In Utah, public education is a community endeavor. It is shaped by the dedication and service of teachers, the curiosity of children, the commitment of families, and the support of policymakers and partners. This annual report reflects the collective effort that makes Utah's education system unique. The data and stories within shows the challenges…

All Catholic schools face difficulties of one kind or another, some self-made, some inherited. The rise and fall of new school models over the past 15 years remind us that there are no silver bullets to mend these challenges. Instead there are seeds, carefully selected and properly placed, tended and tethered as seedlings, taking root and…

Courtney Loynachan was a student in Dr. Lindquist's summer 2014 "Teaching Science in the Elementary School" methods course at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The course included an exploration of the power of writing as a learning tool for science with a particular focus on the use of science notebooks. Throughout the…

This brief provides an overview of three federal laws that address native-language education and illustrates how these federal laws produce different results when coupled with state laws and other regional circumstances. For the purposes of this brief, native-language education refers to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians and…

The globalization of economies, the digitization of work, pressing health and security issues, and changing demographics have dramatically changed our world. Unlike previous generations, U.S. high school graduates will routinely buy from the world, sell to the world, work for international companies, manage employees from other cultures and…

Magnet schools have developed strong national and local constituencies among parents and educators, who see them as vehicles for bringing equity and academic excellence to all students. Typically, these schools offer innovative programs through a specialized focus or theme. They may emphasize subjects like science or the arts, or they may adopt…

This article reports a study of parental motivation, attitudes, support, and commitment for the second year of the two-way immersion (TWI) program at an elementary school in San Bernardino, California. Findings include the unique aspects of border communities; similarities and differences between Spanish-language and English-language participants;…

The two-way bilingual language arts portfolio was designed to help teachers, administrators, parents, and others understand the level of language arts development of students in the two-way bilingual program. It was originally conceived as a method of student assessment, to substantiate teachers' observations that students were making significant…

In 1998, passage of Proposition 227 virtually eliminated bilingual education programs and called for instruction overwhelmingly in English. However, diverse student populations require diverse instructional approaches. Standards-based reform aids only students who can fully understand and assimilate high academic content. Constructivists value…

A successful collaboration resulted in a researcher and a teacher linking professional development with change in small-group reading instruction and student achievement. The context was a two-way Spanish-English bilingual immersion first-grade classroom with many English language learners (ELLs), located in a low-performing, high-poverty school.…