Both of us were drawn into the writing assessment field initially through our lived experiences as schoolteachers. We worked in radically different contexts -- Martin was head of a languages department and teacher of French and German in the late 1990s in the UK, and David was a Grade 12 teacher of Academic English in Alberta, Canada, at the turn…

The focus of this qualitative study is upon 15 Grade 12 students situated in an English Communications (ECM) classroom in rural Nova Scotia and the impact a daily classroom circle had upon their academic engagement. ECM is intended for students who may require further support to develop their skills as readers, writers, and language users as they…

What resources do students draw on to produce literary theory in the contemporary high school English classroom? This interactional sociolinguistic study traces the production and distribution of Lexical, Structural, and Thematic resources across genre chains in reading, writing, and discussing literary theory during an intensive 3-week short…

This article aims to explore how social studies teachers understand their role in the delivery of course content. Drawing on data from an interpretive study completed as part of a Master of Education degree, the article investigates how social studies teachers understand their personal ideology as it relates to their teaching, navigate the…

What is at stake in high school philosophy education, and why? Why is it a good idea to teach philosophy at this level? This essay seeks to address some issues that arose in revising the Ontario grade 12 philosophy curriculum documents, significant insights from philosophy teacher education, and some early results of recent research funded by the…

Many students in the United States, Canada, and around the world are required to take externally developed examinations. In many cases, these examinations are considered high stakes, and thus teachers spend time in class ensuring that their students are ready for the tests. After speaking with secondary math teachers about their experiences, the…

Over the years that I have taken secondary school students to the theatre, the the digital revolution has moved through schools, classrooms, and even theatres, calling into question my goal of contributing positively to students' identity formation through exposure to live plays. Responding to calls to examine the ways in which young people's…

The purpose of this paper is to identify motivators that support educational success, as perceived by Aboriginal high school students enrolled in two urban Saskatchewan schools. Twelve semi-structured individual interviews revealed that students were motivated by a hospitable school culture, relevant learning opportunities, and positive personal…

Studies incorporating technology into the teaching of trigonometry, although sparse, have demonstrated positive effects on student achievement. The optimal sequence for integrating technology with teacher-led mathematics instruction has not been determined. Our research investigated whether technology has a greater impact on student achievement…

This article focuses on the experiences of Grade 12 students using a language portfolio based on the principles and guidelines of the European Language Portfolio (ELP) in their second language classes in a large urban high school. As part of a larger action-research project, focus group interviews were conducted to gather data related to…

As classrooms become more diverse, not only in North America, but in most Western Countries, calls for more culturally relevant pedagogies that centre the lived experiences of diverse students have taken on greater importance and significance. This is in response to the need for increased engagement and educational success for all learners. I…

This qualitative study analyzed grade 12 biology students' answers to written extended-response questions that describe hypothetical scenarios of animals' evolution. We investigated whether these type of questions are suitable for students (n = 24) to express a meaningful understanding of evolutionary theory. Meaningful understanding is comprised…

The second segment of a two-part general report of a province-wide reading assessment program in British Columbia, this report presents the results of two teacher surveys, one dealing with the desired objectives of secondary reading instruction and the other concerning the methodology of instruction throughout the province. The chapters of the…

This document is a curriculum guide to a world geography course for grade 12 students in Manitoba, Canada. Following an overview of the course, the guide presents information about the six units that comprise the course. The units are: (1) World geography overview; (2) World population: characteristics, distribution, and growth; (3) World food…

Describes a teaching unit, 5 class periods in length, for students grades 10-12. Deals with the context of the Alaska Boundary Dispute of 1903. Presents the cause of the dispute, its resolution, and the repercussions. (DB)