A public Montessori school is expected to demonstrate high student scores on standardized assessments to succeed in the current school accountability era. A problem for a public Montessori elementary school is how to make sense of the school's high-stakes assessment scores in terms of Montessori's unique educational approach. This case study…

This article proposes combining dual language programs with integrated collaborative teaching classrooms since both English language learners and special education students use many of the same teaching strategies and because there is a growing culturally and linguistically diverse population and shortage of bilingual special educators. Literature…

Self-determination is the freedom to make choices that impact an individual's life. Many people would agree that self-determination leads to an enhanced quality of life, and choice making is considered a central element in self-determination. Most learn choice making through a gradual release of responsibility by caregivers throughout their…

Background: Many innovative teaching strategies have been developed under the assumption that documenting successful student learning outcomes at the development site is enough to spread the innovation successfully to secondary sites. Since this 'show them and they will adopt' model has yet to produce the desired large-scale transformation, this…

Social media has become a way of life. Society has become very connected, yet the classroom still remains quite isolated, from other teachers, students, experts, parents, the community, and a host of others who could potentially enhance learning. There are a number of different ways by which schools and teachers could open their classrooms to the…

A survey administered in the spring of 2013 by the Center on Education Policy (CEP) inquired into the implementation of Common Core State Standards at that time. Based on self-reports by state officials, the survey found that curricula aligned to the common core were already being taught in at least some districts or grade levels. All states…

This action research was to answer the pedagogical question: How effective can a branching story approach be as a motivational tool for elementary reading instruction? A branching story was created with hyperlinks built into a Powerpoint story. The young readers could interact with options at different turning points of the story, which activated…

Scaling of evidence-based practices in education has received extensive discussion but little empirical evaluation. We present here a descriptive summary of the experience from seven states with a history of implementing and scaling School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) over the past decade. Each state has been…

Computer-assisted learning is an approach which has been used widely to support people with autism spectrum disorders. Commercial and research-driven technologies continue to be produced at a rapid rate, particularly mobile device applications. However, the field lacks a consistent, evidence-based methodology for design, implementation and…

Purpose: The environment of public health practice is rapidly changing, creating the need to adapt graduate education and accelerate educational innovation. Formative peer review is a strategy designed to promote critical reflection on teaching and to develop faculty as teachers. Through case study methods, we explore how peer review of teaching…

The purpose of this research was to study primary science students' conceptual development as it related to their understanding of materials and their properties: in particular, to determine how and why some students changed their concepts while others did not. The participants were thirty-two Grade 5 (10-11 year old) students. An instructional…

Focus groups were convened in 2005 and 2013 as the first step in successive MPA curriculum review and revision processes. Although the criteria for selecting participants and the questions posed to the groups were similar, the focus groups generated dramatically different perspectives regarding the challenges confronting administrators. An…

Recent international education trends have witnessed a widespread push for promoting Western-originating "learner-centred" approaches, often without adequately considering the challenges involved in crossing cultures. Like many developing countries, India has been attempting to bring a paradigm shift from "teacher-centred" to…

This paper reports on a design-based intervention in urban primary and secondary schools serving culturally diverse students from low socio-economic status (SES) communities. The intervention capitalises on a partially implemented programme in seven schools which use digital devices (netbooks) and applications to raise literacy levels. Learning…

Background: An intervention was designed that combined physical activity with learning activities. It was based upon evidence for positive effects of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on academic achievement. The aim of this study was to describe the program implementation and effects on academic achievement after 1?year. Methods:…