Many studies have shown that students lose some of what they learn during the school year over the summer months. Because the author strongly feels that his students need to keep working at their technical skills year-round, he encourages them to keep active with school-related activities until they return in the fall. In this article, the author…

The practice of mixing grade levels in school settings is increasing (Nishida, 2009) and one third of classrooms worldwide already combine two or more grade levels (Cornish, 2006a). However, many teachers are assigned such mixed-grade groupings without training, and there is some evidence that this may be particularly true for art teachers…

Kathleen Riley begins this article by providing quotes from James H. Lytle, and Anissa Weinraub, which were published in "Perspectives on Urban Education" in the summer of 2013. While they hold different professional positions (Lytle is a retired administrator and professor; Weinraub is a teacher and organizer), both wrote as…

This report summarizes results from a survey given to rising 5th grade students who attended AISD's science summer camp in 2013 at two elementary campuses: Pleasant Hill and Campbell. Students were surveyed about their attitudes toward science at the beginning of the summer camp and again at the end of the camp to learn whether students'…

This section offers a compilation of 16 extended abstracts summarizing research of the doctoral students who participated in the Second Learning Analytics Summer Institute (LASI 2014) held at Harvard University in July 2014. The abstracts highlight the motivation, main goals and expected contributions to the field from the ongoing learning…

New England's long winter and seemingly interminable wait for spring has this author thinking about what colleges could do with their campuses during the summer. The options are almost infinite, although the cost-benefit analysis clearly varies. For some students, being on campus in the summer is preferable to going home, where the environments…

Schools and teachers are looking for innovative ways to teach the "big ideas" emerging in the core curricula, especially in STEAM fields (science technology, engineering, arts and math). As a result, learning environments that support digital learning and educational technology on various platforms and devices are taking on…

The athletic/academic paradox for black males is historically rooted in rank-and-file notions of black people primarily as workers rather than thinkers. Policymakers, educators, and administrators should think more deeply about how societal perceptions of black males as "natural" athletes, rather than intelligent students adversely influences how…

In this article, the author talks about a summer program at the African American Adolescent Male Summer Literacy Institute which aims to improve literacy skills of black male teens. The African American Adolescent Male Summer Literacy Institute is now in its fourth year at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC). Alfred Tatum, director of the…

Why did you decide on science as a career? For many, it was the inspiration of a mentor or model--an explorer who could communicate excitement and a sense of adventure to others. During the school year, teachers take on that role of motivator for students. But as they recharge over summer break, it is great to treat themselves again to the stories…

Elementary students find it difficult to connect the apparent motion of objects in the sky with how celestial objects actually move in the solar system. As a university astronomy education researcher, the author has been investigating methods to help children learn astronomy through workshops and summer camps at science museums and planetariums.…

Teachers who participated in a recent summer institute focused on implementing the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM). Throughout the summer institute, teachers had many in-depth discussions about the meanings they attributed to the Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMPs). In this article, the authors share some of the…

Since the summer of 2006, the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex, has invited secondary students to participate in their summer SEED program on campus. The program was developed by the Dean of the School of Architecture and the Chair of the Art + Art History Department. SEED (Strategies, Events, Episodes +…

Renewable energy is the most rapidly growing discipline in today's business world and is commonly viewed as the main arena for research and development in various fields. This article summarizes the work and efforts of an educational project conducted at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU). A major goal of the project was to design renewable…

At the inaugural conference of the American Re-ED Association in Nashville nearly 30 years ago--where this author had the first opportunity to interface with teacher-counselors from across the country--two very powerful notions became clear. One was that the participants all possessed vitality and love of fun, a quality Nicholas Hobbs called…