This study examines issues encountered during a school's first year implementing science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) curriculum. The school year began with multiple changes in leadership, including the appointment of a School Operations Manager and Teacher on Special Assignment, who took on respective roles of principal and…

When the author encountered the C3 Framework, she saw an opportunity to develop a different approach that she hoped would encourage all her students to reach their highest potential. The approach she created--The Deliberative Classroom--has pushed her as much as it has pushed her students. The benefits have been powerful: better academic…

This is the executive summary for a full report. In 2019-2020, the program's third federally funded year, GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) Austin served a cohort of 8th grade students (n = 2,546) across 11 middle schools. Nearly all GEAR UP students received support services relevant to college…

El Dorado Middle School, Kansas, is using MAP® Skills™ from NWEA® to ensure every single student is getting instruction where they need it most, and it is having a huge impact on student growth and achievement, including special education students. Besides empowering students to monitor their own learning, MAP Skills enables teachers to move…

All students need to know and understand the origins and evolution of their nation. They also need to understand the development of the nation's democratic institutions and ideals so that they are prepared to take part knowledgeably, as citizens and voters, in shaping America's future. The framework in U.S. history for the 1994-2018 National…

This article focuses on four university teacher educators across three mid-western institutions working together to collaborate and develop a shared understanding of practice in middle level teacher education while modeling a team approach to teaching and learning. Three institutions, University of Louisville (UL), University of Kentucky (UK), and…

This article features Robert M. Finley Middle School, a school that is considered by the entire Glen Cove, New York, community as important and successful. Gaps in student achievement have decreased significantly and all student achievement has improved over the last five years in this school, where nearly half of the 652 students are from…

What "is" mathematics? What does it mean to "do" mathematics? The answers to these two questions critically influence the ways in which learners respond to a mathematical problem. On the other hand, if they see questions as having only one correct answer and as needing to be solved in one particular way, they will be prone to…

High rates of truancy at some DC schools are receiving considerable attention. The Family Court cannot realistically be a primary response to the chronic truancy of thousands of chronically truant high-school students, Senior Fellow Akiva Liberman of the Justice Policy Center told the City Council. Liberman commented that family-based…

For many years, Earth science concepts have been taught as thematic units with lessons in nice, neat chapter packages complete with labs and notes. But compartmentalized Earth science no longer exists, and implementing teaching methods that support student development of holistic understandings can be a time-consuming and difficult task. While…

One of the most alarming impacts of projected climate change is a significant rise in sea level. Sea level has varied by hundreds of meters over geologic time, yet these changes have generally been slow paced, allowing ecosystems to adjust to changing land surface and marine habitats. Since the Industrial Revolution, anthropogenic emissions have…

The first part of the article focuses on deriving the essential properties of arithmetic sequences by appealing to students' sense making and reasoning. The second part describes how to guide students to translate their knowledge of arithmetic sequences into an understanding of linear equations. Ryota Matsuura originally wrote these lessons for…

This article features an after-school FIRST Lego League (FLL) program at Chaminade Middle School in Chatsworth, California, USA. The after-school FLL program feeds into the high school FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) program wherein aspiring young engineers come to the high school team with several years of FLL experience. Through the FLL…

Improving youth science comprehension in the United States is imperative to reverse current trends in student achievement and to meet an expected shortage of scientists in the future. This lag in achievement scores and need for future scientists is a problem. One challenge is to link inquiry-based learning and experiential education with…

Mathematics is rich in visual representations. Such visual representations are the means by which mathematical patterns "are recorded and analyzed." With respect to "vocabulary" and "symbols," numerous educators have focused on issues inherent in the language of mathematics that influence students' success with mathematics communication.…