In this article, we present some practical tips primary teachers might use to help their students understand adaptations. We also aim to raise awareness of the learning progression towards understanding one of the big ideas of science. A key message is the role that language plays in presenting scientifically accurate ideas about adaptations.

Teachers have long struggled with the tension between ensuring a rigorous education for all their students and the reality that students arrive at the start of a school year with vastly different skills and conceptual understandings. The tension can be even more acute in math, which relies heavily on students mastering foundational concepts in…

The educational testing landscape is changing in many significant ways as evidence-based, principled assessment design (PAD) approaches are formally adopted. This article discusses the challenges and presents some score scale- and task-focused strategies for developing useful performance-level descriptors (PLDs) under a PAD approach. Details of…

Accreditation is one of the three tickets that every college in America must punch if it wants access to federal student aid (FSA) programs for its students. The current regulatory regime for postsecondary institutions forces each college wanting to participate in FSA programs to get authorization from the state in which it operates, meet the…

Rather than awarding points for a combination of worksheet completion, quiz performance, in-class participation, and essay writing, standards-based grading separates academics from non-academic factors and communicates students' progress towards mastery of course or grade-level standards. Some secondary schools are moving towards standards-based…

In the past decade, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) instructional leaders have struggled with how to interpret and implement K-12 standards-based education so that minoritized learners have equal opportunity to be college and career ready. An equity-centered design thinking approach can support leaders to interrogate the…

The research-based, Thailand-based learning progression for haze pollution developed by Ladachart, Poothawee and Ladachart opens a new front in the long-running debate over the compatibility of place-based education (PBE) with educational standards. This debate encompasses disagreement over whether PBE and standards are philosophically compatible…

The purpose of this special issue is to introduce ways in which the field of early childhood special education can use the Initial Practice-Based Professional Preparation Standards for Early Interventionists/Early Childhood Special Educators (EI/ECSE) (birth through age 8). In this article, the following applications are identified and guidance is…

The Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in Mathematics represent the work of the Mathematics Standards Review Committee who, during the 2021-22 school year, reviewed the 2007 Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in Mathematics, other states' recently revised standards, current academic research, K-12 instructional best practices and public feedback.…

In 2023, China leads the world in the number of Open Online Courses (OOC, over 64500) and learners (over 1.88 billion). In this article, we provide a brief review of the development of OOCs in China and outline the current situation of Chinese OOC focusing on learning platforms, course size and structure, and micro-credential courses. We also…

This article offers some general guidelines to social work faculty seeking to be promoted to the rank of Full Professor, guidelines that we hope will provide a beginning discussion for individual programs to develop more transparent criteria and expectations for promotion to the highest rank in the academy. Specifically, we offer guidance about…

The purpose of this keynote address is to discuss how curriculum theory can make a specific contribution to research on transnational education policy; in particular, curriculum theory has implications for national policy due to the interest in exploring educational phenomena at different levels of the school system. From a Swedish perspective on…

The rush to short courses and use of micro-credentials prompted by responses to the pandemic has greatly accelerated a trend already underway. However, few studies have examined the impact of short courses or micro-credentials on skills or employment outcomes, and this hasty move draws attention to major problems in the ways in which higher…

Global Literacy Engagement, a collaboration between the School of Education at Buffalo State College and its school and community partners, has grown in new and exciting ways since its inception in 2010. With an overarching mission to promote literacy and global awareness, Global Literacy Engagement has served as a unique platform to bring…

The purpose of this article is to discuss how fitness trackers enhance the physical education curriculum of fifth and sixth grade students by highlighting the role of fitness trackers in monitoring fitness variables and outlining ways in which physical educators can incorporate their use to assist students in meeting specific National Physical…