This article argues that exploration of media coverage of a story like the Boston Marathon bombings, including online comments posted by readers, can support youth in reflecting on and thinking critically about a tragedy while offering opportunities for literacy pedagogy consistent with the goals of the Common Core State Standards for English…

The purpose of this study was to compare elementary classroom teachers' actual practice and perceived importance of English Language Arts professional development in five professional development dimensions: alignment, content and modeling, active learning, collaboration, and follow-up, in high and low mastery, low needs schools. The schools…

The focus of this research was on students' low graduation rate in a New York State high school, investigating a possible correlation between students' longitudinal English Language Arts (ELA) exams and their graduation status. In the 2010-11 school year, 25% of the students at the high school of study failed to graduate, a rate which was 5% lower…

Recent federal policy initiatives are aimed at improving disadvantaged students' access to effective teaching. These efforts, including Race to the Top and the Teacher Incentive Fund, arise from concerns that disadvantaged students are taught by less effective teachers. A growing body of research uses value-added analysis to measure teacher…

With the implementation of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in over forty states, teachers are putting into practice the CCSS text exemplars of text complexity. Of particular concern for the purpose of this research are the kindergarten and first grade (K-1) read aloud and independent text exemplar lists. While not intended as core reading…

The purpose of this research was to explore the impact of school climate on the achievement of third and fourth grade students who are economically disadvantaged in Mathematics and Reading/Language Arts. Students' perception of school climate was studied using the "Tripod Survey" variables of a caring, captivating, and academically…

"A Teacher's Guide to Using the Common Core State Standards With Gifted and Advanced Learners in the English/Language Arts" provides teachers and administrators a blueprint for differentiating the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts for gifted and advanced students through the use of acceleration, depth, complexity, and…

This research study documents and analyzes the experience of teachers who participated in a professional development program to integrate process drama into the teaching of English language arts, social studies, and world languages and cultures. The study addresses and builds upon extant literature in process drama, arts integration, drama…

Many teachers and educational researchers have claimed to adopt tenets of culturally relevant education (CRE). However, recent work describes how standardized curricula and testing have marginalized CRE in educational reform discourses. In this synthesis of research, we sought examples of research connecting CRE to positive student outcomes across…

Executive functioning (EF) is a strong predictor of children's and adolescents' academic performance. Although research indicates that EF can increase during childhood and adolescence, few studies have tracked the effect of EF on academic performance throughout the middle school grades. EF was measured at the end of Grades 6-9 through 21 teachers'…

The Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) at the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL), an affiliate of American Institutes for Research (AIR), publishes a biannual update of college- and career-readiness state standards and assessment resources. It is designed to assist staff in state education agencies (SEAs) and other educators in…

This study examines teachers' initial conceptions of an integrated STEM-PBL approach and their perceptions of what facilitates or hinders implementation in their schools. This study took place within the first year of a three-year STEM Professional Development (PD) program for middle school math, science and English language arts teachers. The two…

In this paper, we report on a longitudinal case study exploring Grade 3 teachers' implementation of iPads in the Language Arts classroom. A school-university partnership was formed based on a collaborative teacher inquiry model. We examined factors that shaped our collaboration. The project resulted in greater teacher sharing of iPad…

This study examined the relationship between observable teacher characteristics and productivity as measured by an increase in student achievement on a standardized test using a value-added approach. This analysis focused on teachers of algebra, geometry, and 11th grade English Language Arts in Arkansas. The authors generated a value-added score…

This technical report is one of five publications from the larger study, "Teaching for a Changing World: The Graduates of Bank Street College of Education." This report documents the influence of Bank Street teacher preparation programs based upon surveys of graduates, surveys of comparison teachers, surveys of employers, and an analysis…