Strategies that promote student voice have long been championed as effective ways to enhance student engagement and learning; however, little quantitative research has studied the relationship between student voice practices (SVPs) and student outcomes at the classroom level. Drawing on survey data with 1,751 middle and high school students from…

Parents and educators want children to be seen and valued when they enter their classroom each day. A student-affirming education creates a welcoming environment for all children regardless of their race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, income, ability, family structure or other characteristic. Such an education sees each…

Based on interview data, life "testimonios," and Chicana feminist theories, "The Chicana/o/x Dream" profiles first-generation, Mexican-descent college students who have overcome adversity by utilizing various forms of cultural capital to power their academic success. While college enrollment rates for Chicana/o/x students have…

While the terms student-centred and learner-centred are used to describe a range of neo-liberal educational policies and practices around the world, the meaning is not clearly defined. This limits its utility as a concept in policy, research and practice. This article applies abductive reasoning to explore how student-centred education is…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to use an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) approach to discover generative instructional and assessment practices of teachers in the language arts classroom at a 5th and 6th grade low socioeconomic public school campus in Texas that earned five distinctions or three consecutive years. The study sought to design a…

This paper describes high quality teaching practices in two schools that produce exceptional growth for all kinds of students. These practices focus on making the most of instructional time and exposing students to high quality content in a variety of contexts. They prove teachers don't need to choose between differentiating to meet students'…

Recent scholarship within the field of applied linguistics highlights the fact that identities are not static but are fluid, multiple, changeable across time and space, and always constructed in relationship to interactions with others. In other words, identities are constantly in motion. This paper presents a framework for examining the notion of…

Adolescents have a unique perspective on their own development. However, educators have not fully considered the role of students' meaning making in the provision and receipt of school-based supports. To address this gap, this article draws on photographs and in-depth interviews that explore urban middle school students' experiences with learning…

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore rural high school graduates', teachers', and administrators' perceptions of student voice on academic success. This study was designed to examine the following three questions: What were the common beliefs regarding opportunities for input, or student voice, on the educational…

Education has the power to change the world. We wrote this article in the spirit of the hope embodied by the election of President Obama and the critical need for improved teaching to benefit all the nation's students. This article offers a synthesis of the characteristics of excellent teaching for the diverse student population. This article…

Yes We Can: Improving Urban Schools through Innovative Educational Reform is a empirically-based book on urban education reform to not only proclaim that hope is alive for urban schools, but to also produce a body of literature that examines current practices and then offer practical implications for all involved in this arduous task. This book is…

This article examines contemporary research and debates about pedagogies of engagement that challenge the traditional assumptions and understandings of engagement. Three contesting epistemological constructions of student engagement are identified and examined through the contesting and resisting voices of teachers and students. The article's…

The assessment conundrum results from the fact that students almost always know, understand, and have learned more than they can demonstrate on any tests administered. This book is about confronting current knowledge about assessment and applying it to restructuring the assessment process in schools so that assessment can become a means for…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…