In recent decades, research and practice have shown that investing in a positive school-wide social culture is a key component of effective education. Evidence demonstrates that educators and students succeed when students are present, engaged, socially secure, and academically successful. Developed by 2M Research in conjunction with an expert…

In early November 2013, the authors started talking about visiting the Hurley School, a dual-language school in Boston, Massachusetts. The Hurley School had spent considerable time transitioning to the Common Core State Standards on literacy, but little time addressing the shifts in math. They worried that math classes were no longer rigorous…

School-based response to intervention (RTI) teams must gather, organize, chart, and interpret essential instructional information to make effective adjustments to meet the academic needs of struggling learners. Quantified data such as student proficiency scores, rate of progress trends, and achievement gap results provide the foundation for making…

In recent years, the response to intervention (RTI) model has not only gained popularity as an alternate approach to identifying students with learning disabilities but also offered general education teachers a framework for problem solving at the classroom level. The model emphasizes ongoing progress monitoring of student performance to make…

Discusses the place of problem posing in mathematics education. Shares some approaches to implementing problem posing and critiquing in the classroom. (ASK)

Argues that discipline must be conceptualized as a problem solving process that includes problem identification, problem analysis, intervention, and evaluation. Discusses each of these points in detail. (FL)

The article presents seven questions on difficult instructional situations. Each question is followed by one or more responses and one or more typical comments that a person might make to the response. The responses and comments offer suggestions for handling the instructional problems. (Author/MS)

Suggestions are given for maintaining good classroom control including tips on classroom environment, teacher preparation, teacher attitude, teacher-child relationships, child participation, and avoiding and handling problems. (KR)

Inquiry and lecture/lab methods of instruction yield different results in conceptual and problem-solving tests, while no difference exists in factual tests. The author recommends that the inquiry method of teaching be refined so that it can become a practical classroom instructional strategy. (CT)

Electronic games are proposed as a means for encouraging students of French to learn and use the language while solving problems. A computerized card game and mine-removal game are offered as illustration of the language skills and vocabulary that can be developed and the appeal that such exercises can have for students. (MSE)

Sociodrama is presented as a structured, yet flexible, method of encouraging the use of creative thinking to examine a difficult problem. An example illustrates the steps involved in putting sociodrama into action. Production techniques useful in sociodrama include the soliloquy, double, role reversal, magic shop, unity of opposites, and audience…

One third-year clinical clerkship in pediatrics has included Sherlock Holmes mysteries in its introductory curriculum, providing students with a model clinical problem-solving process and a list of issues on which they will need information. The nonclinical cases provide an effective and entertaining vehicle for learning clinical reasoning. (MSE)

Discusses Means-End Critical Analysis of Subject Matter (MECA*SM), a new instructional approach that allows subject matter and critical thinking to be taught simultaneously through the use of Socratic questioning and systematic problem solving. (DMM)

A seven-step instructional modification process was devised to match adaptations to individual needs of students with mild disabilities. The steps include clarification of elements under teacher control; decision about whether or not a problem exists; selection and grouping of modifications; and selection of modification option and implementation.…

School systems face the challenge of effectively and efficiently addressing the disciplinary needs of their students and providing a safe environment conducive to learning. The 1997 and 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates the use of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) for students who, because…