A common concern in teacher education programs is the fragmentation of knowledge between courses that contribute to separation between discipline-focused theoretical knowledge and teachers' practical work in schools. Drawing on reviews on innovative learning spaces in schools and analysis of teacher knowledge, we theorize a conceptualization of…

Appeals to reform science education by policy makers are not new phenomena. To be sure, while science reform efforts have been ongoing occurrences for nearly six decades, perpetual educational reform efforts as a whole have been evolving and gaining momentum in number for more than a century. The general motivation for continual reform appears to…

Following the release of the Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP) in 2011, many institutions of various types tried out different ways to use the DQP. Although over 680 institutions have used the DQP to date, until now the impact of the DQP on institutions and students has not been documented in a systematic manner. To determine the effects of DQP…

Many schools find systemic reform difficult to implement as there are many factors and stakeholders who may hinder this initiative. This case study looks into systemic reform process in a higher education institution through policy document analysis and participant observation. It also reports the process of aligning the vision, standards, and…

This study explored the experiences of mathematics teachers as they examined recommendations for "Reasoning and Sense Making" (NCTM, 2009) and investigated them in their practice through action research. Narrative inquiry was used to capture the ways that teachers conceptualized the curricular recommendations, the actions teachers took…

This study examined high school marketing education teachers' knowledge of workplace readiness skills and whether that knowledge had an impact on student workplace readiness skill achievement. Further, this study examined the usage of Virginia's 13 Workplace Readiness Skills curriculum and identified the teaching methods and instructional…

Since the article "Beyond Instructional Design: Making Learning Design a Reality" (Sims, 2006) was published, much has changed in the opportunities we have for learning, and Professor Rod Sims's thinking has evolved. In this article, Professor Rod Sims reflects upon his original article, and he offers an evolved model of learning design,…

This resource is part of a series produced by the Center for Standards and Assessment Implementation (CSAI) to assist educators as they use College and Career Ready Standards (CCRS) to plan instruction for diverse learners. Although the processes described in this resource use the Common Core State Standards (CCSS; National Governors Association…

Writing instruction is central to the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. It is embedded across all curricula. Under the Common Core guidelines, students must produce writing that includes not only narrative and literary responses as part of the language arts curriculum but also argumentative and informative/explanatory texts in…

State and local education leaders implementing new college- and career-ready standards (CCRS), next-generation assessments and updated educator evaluation and support systems are turning attention to cohesion--or integration--of these three reforms as a top priority for supporting educators and for increasing the number of students graduating high…

Curriculum alignment research has developed showing the relationship among three alignment categories: the taught curriculum, the tested curriculum and the written curriculum. Each pair (for example, the taught and the written curriculum) shows a positive impact for aligning those results. Following this, alignment results from the Third…

This study aimed to determine the efficacy of a content acquisition and reading comprehension treatment implemented by eighth-grade social studies teachers. Using a within-teacher design, the eighth-grade teachers' social studies classes were randomly assigned to treatment or comparison conditions. Teachers (n = 5) taught the same instructional…

This work highlights a heuristic model for professional learning while examining the implementation of a reform initiative. The researchers used longitudinal data collected from surveys to develop and fit a model of professional learning where patterns of interaction among teachers changed the discussion about English learner instruction. Data…

Investigating the content presented at annual national conferences is regarded by many as a valid means for revealing patterns within a given professional organization concerning their interests, issues, concerns, priorities, and research foci, which collectively present an opportunity to provide future direction for the organization. As a result,…

Evolution education in the US is conducted unevenly, or in cases is absent. Showing the strength of ethnography as a means of deeper explication in science education, this article explores the interactions of policy and practice in evolution education. Discussing vignettes from a larger ethnographic study, Creationist rationales and practices…