With so many middle and high school students using subscription databases and the Web to complete assignments, there's a lot more cutting and pasting taking place than educators would like to see. And while it's understandable that teachers would be tempted to give failing grades to plagiarized work, it is unfair to students who may not even know…

Describes a successful use of portfolios to assess the development of eleventh grade students' writing skills by inviting self-reflection and encouraging students to assume control over their writing. (KEH)

This general achievement trends profile includes information that the Center on Education Policy (CEP) and the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) obtained from states from fall 2008 through April 2009. Included herein are: (1) Bullet points summarizing key findings about achievement trends in that state at three performance…

This study inventoried the types of developmental and negative experiences that youth encounter in different categories of extracurricular and community-based organized activities. A representative sample of 2,280 11th graders from 19 diverse high schools responded to a computer-administered protocol. Youth in faith-based activities reported…

Students and teachers in Pierce School District in Arbuckle, California, re-enacted an 1840s wagon train. Staff and students dressed authentically, turning thrift-store outfits into period garb. The 4-day simulation instilled knowledge in students and helped them think more critically. True instructional innovation comes from the bottom up. (MLH)

The purpose of this project was to design and implement a visual art course parallel to the U.S. history course required of all 11th grade students at the John F. Kennedy High School in New York City, New York. The study also attempted to determine if a non-linguistic, instructional methodology, such as that used in visual arts instruction, could…

This general achievement trends profile includes information that the Center on Education Policy (CEP) and the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) obtained from states from fall 2008 through April 2009. Included herein are: (1) Bullet points summarizing key findings about achievement trends in that state at three performance…

This paper reports on a program to increase the effectiveness of English instruction with inner-city students involving the development of a systematic approach to classroom management. Implementation of the program included defining appropriate behavioral roles of teacher and students, providing positive consequences for appropriate student…

The Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE) measures student achievement relative to the Illinois Learning Standards. It recognizes the excellent achievement of individual students whose scores qualify them for honors, and it measures the progress that schools have made in helping their students meet the Illinois Learning Standards. The PSAE…

Describes a Year 11 Preliminary Advanced English Course in which the objectives were to focus on the students developing knowledge and understanding of the purposes and effects of a range of textual forms in various contexts. Presents experiences from three years of teaching this course. Explains why the author chose to title the unit…

The process of assessing learner needs in Kentucky developed within a planned framework of tasks to be accomplished sequentially in a time frame directed toward an ultimate goal of comprehensive planning. One hundred specific needs categorized under 10 priority general needs of the state's learners were identified through a survey resulting in the…

A high school English teacher used her weekly Impromptu Poetry session to find out what 11th graders thought veterans had accomplished. The teacher developed a writing prompt that asked the students to describe a family member who had served in the military and to show what they understood about that person. Students who did not have a family…

Describes a series of instructional episodes in an 11th-grade classroom discussing J.D. Salinger's short story "The Laughing Man." Presents and discusses the "Text and Context" model for the negotiation of interpretations in classroom contexts. Offers suggestions for developing interpretive classroom communities. (SR)

Creating a CD-ROM to enrich the 11th-grade social-studies curriculum was challenging, but rewarding. Draft storyboards and stock World War II footage soon led to a digital production called "Presumed Enemies," which put the events surrounding the internment of Japanese Canadians and Japanese Americans into historical context. (MLH)

In the framework of a curriculum reform in the Netherlands, an interdisciplinary open inquiry assignment has been introduced as a part of the final secondary school examinations. We developed and evaluated a preparatory open inquiry assignment to be used in science and mathematics departments of schools, in collaboration with each other: the…