Context: In 2005-06, Denver became one of the first U.S. districts to implement a pay-for-performance (PFP) compensation system, and Denver's ProComp is now the longest-running PFP policy in the country. The national proliferation of PFP systems in education has been controversial, with mixed evidence and competing narratives about its impacts.…

Coherence among components of an instructional system is key to changing teachers' instructional practices in standards-based reforms. Coherence involves working across traditional silos--or system components (e.g., curriculum, professional learning, assessment)--to integrate components to avoid fragmentation of experiences for educators and…

In this article, the authors explore multimodal literacies and how they use literacy contracts and quadrants to help students to examine their identities via writing and the creative arts. A notable outcome of their joint efforts is that when teachers and students transacted with multimodal literacies, they showed value for their personal and…

In this month's interview, Kappan's editor talks with high school English teacher and researcher Lisa Scherff about the ongoing struggle over who gets to define the English language arts curriculum. Dating back to the creation of the subject area, more than a century ago, classroom teachers have advocated for a varied course of study that helps…

China's rising economy has increased the popularity of learning the Chinese language. Chinese immersion programs have gained popularity in K-12 education, particularly for younger learners. However, research on the optimal instruction design for Chinese and English biliteracy development in one-way Chinese immersion programs is scarce. This…

When schools in Arkansas and most of the country shut their physical doors and moved to remote instruction in March 2020, Rachel Evans, Christian Goering, and Seth French planned to engage in a multifaceted experience that bridged personal narrative writing, songwriting, and podcasting. Undaunted by the shutdown, they offered Evans' ninth-grade…

Three preK-6 U.S. university methods instructors-researchers (literacy, science, social studies) joined 17 Title I school teachers for collaborative lesson planning and teaching within the preK-5 school setting. Each team's goal was to create and teach interdisciplinary curriculum units using U.S. English language arts Common Core State Standards…

This program evaluation examined the perceptions of secondary Teacher Development Specialists (TDS) regarding their coaching competencies in English language arts (ELA), mathematics, science, social studies, literacy, and instructional technology. Moreover, the study assessed the extent secondary TDS' coaching practices improved teachers'…

Textbooks are major organizers of Arabic language instruction in most Arab countries (Faour, 2012). Textbooks approved by ministries of education have traditionally guided teaching of content knowledge, skills, and values to be taught at each grade level (Faour, 2012; Sabella, 2014; Taha-Thomure, 2008). This research is a foundation study into the…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for ELA/Literacy, and the standardized assessments that test students on these standards, focus on students' ability to navigate online text and require students to comprehend, analyze, and make inferences about complex texts in both print and digital format. While the ability to read digital text with a high…

Although research indicates that conditions for effective technology integration appear to be in place, teachers still face challenges in adapting their instruction to new technologies. As more technology is integrated, the added value for students will depend on how effectively a teacher integrates technology. Given that technology may not be…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational research was to examine the extent to which teachers' perceptions of their administrators' instructional leadership and academic press correlated with student achievement in 34 elementary schools in Maricopa County, Arizona. The theoretical foundations of the study were expectancy theory and…

This study will examine and review the effectiveness of having a special education, resource teacher present in the classroom during Mathematics and Language Arts Literacy. In the state of New Jersey, students are issued a state assessment in the content area of Mathematics and Language Arts Literacy, and having a resource teacher present for…

This article compares developmental kindergartens of the past to current academic kindergartens through the voices of kindergarten teachers who taught in both types. Data were obtained from interviews of ten public school kindergarten teachers from California with experience in kindergarten ranging 18-34 years (M = 24). Teachers indicated that…

A widespread instructional practice in the teaching of argumentative writing is the use of writing samples or models during instructional conversations about what counts as "good argumentative writing." In this article, we focus on a set of lessons in a high school English language arts classroom in order to gain insight into how a…