At the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UH Manoa), the journey toward Culturally responsive and Equity-minded Assessment (CEA) has been grounded in a guiding belief: that lasting change is driven by both structural supports and leaders of change. CEA practice requires faculty and staff to be very thoughtful, intentional, and critical in the…

A significant movement is underway across the nation to design K-12 assessment systems that better equip stakeholders to provide an equitable and excellent education to each child. While some of these innovations emerged before the pandemic, the massive disruption to instruction fueled a new urgency to rethink the potential of assessments to drive…

The main problem for teachers working with students who have various disadvantages is that many of them lack extrinsic motivation and they can get discouraged very easily as they hate feeling less capable than their peers. As a film enthusiast, the author appllied and won an Education Innovation Teacher Challenge grant to run a film-related…

This brief from the Region 19 Comprehensive Center describes universally effective teaching practices and demonstrates how a school faculty might choose and adapt strategies and actions to fit the specific needs and dreams of their students. The authors suggest how faculties in four distinct Pacific region communities might utilize a continuous…

In this paper, we describe a study of cosmic ray muon rates and energies at various elevations on Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii. The study was originally conceived as an extension to the upper-division modern physics laboratory at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and used the TeachSpin Muon Physics apparatus (abbreviated TSMP below) from that…

The purpose of this paper is to describe a three-year limited-run offer of an energy science certificate in the University of Hawaii at Hilo campus, along with lessons learned that can be of use to other institutions considering comparable programs. Energy science is a loosely defined discipline that traditionally straddles physics and mechanical,…

While project-based learning can be traced back to centuries-old theory, new research shows how it is linked to a variety of efforts for change in innovative schools.

In this commentary, we describe the English language placement adaptations we were required to make due to the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic. It includes a brief description of our placement test battery which was adapted to address our institution's move to a remote teaching/learning mode. A discussion of the major challenges we experienced, their…

For centuries, Native Hawaiians, like other Indigenous and historically oppressed communities, have been studied by Western researchers whose claims, until recently, have been accepted without question and in many instances have led to Native Hawaiians' continued oppression. However, now that growing numbers of Native Hawaiians and individuals…

The concept of Funds of Identity (FOI) comes from a theory of learning that emphasizes the importance of recognizing and using students' cultural, linguistic, and personal backgrounds to enhance their educational experiences. FOI is like a "toolbox" of resources that people gather over time. These resources are shaped by historical,…

In this paper I share my understandings of an elective outdoor environmental education course, a significant component of which was a field school. I helped develop this course at the Canadian university where I work as an academic, with the field school conducted on the island of Kaua'i in Hawaii. The paper describes the university field school…

Arts education has no firm place in Hawaii's public school system. Even the Board of Education plan and the State Department of Education's plans differ in how they refer to and make recommendations about the place or purpose of arts education. This article reviews examples of competing policy to suggest how arts-integrated style teaching could…

The intent of this paper was to outline a field endeavor that encourages increased insight into important geographic themes pertaining to the Big Island of Hawai'i. Student participants in this field course come away with an enhanced comprehension and appreciation of the benefits associated with learning to incorporate geographical perspectives as…

The discretion provided to states under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offers new possibilities for policymakers to determine how best to allocate resources and support policies to provide students with a well-rounded education. As states begin to examine new strategies for improving student outcomes and developing the next generation of…

The "flipped classroom" has gained in popularity as a new way to structure teaching in which lectures shift from in-class events to digitally-based homework, freeing up class time for practice exercises and discussion. However, critics note such a teaching strategy continues emphasis on the less effective techniques of the lecture as…