Curriculum-based professional learning is situated within the broader professional learning ecosystem. It focuses on how to teach a specific subject for specific grades, using the specific materials that teachers will use with their students. Given the potential of curriculum-based professional learning to support teachers and strengthen…

The purpose of this study was to explore school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teacher beliefs about personalized instruction and blended teaching and their experiences with implementing personalized learning within their blended teaching practice. The specific research questions that guided our study were 1) What are SBAE teachers' beliefs…

Promoting Adolescents' Comprehension of Text (PACT) is a text- and discourse-based set of instructional practices that engage students with disciplinary texts as a means of building content knowledge and improving reading comprehension. PACT)s "efficacy" has been the subject of extensive previous trials. The purpose of this study was to…

This Education Leadership Portfolio documents efforts toward improving equity-focused professional development (PD) in the Cape Henlopen School District (CHSD). The strategies utilized in this study are guided by an extensive review of the literature on effective PD, teacher preparation, and theories of self-efficacy. Teachers in CHSD participated…

This Educational Leadership Portfolio (ELP) sought to address the challenge of optimizing handwriting instructional practices and assessment methods for teaching Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) at St. Andrew's School (SAS). SAS is an Episcopal, co-educational boarding school in Middletown, Delaware. With 18 years of experience as the primary…

Sixth-grade science students at Gauger-Cobbs Middle School in Newark, DE, had misconceptions about how heat energy moves in the hydrosphere through conduction, convection, and radiation. As a result, students struggled to develop and connect ideas that correctly and completely explained heat transfer in the hydrosphere at the end of the lesson…

The problem addressed was that academic achievement gaps existed for low socioeconomic status (SES) family special education students among special education students in United States schools. This problem was important because it negatively affected equity in education as low SES community special education students lagged behind more affluent…

Like many universities nationwide, a substantial number of students at Wilmington University (WU) who are placed into remedial mathematics courses do not pass these courses, and consequently, do not earn degrees. The literature on remedial college courses indicates that instruction is one factor that contributes to the challenges students…

Due to barriers to kindergarten readiness, many kindergarten students do not enter kindergarten with the prerequisite skills needed for reading. A number of students do not leave kindergarten with adequate reading skills needed for future success. As a result, students are ill-prepared for first grade and are at risk for future reading failure.…

Developing a positive relationship with mathematics in early elementary is vital for success in future mathematics education. Students who do not develop an understanding of mathematical number sense in early grade levels struggle to make connections in later courses. Mathematical discourse sessions, specifically Number Talks, encourage students…

This article examines the development, delivery, and outcomes of a year-long, collaborative, professional development (PD) program for 33 K-16 world language educators who taught in the State of Delaware. This work was prompted (in part) by Delaware's publication of its World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (Delaware Department of…

Within the context of a school district, Dual Language Immersion program (DLI), I wanted to have an impact on the literacy development for all students, specifically ELs in the DLI program. I identified the coherence between Spanish and English language literacy instruction as an area for improvement. I devised a plan to execute a pilot study. My…

Roughly 50 percent of students participating in the alternate assessment who are pre-symbolic or emergent communicators do not have access to Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). The Systematic Processes for Enhancing and Assessing Communication Supports (SPEACS) Initiative was created more than 6 years ago to address the lack of…

Much research has noted the misalignment between kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) academic standards and curriculum materials used in classrooms. Many states and education organizations have been pushing for greater use of standards-aligned curriculum, especially during the past several years. In this report, the authors share results…

In 1966, as the old county courthouse in Delaware County moved to a new building, there was no easy way to relocate the years of old documents and artifacts that had been collecting dust in the disorganized basement and attic since 1880. The decision was made. Thousands of documents, ledgers, and manuscripts from the founding of the county in 1827…