The vision of K-12 standards-based mathematics reform embraces a greater emphasis on students' ability to communicate their understandings of mathematics by utilizing adaptive reasoning (i.e., reflection, explanation, and justification of thinking) through mathematics discourse. However, recent studies suggest that many students lack the…

This study utilizes a sociocultural activity theory approach to determine how, if at all, undergraduate coursework affects the attitudes of preservice English teachers, enrolled in a graduate teacher education program. Specifically, the study examines if there is any affect on the way the preservice teachers think about the teaching of writing…

This study investigates the use of Lesson Study in three U.S. schools. Lesson Study is part of the culture of teaching in Japanese K-8 schools. Researchers in the United States brought the practice of Lesson Study ("jugyokenkyo" in Japanese) to light in the late 1990's while investigating reasons for differences in the performance of…

The present study aims to advance the extant research base by evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of an academic vocabulary program designed for use in mainstream middle school classrooms with high proportions of language minority learners. The quasi-experimental, mixed-methods study was conducted in 21 classes (13 treatment matched to…

In the summer of 2011, the Tennessee Department of Education contracted with the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) to provide a four-day training for all evaluators across the state. NIET trained more than 5,000 evaluators intensively in the state model (districts using alternative instruments delivered their own training).…

The authors of this article argue both the urgency and the promise of establishing a constructive conversation among different bodies of research, including science interest, sociocultural studies in science education, and culturally relevant teaching. With the instructional practices of eight exemplary African American elementary teachers serving…

This article aims at analyzing the importance of using Mass Media in the classroom and finding the ways how to use Printed and Audio-visual Media. It is the result of an in-depth study, surveys and questionnaires thus trying to make the ideas in this article more trustworthy. It is based not only on the literature review but also on long personal…

The merits and shortcomings of formalized assessments of student writing have been debated by critics who maintain they are not valid measures of writing proficiency, often result in a narrowing effect on the local school curriculum and elicit predictable or formulaic writing by students and by proponents who argue they help to inform teacher…

Through focused observations of teaching practices in 15 classrooms representing 2,475 minutes, a number of instructional patterns were revealed. The majority of time students spend in high school requires that they listen or wait. Students are engaged in authentic reading, writing, and peer work for only a small fraction of the day. If high…

Reinforcement-based interventions, the most frequently used treatments for school-age children, rely on accurately identifying stimuli that will serve to reinforce appropriate classroom behavior. Research has consistently demonstrated that the results from a forced-choice pairing procedure are the best predictors of reinforcing stimuli.…

In a rural community there is a risk that readers will not find connections to their own lives, which may affect the pleasure gained from reading. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the use of literature in a small rural elementary school, focusing on how sociocultural factors affect how students connect to and access literature.…

Exclusionary school discipline results in students being removed from classrooms as a consequence of their disruptive behavior and may lead to subsequent suspension and/or expulsion. Literature documents that nondominant students, particularly Black males, are disproportionately impacted by exclusionary discipline, to the point that researchers…

This article presents the authors' reply to Rod Ellis's comments on their study on motivated classroom behavior. As Ellis correctly summarizes, the three student variables selected for investigation in the authors' study were attention, participation, and volunteering for teacher-fronted activity. These three components were then summed up in a…

The purpose of this study was to examine the role and learning outcomes of three types of classroom observations in a teacher education methods course: video-based CD-ROMS, videoconference-supported observations, and traditional face-to-face observations. It was not the goal of this study to compare the effectiveness of each type of observation to…

This paper presents illustrative findings from a one-year pilot study undertaken in the English department of a high school in Singapore that was in the first year of implementing a one-to-one wireless laptop programme. The findings show that learning was often constrained by lecture-style presentations and overt test preparation. Despite…