The federal Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP, project strives to equalize low-income students' access to higher education by increasing their participation in rigorous coursework, providing expanded opportunities for low-income students and parents to learn about postsecondary educational opportunities…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of instructional tools to support teachers' incorporation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Literacy experts have developed a framework and a set of templates that teachers and other educators can use to develop content…

Eight teams of elementary and middle school teachers developed pilot online courses for the North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) in the USA. A qualitative case study with focus groups and a follow-up survey helped to identify common needs of these non-traditional course designers during course development efforts. Findings suggest virtual…

Response to intervention (RTI) is a framework for providing interventions and services at increasing levels of intensity until students succeed. The framework helps teachers and schools provide instruction and interventions matched to student needs, monitor progress frequently to guide decisions about changes in instruction or goals, and apply…

A youth community informatics (YCI) research project intersected an inquiry learning model with the making of audiovisual podcasts to foster personal growth and community engagement in a group of Mexican American youth enrolled in an afterschool program. Specifically, the article describes the cycle of inquiry together with the development of a…

Few principals claim to be technology experts. Most aspire to design a map that leads their schools to success with educational technology. However, the key to success on the journey is not knowing everything or becoming a technology expert. It is about asking the right questions, exploring the answers to those questions, and creating a road map…

This article describes Kid-to-Kid, a group discussion program that gives students a strong voice and lets them connect with their peers in an environment where it is safe to be honest, where feelings and thoughts can be expressed without fear of judgment, and where the teacher talks less than the students. Guidelines for starting such a program…

In this article, the author discusses the crucial role that a school principal plays in spearheading environmental education. In the execution of environmental education, the principal is not merely a passive supporter and participant; he should go further to be an initiator. The principal must take the initiative and, using his own ideas and his…

A school or district's technology education program consists of a series of courses that address standards. Recent trends (e.g., No Child Left Behind), administrative pressures to increase student achievement, or the school's desire to align with standards, challenge the technology education teacher to implement new courses into the technology…

Background: The participant role approach represents a view of bullying as a group process in which bystanders often encourage the bullying or silently witness it, while little support is given to the victim (e.g. Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, Bjorkqvist, Osterman, & Kaukiainen, 1996). There is a discrepancy between students' attitudes (which are…

Although reports calling for middle level schooling reform first appeared in the mid-1970s, change has been slow to come. In Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century (1989), the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development outlined eight essential elements of middle level education. Drawing from the Carnegie Council's…

In recent years professional developers have reached a consensus about what constitutes effective professional development, referred to in the literature as "learner-centered professional development." InterMath is a professional development project that was developed to address the recommendations for high quality professional…

This article, the first of a two-part series, introduces the living history program. This yearly, weeklong program features living portrayals of famous people, which becomes a catalyst for teaching curricular standards, as well as providing the spark for inquiry. Here, the authors describe how the yearly living history program was implemented and…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates that "all" students, not just well-behaved and academically motivated students, make academic progress. Unfortunately, about 10% of students with chronic behavior problems make this goal difficult for themselves and others (Sprague & Walker, 2000; Sugai, 2000). The Positive Alternative Learning…

The evaluation of the Texas Rural Technology (R-Tech) Pilot sought to understand how districts implemented R-Tech grants, the effects of implementation on student and teacher outcomes, as well as the cost effectiveness and sustainability of R-Tech. The Texas legislature (80th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2007) authorized the creation of…