Teacher preparation programs have been slow to answer calls to prepare teachers for the online learning environment, leaving many online teachers needing to learn on the job. However, little research has examined how online teachers grow as educators while teaching online. One way to better understand this growth is to examine the changes online…

In this paper, we investigate the potential and conditions for using curriculum adaptation to support reform of science teaching and learning. With each wave of reform in science education, curriculum has played a central role and the contemporary wave focused on implementation of the principles and vision of the "Framework for K-12 Science…

Through ongoing rapid-fire changes in the nature of communications, the social, professional, and political landscapes of our time are rapidly transforming. But the prevailing paradigm in most schools and school systems is a relic of the industrial revolution. Schools and school systems must adopt a new paradigm for learning if they are to remain…

In this article, the authors introduce engineering and technology teachers to the process that led to the National Research Council's framework for K-12 science education and some of its content and delve into the dimensions of the framework that should be of most interest to engineering and technology teachers. The framework articulates a vision…

The alignment of instruction with the content of standards and assessments is the key mediating variable separating the policy of standards-based reform (SBR) from the outcome of improved student achievement. Few studies have investigated SBR's effects on instructional alignment, and most have serious methodological limitations. This research uses…

This study explored how teachers and school administrators connect large-scale assessment results with school improvement planning. Using a semi-structured format, 20 teachers and 17 administrators were interviewed from two school districts in southern Ontario, Canada. The interview protocol contained a range of questions related to teaching and…

The research evidence suggests that strong instructional leaders greatly can impact teaching and learning. There also is increasing recognition that instructional coaches can play an effective role in improving classroom-level practices. A natural way for school leaders to take on the role of instructional leader is to serve as a "chief" coach for…

The current nation-wide reform of Chinese primary and secondary education prompted an empirical research project, "An empirical investigation of in-service English teachers in primary and secondary schools and a study of a pre-service language teacher education program", conducted at Baoding, China. This project is considered as…

The leadership of Qatar has a social and political vision that calls for improving the outcomes of the Qatari K-12 education system. With this vision in mind, the leadership asked RAND to examine Qatar's K-12 education system, to recommend options for building a world-class system, and, subsequently, to develop the chosen option and support its…

Discusses the process involved in curriculum changes. Describes the limiting factors that principals inherit. Outlines the successful use of the "contagion model" in implementing a mastery learning program as a curricular change in intermediate schools. (MD)

If the intellectual norms and values embedded in the mathematics education reform movement are to move beyond individual classrooms and significantly influence entire schools and districts, school and district administrators will need to become centrally rather than peripherally involved. This paper discusses the way in which administrators' ideas…

Discusses instructional design and the classroom teacher. Highlights include the impact of calls for school reform; teaching as an art versus a science; teacher planning versus instructional design; achieving reform through patching versus rebuilding; and the need to have a closer working relationship between teachers and instructional designers.…

Considers the role of states in implementing educational reform efforts. The Instructional Systems Development (ISD) approach to designing learner-centered instruction is explained; and Project IMPACT (Instructional Management by Parents, Community, and Teachers), an early application of this approach, is described. Educational improvement efforts…

The Upside Down Tree Design (UDT) shows how teachers can use curriculum planning to improve academic standards. UDT employs the "design down" approach, where the design of the curriculum is arranged down from the general to the specific, but the delivery of the curriculum is presented up from specific to the general. The text explores…

"New Things Considered" reports on emerging trends and issues in education to policymakers and participants in SEDL-SCAN, an emerging issues tracking system being pilot tested by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory's Policy Information Service and the State of New Mexico. This issue presents brief summaries of the thinking…