The goal of the study was to compare how visual representations were integrated into the contents of the U.S. and Turkish textbooks used in life science. Data was collected from 6th, 7th, and 8th grade middle school topics common to both countries. Content analysis was used to analyse visual representations in textbooks. The visual representations…

This study analyzed geometry problems in four middle-grade mathematics textbook series from Taiwan, Singapore, Finland, and the United States, while exploring the expectations for students' learning experiences with these problems. An analytical framework developed for mathematics textbook problem analysis had three dimensions: representation…

The focus of this paper is on detailing the decisions made when we created, implemented and studied a mathematics professional development (PD) program in low-performing, urban schools. Our program held many characteristics espoused by researchers as critical for effectiveness. We begin by reviewing the characteristics of quality PD programs that…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the implementation of a whole school one-to-one iPod Touch project in a middle school in the southeastern United States. While some focused studies have been undertaken in this new field of learning, there has been little research to date that documents activity within a whole school implementation…

Three experiments examined whether quizzing promotes learning and retention of material from a social studies course with sixth grade students from a suburban middle school. The material used in the experiments was the course material students were to learn and some of the dependent measures were the actual tests on which students received grades.…

Quantitative literacy involves a set of skills necessary to reason about data. Such skills are imperative in our increasingly data-oriented world. Despite the importance of such skills, assessment of quantitative literacy has not been a focus in education and there is a lack of assessment tools that specifically address these skills. This study…

Dynamic features of peer network experiences (membership fluidity and network interconnectedness) were examined for their role in African American and White early adolescents' sense of belonging in mathematics classrooms. Because these dynamic features are naturally present in adolescents' peer group affiliations, attention to them provides a more…

This study is an evaluation of "Exploring Motion and Forces: Speed, Acceleration, and Friction" ("M&F") developed by ARIES of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (2001). Although "M&F" has been used in many schools and field-tested, it has never been evaluated in rigorous experimental or…

Studies like the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) have compared the performance of U.S. middle grade students (i.e., eighth graders) to those in other countries. In relation to middle grade schools, 20 countries outperformed the United States in mathematics and nine countries scored above the U.S. in science. The intent of…

This article describes the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School (PVCICS), a regional public charter school in western Massachusetts, which opened in 2007 and the only Chinese immersion school in New England. The school draws students from over twenty-five towns and cities in a predominantly rural area of Massachusetts that includes the…

Six years ago Project Starship MIR, the Russian language "shuttle," launched at Turnagain Elementary, one of the Anchorage School District's 65 elementary schools. The MIR "peace" mission originated with encouragement from the local business community to prepare students for Alaska's future economic, social and political ties…

This meta-analysis assesses the effectiveness of volunteer tutoring programs for improving the academic skills of students enrolled in public schools Grades K-8 in the United States and further investigates for whom and under what conditions tutoring can be effective. The authors found 21 studies (with 28 different study cohorts in those studies)…

The 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress math scores for eighth-graders show that when socioeconomic status is considered, English-proficient Asian students have no achievement advantage over other ethnic groups. However, Chinese sixth-graders, using abstract reasoning skills, outperformed American students on 12 open-ended math…

This book contains a compilation of papers presented at the International Conference on Education and New Developments (END 2017), organized by the World Institute for Advanced Research and Science (W.I.A.R.S.). Education, in our contemporary world, is a right since we are born. Every experience has a formative effect on the constitution of the…