In this article the authors illustrate an instructional unit based on a Common Core grades 9-10 illustrative text--Amy Tan's "Two Kinds" from "The Joy Luck Club." They demonstrate how teachers can meet the new standards "and" respond to students' 21st-century needs by using this modern classic along with other traditional and new media resources.…

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…

The adoption and implementation of the Common Core State Standards and Smarter Balanced assessments in mathematics are intended to provide all students in California with the knowledge and skills required to transition from high school to college-level coursework. This implementation will take time. Concurrent with these efforts, policymakers and…

This curriculum module is designed for students who are taking high school chemistry. Students should already have some experience with the following: (1) Understanding and reading the pH scale; (2) Knowledge of the carbon cycle; (3) Using scientific notation to express large and small values; and (4) Reading chemical equations. This curriculum…

The objective of this paper is to discuss the didactic potential offered by the use of a Dynamic Geometry System (DGS) in introducing students to theoretical thinking and specifically to the practice of proof. Starting from a discussion about what constitutes the general objective in developing students' sense of proof, the notion of Theorem is…

Space to Grow is an Australian Research Council Grant that engages high school students in real science and supports their teachers in implementing inquiry-based approaches using astronomy as the focus. Currently, Grade 9-12 students and their science teachers from three educational jurisdictions in one Australian state are acquiring, and making…

"Reasoning and sense making should occur in every classroom every day," states "Focus in High School Mathematics: Reasoning and Sense Making" (NCTM 2009, p. 5). As this book suggests, reasoning can take many forms, including explorations and conjectures as well as explanations and justifications of student thinking. Sense making, on the other…

In Years 9 and 10 of secondary schooling students are typically introduced to quadratic expressions and functions and related modelling, algebra, and graphing. This includes work on the expansion and factorisation of quadratic expressions (typically with integer values of coefficients), graphing quadratic functions, finding the roots of quadratic…

This report presents the number of high school completers, the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR), and the dropout data for grades 9-12 for public schools in school year 2009-10. State Education Agencies (SEAs) report annual counts of completers, dropouts, and enrollments to the National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) Common Core of…

Teachers are novices at any stage of their careers when they are faced with incidents that disrupt their expected patterns of teaching and learning. A first-day-of-school incident experienced by the author illustrates the evolution of a teacher's personal pedagogical theory construction, which is ultimately illuminated through the lens of Nel…

The internet abounds with free science education applications. But, on their own, these applications have limited capacity to teach students curricular concepts or skills. The author integrated several free web-based applications into a broader pedagogical approach called T-GEM, in which the teacher guides student investigations. In this article,…

This article discusses the integration of student-generated GeoGebra applets and Jing screencast videos to create a YouTube-like medium for sharing in mathematics. The value of combining dynamic mathematics software and screencast videos for facilitating communication and representations in a digital era is demonstrated herein. We share our…

Given California's role in the Pacific economy, its historic Asian heritage, and the strong and growing presence of Asian communities and businesses in the state, it is imperative that students statewide understand the history of Asia. Unfortunately, the California state curricular framework and standards in history and social science limit the…

A parabola is an interesting curve. What makes it interesting at the secondary school level is the fact that this curve is presented in both its contexts: algebraic and geometric. Being one of Apollonius' conic sections, the parabola is basically a geometric entity. It is, however, typically known for its algebraic characteristics, in particular…

This report presents the number of high school completers, the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR), and the dropout data for grades 9-12 for public schools in school year 2009-10. State Education Agencies (SEAs) report annual counts of completers, dropouts, and enrollments to the National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) Common Core of…