Poverty is a topic that can cause significant discomfort, especially when the issue is broached among educators. Some educators immediately began to make assumptions about what students of poverty can and cannot achieve. Researchers (Caldas & Bankston, 1997; Grinion, 1999) have proven there are strong connections between a child's…

This study identified Masters of School Administration (MSA) students' knowledge and understanding of poverty and homelessness in schools and sought to increase leadership capacity to mitigate issues of homelessness and poverty in schools. This study provided targeted instruction, an opportunity for school leaders to engage in self-assessment and…

Research into the effectiveness of video as a tool to educate students about environmental issues and cause a change in their attitudes toward them in a classroom setting is limited. We sought to add to this sparse body of research. We created three videos that showcased a species in a different stage of protection under the Endangered Species…

This article describes a scavenger hunt for Business Law students. Specifically, students compete in this scavenger hunt to identify accessible design features on campus to undergird their study of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Title III of the ADA prohibits public accommodations from discriminating on the basis of…

Financial literacy, or understanding how money is made, spent, and saved in order to make informed decisions, is particularly important during the transition to and through college. Students who have a deeper understanding of finances and how they work are better positioned to make decisions regarding the college or university they attend, what to…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of integrating culturally responsive instruction (CRI) into a course hosted by the school of education at a higher education institution. The study participants were pre-service teachers who completed a pre-course survey and a post-course survey designed to discern their views on the factors…

What we choose to assess in science is what will end up being the focus of instruction. US science standards once treated content and inquiry as fairly separate strands of science learning, with content standards stating what students should know and inquiry standards stating what they should be able to do. In its content coverage, these standards…

An increasing number of students with disabilities have enrolled in colleges and universities across the United States since 1973, largely due to the opportunities provided by the passage of disability laws that mandate accommodations be provided to students with documented disabilities (Rao, 2004, p. 19). However many faculty members, although…

Response to Intervention (RtI) has been widely accepted by many school districts in the United States as an instructional method that can be used to consistently decrease learning gaps and ultimately enhance learning for all students. Though implementation of RtI as an instructional method has not been legally mandated, many school districts have…

In the United States courses on civics or government are often marginalized in most states' social studies curricula in favor of courses in United States or world history. The origins of this history-dominated approach have roots in the debates between the American Historical Association and the National Education Association at the turn of the…

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Coaching Teachers Boosts Student Reading:…

With increasing numbers of students with disabilities entering postsecondary education, it is important to teach students with disabilities their rights and responsibilities governed by civil rights acts (i.e., Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Americans With Disabilities Act) for requesting accommodations in postsecondary education.…

This article demonstrates an approach for teachers to use outcomes from activities using the universal design for learning expression principle to evaluate student knowledge in content areas. Based on the student's level of explanation using a variety of expression methods, teachers can determine whether students need additional support for…

According to Birchak, Connor, Crawford, Kahn, Kaser, Turner, & Short (1998), Fang, Fu, & Lamme (2004), Kennedy & Sheil (2010), and Wiliam (2008), teacher study groups can provide a supportive and collaborative professional development environment. The purpose of this study was to examine the professional development experiences of…

Scores on state tests have increased consistently and significantly in the five years since the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) became law, and there's some evidence that gains that started in the 1990s accelerated after the law's enactment, a new report concludes. The authors of the report, which was set for release this week, are quick to say…