The COVID-19 pandemic posed a significant problem for K-12 education. To prevent the spread of the virus, the educational community mandated school closures shifting instructional practices from a traditional face-to-face model into a remote instructional model (Bailey et al., 2021; Bawa, 2020; Domina et al., 2021; Onyema et al., 2020; Wyse et…

Personalized Learning Environments (PLEs) are student experiences where the pace of learning and the instructional approach are optimized for the needs of each student. Standards-aligned learning objectives, instructional approaches, and instructional content (and their sequencing) may all vary based on learner needs and interests. Learning…

The present study focuses on views of Finnish basic education students on open and flexible learning environments and the extent to which these views are associated with students' liking of school. The data were based on an online questionnaire containing both structured ratings and open-ended questions filled out by primary school students (n =…

As global challenges to sustainable development are increasing, there is a growing pressure for educational systems to embed education for sustainable development (ESD) into formal education. To meet this demand, Eco-School systems were established in many countries during the past decades. Using General Inductive Approach to analyze raw data…

Educators, researchers, and policy makers concerned about college under-enrollment among underserved groups of students have traditionally focused reform efforts at the high school level. Over the last several decades, however, there has been a growing interest in improving college readiness beginning at the elementary level. Recently, the…

This dissertation explored the roles schools can play in the successful outcomes of large carnivore or keystone reintroduction projects. Schools are more than centers for knowledge acquisition--they connect their community and disseminate information quickly to a wide audience. This study took place in California's Eastern Sierra Nevada, a…

In Sweden, the policy of national testing was expanded in 2013 by introducing national tests in science in the sixth grade. The aim of this study is to contribute knowledge about the enactment of this policy of national testing by investigating students' experiences of taking the tests. Students were interviewed about their experiences of taking…

For successful work in the classroom, it is important to create a positive climate and to involve students actively in the process of learning. The presented research focused on how the students perceived the classroom climate, and on their interest in the contents of the subject Science, Engineering and Technology (STE). 92 primary school sixth-…

This paper synthesizes findings from the Research Alliance's investigation of teacher turnover in New York City's public middle schools. These years are widely recognized as a critical turning point for students, and the NYC Department of Education (DOE) is pursuing a range of middle school improvement initiatives. The stability of the middle…

Beginning with the premise that pleasure is a driving force in life, this article examines the relationships between pleasure, schooling and society across the past century. Through the examination of school texts, narratives, and histories of literacy instruction, a case is made that part of the move away from keeping pleasure at the heart of…

Ask a room full of sixth and seventh graders at Fossil Ridge Intermediate School in St. George, UT, to name their favorite part of the day and the answer is, in unison, always the same: REAL (respect, explore, achieve, lead) Time. This 35-minute block embedded into the school's schedule three days each week provides immediate, specific…

What features of the physical environment in video game arcades lead kids to be so engaged? How can analysis of arcade space inform language arts teachers' decisions about designing classroom environments? This article presents an analysis of physical space in video game arcades and participants' positions therein to suggest how language arts…

The purpose of the research was to monitor opinions of learners, parents and teachers on the aspects of coping at the second level of primary school in both Estonian-medium and Russian-medium schools. The research was carried out from 2006 to 2011. The research used a questionnaire which was administered to 652 learners and their parents in Forms…

This study explores how a problem-solving based professional learning community (PLC) affects the beliefs, knowledge, and instructional practices of two sixth-grade mathematics teachers. An interview and two observations were conducted prior to beginning the year-long PLC in order to gather information about the participants' beliefs,…

Environmental education must be better integrated into K-12 curriculum to advance environmental literacy. Producing a citizenry that can understand and address the complex environmental issues facing the world today and in the future is essential to sustainable life on this planet. Using the Middle School Environmental Literacy Survey, 6th grade…