The purpose of this study was to gauge the degree to which selected NWEA MAP Growth assessments are aligned to the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) and the extent to which MAP Growth reports can be used by school divisions to gauge student achievement relative to grade level and to identify learning gaps. The study was delimited to four MAP…

Instructional reforms in science education require changes in the type of intellectual work students are engaging in. This study explored the cognitive demand of tasks pre-service teachers selected during their full time teaching semester. Using the Task Analysis Guide in Science, we analyzed 177 tasks from the lesson plans that seven pre-service…

Exclusive boarding schools in social environments where the meritocratic norm is prevalent are faced with a tension between parents' desire to give their children a head start in the competition for educational qualifications, social prestige and jobs on the one hand and the powerful social norm of advancement by merit under conditions of…

The current study aims to deepen the knowledge of students' experiences of teachers' assessment related instructional actions, with particular focus on problematic consequences of an intensified assessment paradigm. Its empirical material consists of 20 focus-group interviews with a total of 102 sixteen- to eighteen-year-old students in ten…

Up to the publication of the results of Germany's first participation in the PISA study in 2001, there had been no national educational standards in Germany's 16 federal states. In the aftermath of the discussions about the disappointing outcomes, Germany's federal states decided to develop national standards, yet focusing on "core…

Purpose: In this article, we seek to determine whether psychiatric rehabilitation principles and practices have been more fully incorporated into the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) standards, the extent to which they are covered in four rehabilitation counseling "foundations" textbooks, and how they are reflected in the…

Researchers investigated the impact of a professional learning intervention focused on teaching teachers to increase rigor, challenge, and engagement to reveal talent in low-income learners. The professional learning intervention's goal, to improve teachers' ability to recognize student ability and talent through use of proven high-level…

Background and Context: Racialized disparities in curricular tracking have long been ascribed to narrow tests that create a hierarchy of perceived ability. Consequently, teachers are urged to reject deficit views of ability and embrace more expansive techniques to reveal and respond to the real-life needs of students, especially those from…

Experiencing large differences between pre-k and kindergarten classroom contexts may affect children's academic development as they start school. This study examined differences between classroom contexts in pre-k and kindergarten (teacher-child interactions, time on academic content, and academic rigor) and associations with literacy, language,…

Background/Context: Instructional policy aims to shift the nature of teaching and learning. Decades of policy studies have highlighted the challenges inherent in these aims and the conditions necessary to support such change, including a robust infrastructure to support teacher learning. Further, teachers themselves must perceive and experience…

Background/Context: Instructional policy aims to shift the nature of teaching and learning. Decades of policy studies have highlighted the challenges inherent in these aims and the conditions necessary to support such change, including a robust infrastructure to support teacher learning. Further, teachers themselves must perceive and experience…

We sought to understand how teachers' perspectives on standards-based instructional practices, classroom assessment, and external testing do or do not show coherence and alignment. Based on survey methods (n = 155) and interviews with a sample of secondary school teachers (n = 9) in a large urban district in the USA, we explored general trends and…

Background: Several studies have shown the influence of mathematical knowledge on both individual opportunities and chances for a self-determined and prosperous life as well as the welfare of nations. Against this background, the contents of maths education in the foundation phase as well as the way in which it is conveyed gain importance. While…

In this study, we analysed survey data from 386 third year undergraduate students on 14 programmes within three UK universities. The universities are characterised as teaching-focused or research-intensive: a 'plate-glass' and 'red-brick' research-intensive; and a 'new' teaching-intensive university. We used the Assessment Experience Questionnaire…

Recent research has revealed that the relationship between language and culture stands out as an important factor in language teaching. The purpose of this study was to examine the cultural content of ninth-grade textbooks used in teaching English based on the WorldReadiness Standards for Learning Languages (WRSLL), and also from teachers'…