School closures because of natural phenomena, such as COVID-19, underscore long-standing gaps in access to science education in the United States of America, particularly for young students. When educators have to pivot to deliver virtual instruction, it is important to identify feasible remote learning strategies for science content across formal…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Opportunity." Contents include: (1) Students Deserve to Read Diverse Books --…

Antoine de Saint-Exupery said, "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." This article presents a pedagogical approach for framing a digital-identity-enhancing ePortfolio that maximizes student engagement and…

The "Everyday Mathematics®" curriculum aims to provide students in prekindergarten through grade 6 with multiple opportunities to learn math concepts and practice skills. Since the release of the WWC's 2010 Everyday Mathematics report, the curriculum continues to be widely used and evaluated. This updated review includes 30 studies that…

The level of interest in mobile technology for teaching and learning was analyzed according to the responses of 70 pre-teachers. Some pre-teachers (27%) were interested enough to find out what teaching with mobile devices involved. (Level One Engagement). The same students (27%) attended an informative workshop about the new methodology and…

In a North Texas school district, students taking online courses in a variety of subject areas were not successfully completing courses at the district's expected levels. The district pays for courses and student support while remaining financially responsible to the community and programmatically to students' online success. Students'…

The Texas Earth and Space Science (TXESS) Revolution was a 5-y teacher professional development project that aimed to increase teachers' content knowledge in Earth science and preparing them to teach a 12th-grade capstone Earth and Space Science course, which is new to the Texas curriculum. The National Science Foundation-supported project was…

In 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation extended grants to three educational organizations working to develop or enhance competency-based approaches in large, urbanized school systems. The grant initiative, called Project Mastery, funded the development of technology-enhanced tools, including curriculum materials and online learning…

In 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation created the Project Mastery grant program to support competency-based education initiatives in large school systems that serve a high proportion of disadvantaged youth. Competency-based education meets students where they are academically, provides students with opportunities for choice, and awards…

This qualitative study investigated the experiences of 10 superintendents in Pre-K-8, 1A, and small 2A schools located in rural areas of Texas, who have implemented an online learning program or programs. Narrative techniques were used to explore the challenges that they faced in the pre-planning, planning, implementation and evaluation of their…

The Great-Plains IDEA Gerontology Program is a graduate program developed and implemented by the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance (Great Plains IDEA). The Great Plains IDEA (Alliance) originated as a consortium of Colleges of Human Sciences ranging across the central United States. This Alliance's accomplishments have included…

This analysis responds to a generation of criticism leveled at 1:1 laptop computer initiatives. The article presents a review of the key themes of that criticism and offers suggestions for reframing the conversation about 1:1 computing among advocates and critics. Efforts at changing, innovating, and reforming education provide the context for…

In classrooms with limited instructional time and many resources, teachers must decide which resources positively affect student achievement. Power Videos (PV), produced by DCS, is one such product used at the 373 elementary campuses in the greater Dallas, Texas, area. This research examined the relationship between teachers' usage of the DCS…

Despite the growing interest in 1:1 computing initiatives, relatively little empirical research has focused on the outcomes of these investments. The current special edition of the Journal of Technology and Assessment presents four empirical studies of K-12 1:1 computing programs and one review of key themes in the conversation about 1:1 computing…

For the first time in history, an entire statewide public institution of higher education is extending all of its 16 campuses into the online virtual world of Second Life and is creating one of the largest virtual collaborative learning communities in the world. There are three levels of assessment and research for this initial-entry project: (1)…