Students whose first language is not English are the fastest-growing group in public schools in all regions of the United States. Almost 10 million children between the ages of five and 17 live in the homes and communities in which a language other than English in spoken and presently most schools in the U.S. are under-educating many English…

Building on an earlier 2008 summary prepared for OECD by Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter, this paper by Gesa S. E. van den Broek provides a more extensive discussion of approaches described as "research based innovation." "Fostering Communities of Learning" is a constructivist approach in which teachers help students discover important…

This is a quasi-experimental multiple baseline of behavior research study that compared the effectiveness of video modeling versus direct instruction for teaching gestural communication skills to children with autism spectrum disorder. There are two targeted gestures that were taught using these teaching methods; they are a protodeclarative point…

This article focuses on use of Microsoft[R] PowerPoint[TM] paired with direct instruction (DI) to teach word recognition to young children at risk. DI has been a widely used teaching method for over 40 years, and is often used to teach emergent literacy skills. Recent DI research with preschoolers at risk has suggested the potential for using…

A challenge facing high school educators is that which includes motivating students to learn, helping students engage in their learning, and providing adolescents the tools that they can use in comprehending the many forms of texts that are presented to them. Many students have access to libraries and technologies yet they do not avail themselves…

In "Beyond Test Scores: Leading Indicators for Education," Foley and colleagues (2008) define leading indicators as those that "provide early signals of progress toward academic achievement" (p. 1) and stress that educators "need leading indicators to help them see the direction their efforts are going in and to take…

The lifelong challenges for the individual with learning disabilities are unique, dynamic, and evident as the number of these students enrolling in postsecondary education increases. The increase underscores the importance of the transition process, which can present challenges and reinforces the need for secondary and postsecondary educators to…

Virtual K-12 schools have rapidly become a popular choice for parents and students in the last decade. However, little research has been done on the instructional practices used in virtual courses. As reflected in the central research question, the purpose of this study was to explore how teachers provided instruction for Grade 7-10 students in…

This manuscript addresses a problem teachers of computer software applications face today: What is an effective method for teaching new computer software? Technology and engineering teachers, specifically those with communications and other related courses that involve computer software applications, face this problem when teaching computer…

The development of the metacognitive skill of prediction in deaf students in a middle school social studies classroom was explored in an action research study (Riel, 2006). After observation of this group of learners and assessment of current skills, a unit was developed that integrated the teaching of prediction into their study of the American…

Teachers in 1 middle school learned about the positive effects of writing praise notes to students, which is 1 component of a positive behavior support. The authors intended for this procedure to promote a positive school environment and reinforce the appropriate use of social skills. Also, the authors instructed the teachers to use a direct…

The Community of Inquiry Framework posits teaching, social and cognitive presence interact to create the learning experience in online environments (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2001). To date, considerable research has been conducted which employs the framework with promising results (Akyol et al., 2009). However, significant work is needed…

This study is an investigation into the science literacy of college genetics students who were given a modified curriculum to address specific teaching and learning problems from a previous class. This study arose out of an interest by the professor and researcher to determine how well students in the class Human Genetics in the 21st Century…

Students with high-incidence disabilities struggle with reading comprehension due to difficulties in background knowledge and metacognitive skills, including use of self-monitoring and other strategies. In the United States, these students typically receive the majority of their instruction in general education settings. However, there is little…

This is the second publication in the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) Project Plus series. Project Plus aims to inform questions of policy and practice by synthesising findings of educational interest from projects funded by the TLRI. This Project Plus focuses on literacy in the early childhood education (ECE) and school…