The study discussed in this article examines the experiences of teachers participating in a district-wide Educational Design Research (EDR) initiative, with a particular focus on any perceived changes in teacher practices. McKenney and Reeves (2013) claimed that one of the two main goals of EDR is to benefit practice, but to date this claim has…

This study observed the effects of school plant organization on instructional efficiency and performance of students in Osun State public secondary schools. It employed a quantitative research design of correlation type. The study sampled 100 public secondary schools in the three senatorial districts of the state using systematic random sampling…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, recognizes the important role educators play in improving education outcomes for students of color and students from low-income families--groups that historically have included large numbers of English learners (ELs). ESSA requires state…

While most infrastructure discussions consider transportation, energy, and more, they too often ignore K-12 public schools, which welcome more than 50 million children and adults every day. K-12 public schools represent the nation's second-largest infrastructure sector. Schools are economic drivers, as well-prepared students will earn $1 million…

Establishing professional communities of educators from districts and schools has gained popularity as a mechanism for collaboratively thinking through and enacting change in education. In 2013, 10 California school districts received grant funding from the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation ("the Foundation") to participate in the Math in…

Novice teachers bring new energy and ideas to schools and classrooms that could improve the learning environment of students, if harnessed correctly. At the same time, novice teachers are, by definition, inexperienced in some aspects concerning classroom practices and schoolwork. As is the case for any other profession, novice teachers need time,…

Over the past half-century, billions of dollars have been spent across the nation on efforts to transform low-performing public schools -- most of them urban, most of them low-income, and most of them disproportionately enrolled with students of color -- into models of success. It hasn't worked. The failure of attempts to remedy the state of urban…

Professional noticing of student thinking is considered a useful construct to investigate instructional decisions and activity made by teachers to support learning. This paper highlights the findings from one component of a multi-university (United States & Australia) research project focused on improving pre-service secondary mathematics…

This document offers a summary of key findings and learnings from a preliminary evaluation of the Quality Support Program (QSP) by Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA). The QSP is an initiative of the NSW Department of Education Early Childhood Education Directorate (NSW DoE) involving the delivery by ACECQA of free…

Background: As the state standards increase, along with the instructional rigor within developed curriculum and state accountability, the need to improve ineffective teachers and their practices in the classroom has become a national priority. The need for relevant professional development that meets both the instructional needs of the teacher and…

Writing instructors spend considerable time responding to student writing with the expectation that students will use that feedback to improve their writing. However, a number of studies have questioned the extent to which students apply instructor feedback to improve their writing or transfer it to new writing situations. Timing of feedback and…

Extensive evidence demonstrates that high-quality early childhood education (ECE) positively impacts the learning trajectories of children. Yet many early childhood programs struggle to implement high-quality programming, failing to sufficiently advance children's early learning. A growing body of research demonstrates that strong organizational…

With the release of the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) results, concerns that reading scores of U.S. students have remained flat for the past decade have surfaced again along with suggestions about the source of this problem and how it might be remedied. The…

In this article we consider the material dimensions of schooling as constitutive of the possibilities inherent in "fixing" education. We begin by mapping out the problem of "fixing education," pointing to the necrophilic tendencies of contemporary education--a desire to kill what otherwise might be life-giving. In this sense,…

Continuous improvement is "an embedded behavior within the culture of a school that constantly focuses on the conditions, processes, and practices that will improve teaching and learning." The phrase has been part of the lexicon of school improvement for decades, but real progress is rare. Based on its observations of about 5,000…