Sections 9302 and 9303 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) provide to States the option of applying for and reporting on multiple ESEA programs through a single consolidated application and report. Although a central, practical purpose of the Consolidated State Application…

Between 2000 and 2009, the Hispanic population more than doubled in 25 of 67 Pennsylvania counties. Over the same period, the Hispanic student population in Pennsylvania schools also rose, from 4 percent to 8 percent (Pennsylvania State Data Center 2011). The focus on Hispanic students' level of academic achievement rose along with this rapid…

In this "FastFacts," a state's Department of Education requests information from the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) on how the research defines skills in social-emotional development, approaches to learning, and executive function, to inform planned revisions to the early childhood indicators of progress for children…

In October 2010, WestEd's Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI) won an i3 "Validation" grant to scale up and validate the Reading Apprenticeship (RA) model in three core secondary content area classes: U.S. history, biology, and English language arts. SLI's proposal stated two goals. Goal 1: To transform academic literacy teaching and…

When asked to discuss their middle school language arts classes, talented eighth graders identified concerns and made suggestions for their teachers. Students voiced desire for choices in selecting reading materials, writing topics and genre. They preferred having extended periods of time to engage in reading and writing activities, rather than…

Pennsylvania is in the process of transitioning to new English language arts and mathematics standards that will better prepare students to be successful in college and their careers. Time, effort, and resources must be dedicated to effective implementation in order to realize the promise of these new common core state standards. This paper…

Math experts developed Formative Assessment Lessons that teachers can incorporate throughout the year's curriculum. Both tools target the "instructional core." A study by Research for Action (RFA) examining the first year of piloting the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Math Design Collaborative (MDC) tools (2010-11) found…

The National Institute of School Leadership's (NISL's) Executive Development Program (EDP) was established to provide professional development to school leaders to drive their schools to high performance. The program emphasizes the role of principals as strategic thinkers, instructional leaders, and creators of a just, fair, and caring culture in…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of instructional tools to support teachers' incorporation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Literacy experts have developed a framework and a set of templates that teachers and other educators can use to develop content…

A TECHNIQUE FOR THE TEACHING OF SPELLING AT THE ELEMENTARY LEVEL IS PRESENTED WHICH INCLUDES KINESTHETIC, AUDITORY, AND VISUAL INVOLVEMENT. EMPHASIS IS PLACED UPON TOTAL WORD RECALL, UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORD'S MEANING, AND USE OF THE WORDS IN CONTEXTUAL SENTENCES. STUDY SHEETS ARE PREPARED BEFOREHAND WITH THE WORDS AND SENTENCES ON THEM WHICH…

TO COMPENSATE FOR THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEPRIVATION, A NUMBER OF LARGE CITIES HAVE DEVELOPED PROGRAMS FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN. CERTAIN ASSUMPTIONS AND PRINCIPLES MUST BE ACCEPTED BEFORE THE PROGRAMS CAN MATERIALIZE. IN BUFFALO, TEACHERS ARE REVISING CURRICULUM FOR THE CULTURALLY DEPRIVED IN LANGUAGE ARTS, MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, AND SOCIAL…

THE POSITION TAKEN IS THAT A PREWRITING PROGRAM OF FROM APPROXIMATELY 4 TO 6 WEEKS WILL AID CHILDREN IN DEVELOPING THE NEURO-MUSCULAR COORDINATION NECESSARY IN LEARNING TO WRITE. CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT TO TRACE AND THEN REPRODUCE VARIOUS FIGURES INVOLVING ALL OF THE BASIC STROKES OF MANUSCRIPT. EXAMPLES ARE INCLUDED. IT HAS BEEN FOUND THAT SUCCESS OF…

This study examines the cognitive experiences of children as they engage in creative projects in both dance and poetry. The data includes interviews with fifth graders from an elementary School in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, about their lived experience of writing poetry and creating dances. Students interviewed for this study participated in a…

This study examined the impact of NISL's [National Institute for School Leadership's] Executive Development Program for principals on student achievement in Pennsylvania schools between 2006-2009. Roughly half of the NISL-trained principals started the program during the 2007 school year and completed it in the 2008 school year, whereas the other…

IT WAS HELD THAT A PROGRAM FOR THE ACADEMICALLY TALENTED CHILD SHOULD BEGIN AS SOON AS HE IS IDENTIFIED, AND THAT THE CHILD SHOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP TO HIS FULL POTENTIAL. SOME BROAD OBJECTIVES WERE TO DEVELOP WITHIN THE CHILD AN UNDERSTANDING AND APPRECIATION FOR THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF CONTEMPORARY AND PAST ACHIEVEMENTS, TO AROUSE IN…