Writing needs to be taught, not assigned, but teaching writing well within a 43-minute period is a daunting task. This article describes how three 8th-grade teachers implemented a unit of study approach to teaching memoir writing in their language arts classes. Teacher and student decision making are highlighted in this inquiry process. ["Teaching…

The Thinking with Data project (TWD) expands on current notions of data literacy by (1) focusing on proportional reasoning as key to data literacy and (2) leveraging the non-mathematics disciplines to engage students in deep thinking about the context of data and the application of proportionality. A set of four 2-week, sequential modules for…

Addressing the unique needs of children of all ages and abilities, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is gaining momentum in schools and preschools around the nation and the globe. This article explores Universal Design for Learning and its promising applications to a variety of reading and language arts experiences in the Early Childhood…

The Daily 5 and CAFE were born out of The Sister's research and observations of instructional mentors, their intense desire to be able to deliver highly intentional, focused instruction to small groups and individuals while the rest of the class was engaged in truly authentic reading and writing, and their understanding that a one size fits all…

For over 30 years, the Department has published the Annual Condition of Education (COE) report in order to provide education stakeholders quality information about the status of Iowa's education system. The 2020 COE covers a wide variety of content from information about Iowa's students, schools, educators, administrators, performance and school…

In 2007 Georgia instituted a flexibility policy through which school districts enter into performance contracts with the state, receiving waivers from state rules, provisions, and guidelines in exchange for agreeing to meet annual accountability targets. The performance contracts are intended to incentivize innovations that increase achievement…

These are the appendixes for the report, "District Changes in Student Achievement and Local Practice under Georgia's District and School Flexibility Policy." Five appendixes are included in the document: (1) About the study; (2) Data and methods; (3) Supporting analysis; (4) Survey instrument; and (5) Interview protocol. [For the full…

How might a tertiary English teacher use Garth Boomer's ideas on "teaching against the grain" to challenge the rules and assumptions that dominate the Academic Language and Learning (ALL) industry in the university sector today? How might such a teacher use Boomer's ideas to enact "emancipatory pedagogies" (or something like…

This purpose of the study was to determine the effects of teachers using the Question Exploration Routine (QER) in regularly scheduled secondary-level English Language Arts classes to help students answer questions about the development and use of main ideas in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." Questions were posed in both…

The implementation of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts affords school librarians and their planning committees an opportunity to reinvigorate their roles in the school as curators of the school library collection, innovators in the use of instructional technology, and leaders in instructional planning. By focusing on these…

We examined middle years adolescents' (ages 12-13) responses to reading and viewing advertisements as part of integrated language arts and health education lessons. We report here on the qualitative results from student and teacher focus groups, and from student journals. Three regular classroom teachers co-developed (with university…

During a 10-week classroom-based study, 20 fourth grade students participated in a number of interdependent activities that focused on developing their visual meaning-making skills and competencies. As well as reading, responding in writing to and discussing a selection of picturebooks, graphic novels, and magazines, the students created graphic…

With tightening school budgets and continued emphasis on core subject standardized testing, physical education often takes a backseat to academic areas that school administrators deem more important. Much time is spent using improvement strategies in the classroom that do not involve exercise. Two hundred eighty-five sixth to eighth grade students…

The research objective of this study is to examine junior/high school ELA teachers' perceptions of and integration of new media into instruction. Sixty-two junior/high school ELA teachers in a southern California county responded to a five-point Likert-type attitudinal scale and provided written responses to open-ended questions about their…

Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee (2002) stated, "Leaders are made, not born" (p. 100). The quote is indicative of the shift in skills necessary to be a successful 21st-century learner. Instead of mere academic competencies, the 21st Century learner will need a different type of intelligence to be successful. Emotional intelligence may be…