The United States has a visually stunning history of documenting its natural lands. In the late 1800s, Hudson River School painters captured national parks in the west (National Park Service, 2017). Ansel Adams is famously known for his rich black-and-white photographs of Yosemite and other national parks from the 1920s. In the 1930s, the Works…

The American School Counselor Association calls for counselors to utilize multitiered systems of support to minimize gaps. Specifically, Tier 2 interventions provide a method to address equity issues and foster growth. Black male students experience the greatest disparities in schools; therefore, school counselors should consider culturally…

With the emergence of COVID-19, public interest in data visualization has surged. Data visualizations also, importantly, raised questions related to the data and the social context in which it occurred. Extending beyond but remaining connected to COVID-19, this context involved the racial and social inequality and economic disparities brought to…

Tennessee Coordinated School Health (CHS) connects physical, emotional and social health with education through eight inter-related components. This coordinated approach improves students' health and their capacity to learn through the support of families, communities, and schools working together. Physical education and physical activity create…

This article will showcase the power of collaborative relationships to transform pre-service learning and in-service practice in the area of inclusion. A middle school principal and college professor in Special Education partnered to address the need for support of inclusion students in schools and pre-service education in EPP's. The collaboration…

With more than two decades of on-the-ground experience impacting 300,000 educators and 3 million students, NIET's success is grounded in research. The success of NIET's work is evident in the positive findings from evaluations of impact. In NIET's 2022-23 Research Summary, we summarize findings from five new studies and highlight selected findings…

The school librarian at Farragut Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee, describes how, given the recent surge of fake news, her school was inspired by the new American Association of School Librarians Standards Framework for Learners (2017) to overhaul its website evaluation lessons in the school library program. Concentrating on the Shared…

In this essay, we discuss issues related to the integration of career exploration in our nation's middle schools. We discuss the theoretical and empirical basis for career exploration at the middle school level and identify selected barriers to its effective implementation, namely with regards to career advising and parent involvement. We also…

Based on the relevant research that highlights the impact of pairing fiction and nonfiction texts around a specific theme or a topic for enhanced motivation and reading comprehension for English learners (ELs), this article describes ways to combine texts of various genres to promote ELs' language and literacy development. A middle school example…

Imagine walking into an 8th-grade science classroom and hearing a discussion among students about a challenging assignment they recently completed. A pilot program in 18 Tennessee schools develops agency through competency-based education. Students in Beth Hines' 8th grade physical science class at West Collierville Middle School in Tennessee are…

District leaders often feel that working with researchers is not mutually beneficial. Researchers do not provide enough practical guidance, and they are often unable to present their findings in time to inform district decision making. Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) are a potential new strategy for addressing these challenges. RPPs are…

Students with disabilities (SWD) lag behind their peers without disabilities at all grade levels in mathematics. This gap is more pronounced in Grade 8, with 65 percent of SWD performing below the basic performance level compared to 21 percent of their peers without disabilities (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). Identifying proven…

"Two, four, six, eight, we ain't gonna integrate!" the author's eighth-grade students shouted with gusto. They were reading "Warriors Don't Cry," Melba Patillo Beals's memoir about her experiences as one of the nine African American students who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Each time those hateful words…

Across Tennessee, student test scores have risen steadily in every subject since tests were revised in 2009-10, so that nearly 91,000 additional students are performing at grade level in math and nearly 52,000 additional students are performing at grade level in science. This report focuses on some of the schools that are making this possible.…

While most states require testing in social studies or civic education, two states attach consequences for students and schools based on required statewide civics exams. Lawmakers in Florida, in 2010, and in Tennessee, in 2012, approved legislation that holds students accountable for their civics knowledge. Students are taking the tests for the…