Astronomy has great potential to attract children toward science and improve their scientific literacy. However, it has a relatively small presence within the school curricula worldwide. In Chile, home of the world's largest telescopes, astronomy is even more relevant in science education, but the presence of astronomical content within the…

Parental engagement is a common theme of education policy in most countries. In Aotearoa New Zealand, policies frame parental engagement in broad terms giving schools flexibility in enacting them. However, the generality assumes the complex and differentiated activities associated with parental engagement are well understood, leaving schools with…

There is broad agreement in the literature (e.g. Furtak et al., 2012; Harlen and Qualter, 2018) that the purpose of primary science is for children to develop: (1) scientific skills; (2) knowledge and understanding of some scientific concepts; (3) positive attitudes to science; an understanding of the nature of science; and (4) an appreciation of…

Early algebraic thinking is the reasoning engaged in by 5- to 12-year-olds as they build meaning for the objects and ways of thinking to be encountered within the later study of secondary school algebra. Ever since the 1990s when interest in developing algebraic thinking in the earlier grades began to emerge, there has been a steady growth in the…

By reading, reviewing, analyzing and discussing the literature related to 'multiculturalism', this article aims to explore the learning content of 'multiculturalism' for children in Taiwan's elementary schools. I analyze the focus of teaching from the perspectives of ethnicity, language, gender, religion and class. In terms of ethnicity, teachers…

Science tends to be viewed as a completely separate subject area from reading and math. This is the case even in elementary school, where academic content may be more intertwined than in later years. But scientific thinking and processes are valuable across all areas of learning and for career success. Waiting until the middle grades to give…

In this paper, we critically examine the way in which scholars have traditionally defined and problematized attrition. Through a series of examples of large-scale intervention impact studies, we share insights about the sources and consequences of attrition that expand our notion of how and why attrition occurs. We also discuss potential steps for…

After a steady increase throughout the middle of the 20th century, arts education has been in decline since the 1980s. Teachers attributed the declines to test-score pressures, budget cuts, or both. These trends have been most pronounced for students of color, who are more likely than white students to attend under-resourced schools and about half…

This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of the 'panopticon' in educational research, problematising its validity and offering a fresh conceptualisation of teacher surveillance. The school as a 'panopticon' is a well-established concept which helpfully enables a consideration of aspects of high-stakes accountability. The present paper…

Professional school counselors have the expectation and responsibility to provide career development to elementary school children. This resource brief presents 13 career-oriented children's storybooks with nine corresponding classroom activity suggestions.

Many interventions in education occur in settings where treatments are applied to groups. For example, a reading intervention may be implemented for all students in some schools and withheld from students in other schools. When such treatments are nonrandomly allocated, outcomes across the treated and control groups may differ due to the treatment…

Educators in the 21st century must not only use texts to facilitate the acquisition of literacy but also support students in developing attitudes of acceptance and criticality for overgeneralizations of diverse characters and cultures represented in literature. Utilizing culturally sustaining pedagogies to enhance the literacy learning of…

Writing is a mighty way to communicate, express, question, synthesize, persuade, and teach (Fletcher & Portalupi, 2001). Hence, growing strong writers is crucial for all students. A writing workshop approach allows teachers and students the essential elements needed to perfect their writing. The author seeks to provide relief to teaching…

This paper considers elementary teachers' perceptions of data-driven decision making (DDDM) through the lens of Dewey's science of education. Dewey argues that educational science can be used to improve teaching and learning, but it must be flexible, attendant to multiple dimensions of growth, and grounded in real classroom experiences with…

The education rankings of Australian students continue to slide further down the international scale, yet the dominant discourse in relation to both the cause and solution to this perceived decline remains focused on funding, curriculum and teacher quality whilst failing largely to take account of the broader social contexts in which education…