Discusses the development of a data analysis activity used with 8th grade students at the beginning of the school year. Groups of students collected a variety of data about a specific population. (DDR)

Several Colorado schools hired data analysts to help with school improvement efforts. The analysts are teachers who participate on school leadership teams and who support school action research teams. They collect and organize baseline data, help teams measure results of proposed changes, and evaluate results after implementation. Because they are…

This paper has arisen as a result of teaching Models in Biology to undergraduates of Bioengineering at the Gediminas Technical University of Vilnius. The aim is to teach the students to use a fresh approach to the problems they are familiar with, to come up with an articulate verbal model after a mental effort, to express it in rigorous…

This study explores seventh graders' use of inscriptions in a teacher-designed project-based science unit. To investigate students' learning practices during the 8-month water quality unit, we collected multiple sources of data (e.g., classroom video recordings, student artifacts, and teacher interviews) and employed analytical methods that drew…

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) is working with local education agencies throughout the Commonwealth to create a culture of teaching and learning in every school that is student-centered, data-informed, personalized, and results-focused. Each of these elements have been supported seamlessly by systems, resources, technology, and…

At the Orange County Public School District in Orlando, Florida, assessing reading skills among the youngest students used to be quite a process. Relying on rudimentary products such as paper and pencils, the strategy hinged on the bubble sheets teachers administered to students once a year. After teachers scored the exams, they sent them to the…

This study reports the results of a comprehensive survey (59 fixed and 3 open-ended response items) of a stratified (by grade) random sample of K-5 teachers in Indiana (n = 594; response rate = 49.5%). Results indicated that social studies is becoming increasingly marginalized in the K-5 curriculum relative to other core subject areas (e.g., math…

As political mandates in the United States continue to demand increasing levels of literacy by all young children, the importance of identifying factors that influence novice teachers' development over time become more critical. In this article, we explore Phase I of a longitudinal study, which describes the evolving literacy beliefs and practices…

Inquiry can be implemented in various ways, ranging from simple classroom discussions to longterm research projects. In this article, the authors developed a project in which high school students were introduced to the nature and process of scientific discovery through a two-week guided inquiry unit on "limnology"--the study of fresh water, which…

Science educators are often among the first to use emerging technologies in the classroom and laboratory. For the technologically savvy science teacher, the handheld computer is a terrific tool. A handheld computer is a portable electronic device that helps organize (via calendars, contact lists, to-do lists) and integrate electronic data…

Effective exploration of spatially referenced educational achievement data can help educational researchers and policy analysts accelerate interpretation of datasets to gain valuable insights. This paper illustrates the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze educational achievement gaps in Arkansas. It introduces the Geographic…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 mandated statewide accountability testing and focused the accountability conversation on reading. Therefore, the current study examined the relationship between curriculum-based measurement for reading (R-CBM) and state accountability test scores, potential grade differences in relationship magnitude, and…

Data-mining technology's predictive modeling was applied to enhance the prediction of enrollment behaviors of admitted applicants at a large state university. (Contains 4 tables and 6 figures.)

Educational psychology has a tradition of considering learning and motivation in terms of the individual and individual functioning. Short-term intervention studies have been common and quantitative measurement of the causes and effects of variables has been the aim of much research. When a sociocultural approach forms the basis of research into…

This case study looked at the transition of preservice teachers from world language education methods courses at a major U.S. university to a 5-week field experience in secondary school classrooms. Data included lesson plans and self-critiques of two lessons implemented during the field experience, world language teaching philosophies the…