The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of TSI in teaching reading comprehension to a diverse group of second graders. The diversity included various levels of readiness in reading, language status such as English learners and native speakers of English, and various levels of participation by children in a whole-class setting.…

In recent years, an increasing number of analyses in Learning Analytics and Educational Data Mining (EDM) have adopted a "Discovery with Models" approach, where an existing model is used as a key component in a new EDM/analytics analysis. This article presents a theoretical discussion on the emergence of discovery with models, its…

Why do some students go above and beyond what is asked of them while others do just enough to get by? This "Focus On" debunks common underachievement myths (such as "some students aren't capable of learning" or "underachievers are lazy") and looks at ways to create a motivating classroom by providing teachers with effective strategies for engaging…

Robotic toys present unique opportunities for teachers of young children to integrate mathematics learning with engaging problem-solving tasks. This article describes a series of tasks using Bee-bots and Pro-bots, developed as part a larger project examining young children's use of robotic toys as tools in developing mathematical and metacognitive…

Improving the success of academically underprepared students who are in need of developmental (or remedial) education is a key challenge facing community colleges today. Many of these students enter college with little awareness of these institutions' expectations or a clear model for how to make effective decisions about their academic careers.…

This is the fourth in a series of six papers from the Center on Education Policy exploring issues related to students' motivation to learn. This paper examines findings from research about the impact of various family background and cultural factors on student motivation, as well as the role of parental beliefs, attitudes, and actions in fostering…

Alarming statistics report that middle school students are not reading as much as they should be reading. This study is an examination of two interventions that were incorporated into the regular curriculum to determine if these two reading interventions would encourage this researcher's students to read more. The "Nation's Report Card"…

Developing curriculum and instruction for mathematics education and designing technologically enhanced learning environments are often pursued separately, but may need to be addressed together to effectively link the strengths of technology to performance in mathematics and conceptual understanding. This paper addresses current challenges with…

Could you use a superhero to teach reading, writing, critical thinking, and problem solving? While seeking the answer, secondary language arts teacher Maureen Bakis discovered a powerful pedagogy that teaches those skills and more. The amazingly successful results prompted her to write this practical guide that shows middle and high school…

This study investigated the impact of content-based language instruction (CBLI) on EFL young learners' motivated behaviours, namely attention, engagement, and eager volunteering, and classroom verbal interaction. Situational factors play vital roles in shaping language learners' motivation particularly in EFL contexts. While many private schools…

This case study examined a middle school where a new administration had made school-wide reading an immediate and significant priority. The study investigated how and why the culture shift to schoolwide reading appeared to influence student engagement. Existing research suggested that students must feel motivated about their learning to be…

Background: In 2005, Wallhead and O'Sullivan presented a review of research on the Sport Education model. In that review, the authors identified certain strengths of the model (particularly persistent team membership) in facilitating student engagement within student-centered learning tasks. Other areas (such as student leadership skills) were…

Seeking to increase conceptual understanding by sustaining adolescents' engagement and interest in secondary science classrooms, an intervention, the Engagement Model of Academic Literacy for Learning (EngageALL), was designed to implement a disciplinary literacy approach and organize instruction according to characteristics of student interest…

In a nationwide survey of high school dropouts conducted in 2006, 69 percent said that school had not motivated or inspired them to work hard. The majority of educational reforms have focused on curriculum and pedagogy--what material is taught and how it is taught. However, psychological factors--often called motivational or non-cognitive…

Pedagogical approaches that incorporate learning technologies into lessons and coursework have had promising results in relation to students' motivation to learn. Tablet PCs have been identified as one form of instructional technology that can facilitate learning among engineering undergraduates since this medium allows for drawing on the computer…