards, Alignment, Instruction, and Learning (C-SAIL) examines how college- and career-readiness (CCR) standards are implemented, if they improve student learning, and what instructional tools measure and support their implementation. The Center studies elementary and high school math and English Language Arts (ELA) standards, and…

Approximately one quarter of American students attend rural schools; however, the needs of these students are often overlooked in education policy despite well-documented limited financial resources and pervasive poverty. Relatively little is known about the experiences of gifted students in rural areas and even less about the teachers serving…

Language arts and mathematics are high priority content areas in early grades. Science is often a secondary concern, even though students appear to have minimal knowledge or interest in their local ecology. This article describes a year-long project integrating science and technology with language arts. Students researched and wrote about local…