Research studies that deal with student ability to investigate and carry out inquiry oriented investigations often call for educational practitioners to pay particular attention to incorporating the skills of scientific inquiry in the process of teaching and learning. This has the aim of helping learners acquire the skills needed to become problem…

The number of economically vulnerable students in the United States is large and growing. In this article, we examine income-based excellence gaps and describe recent controversies in the definition and measurement of poverty, with an eye toward their application to gifted education and meeting the needs of talented, economically vulnerable…

This classroom-based qualitative study sought to investigate students' writing in response to culturally relevant literature. Eleven students enrolled in two grade twelve, special education classrooms in a large, urban high school participated in the study. The students included Dive female, six male, three Hispanic and eight African American; all…

The Global Graduate initiative was developed to help Houston Independent School District (HISD) students be successful in college and in the global workforce upon graduation. The program emphasizes six characteristics in its Global Graduate Profile: A Leader, Adaptable and Productive, A College-Ready Learner, A Critical Thinker, A Skilled…

Research has begun to show that certain schoolwide characteristics--such as student-centered learning environments, leadership, and safety--can be important for improving student outcomes. In keeping with these insights, school improvement efforts around the country are becoming less narrowly focused on the performance of individual students and…

Florida enacted legislation in 2008 for a statewide program known as the Florida College and Career Readiness Initiative (FCCRI), which was intended to reduce the need for postsecondary remediation. The FCCRI consisted of testing grade 11 students to determine their college readiness and offering math and English college readiness and success…

Florida enacted legislation in 2008 for a statewide program known as the Florida College and Career Readiness Initiative (FCCRI), which was intended to reduce the need for postsecondary remediation. The FCCRI consisted of testing grade 11 students to determine their college readiness and offering math and English college readiness and success…

This is an abridged version of the full assessment framework, written for a general audience. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), otherwise known as The Nation's Report Card, informs the public about the academic achievement of elementary and secondary students in the United States. Report cards communicate the findings of…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what the nation's students know and can do in various subjects such as mathematics, reading, science, and writing, as well as civics, geography, U.S. history, and technology and engineering literacy. The results of NAEP are…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Field Dependent (FD)/Field Independent (FI) cognitive styles and motivational styles on high school students' conceptual understandings about direct current circuit concepts. The participants of this study consisted of 295 high school students (male = 127, female = 168) who were enrolled…

The ability to represent the world like a scientist is difficult to teach; it is more than simply knowing the representations (e.g., graphs, words, equations and diagrams). For meaningful science learning to take place, consideration needs to be given to explicitly integrating representations into instructional methods, linked to the content, and…

This first report in a new series by Jobs For the Future (JFF) provides the rationale for restructuring 12th grade and tying it more tightly to the first year of college through new high school and college partnerships. The paper proposes a new common benchmark of readiness that high schools and colleges can work together to meet to ensure…

Global citizenship education is increasingly appreciated in Ontario, Canada, as an important component of formal schooling. Although all disciplinary areas have a role to play in global citizenship education, geography provides an especially relevant context in which to foster the values and attitudes often cited as important for global…

Thirty years ago we would think nothing of driving to school with a jackknife in our pocket or rifle in the gun rack. Since then, the practices of possessing, transporting, and using firearms have been limited by laws, rules, and public perception. Despite restrictions on youth, the Youth Handgun Safety Act does afford 4-H shooting sports members…

Many high school students are eligible for college but they do not go, or they attend a less demanding postsecondary institution. Their problems are twofold--either (1) they lack the counseling and support structures necessary to apply to college, or (2) they lack the counseling and support structures that enable them to apply to the kind of…