Narrative inquiry has a long tradition in qualitative educational research, although it remains a relatively untapped method of investigation in English curriculum and pedagogy studies. This paper presents one experimental narrative approach through the use of song lyrics as a musical method for storying interview data. Working with non-linear and…

In recent decades, under the mutually constitutive processes of neoliberal urbanization and globalization, Vancouver has radically transformed and become a serious contender for the title of "world-class city". Against the background of this socio-spatial force reconfiguring the city, I explore how the city's unique development of…

This issue brief focuses on one particular report, released in September 2009, that has been widely cited by charter school advocates because it appears to show remarkable results. In the report, "How New York City's Charter Schools Affect Achievement," Stanford University professor Caroline Hoxby and her colleagues Sonali Murarka and…

Sampling, very generally, is the process of learning about something by selecting and assessing representative parts of that population or object. In the inquiry activity described here, students learned about sampling techniques as they estimated the number of trees greater than 12 cm dbh (diameter at breast height) in a wooded, discrete area…

The Senegal Project is the culminating project in a unit on cultural foods in an 8th grade family and consumer sciences (FCS) course. Initially, students take a quick world tour by studying and cooking foods from Mexico, Italy, China, and India followed by a "more depth and less breadth" study of Senegal, a country with a culture vastly…

Teachers face the challenge of introducing ecological concepts in an authentic way that students can apply to their lives and surroundings. Fieldwork helps achieve this goal and can have a range of beneficial impacts on participants, but opportunities to conduct fieldwork can be limited, especially in urban environments. Urban environments are…

The technical complexities and sheer size of international large-scale assessment (LSA) databases often cause hesitation on the part of the applied researcher interested in analyzing them. Further, inappropriate choice or application of statistical methods is a common problem in applied research using these databases. This article serves as a…

Statistics is the art and science of gathering, analyzing, and making conclusions from data. However, many people do not fully understand how to interpret statistical results and conclusions. Placing students in a collaborative environment involving project-based learning may enable them to overcome misconceptions of probability and enhance the…

This manual provides guidance and documentation for users of the eighth-grade data of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K). It begins with an overview of the ECLS-K study. Subsequent chapters provide details on the instruments and measures used, the sample design, weighting procedures, response rates, data…

The purpose of this article is to document the legacy and continuing influence of Michael Pressley's work in the field of reading research and instruction. Descriptions are provided to demonstrate how he translated his data from the cognitive sciences into highly effective pedagogy. A second component of this article discusses how Michael…

Much of Michael Pressley's work during the past decade focused on the nature of highly effective, engaging literacy instruction. Michael Pressley believed that studying effective teachers and schools had the potential to influence more engaging and effective teaching, especially in underresourced schools. First, we describe the grounded…

Eighth-grade teacher Lesley Roessing designed an assignment that makes individual student research useful and accessible to the entire class. She outlines steps students take to create a guide to supplement their reading of "Waiting for the Rain: A Novel of South Africa." She then builds on the research experience in another unit by addressing…

This document contains a narrative overview of the hierarchy, followed by a one-page graphic summary. The purpose of the hierarchy is to help agency/program officials assess which study designs are capable of producing scientifically-valid evidence on the effectiveness of a STEM education project or practice ("intervention"). More specifically,…

The purpose of this technical report is to summarize the research methodology of the Novice Teacher Study (NTS) strand of the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) research. The Ohio TQP embarked on a series of research studies to learn more about the characteristics of effective teachers and to identify the patterns of teacher performance in both…

The Bermuda Triangle is famous for the unexplained disappearances of ships and aircraft, and for strange meteorological phenomena that allegedly have occurred within its boundaries. This article presents an activity wherein students are asked to create their own geographical triangles to research, but instead of focusing on the unexplainable,…