Prior research has shown that students from less educated families are less likely to study both science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and arts and humanities subjects. This article used a large representative sample of university students in England to explore the relationship between students' enjoyment, perception of…

Despite the growing numbers of migrant students enrolling in Australian secondary schools, and an official acknowledgment of their complex support and learning needs, there has been little policy focus on the pedagogical changes that need to be made by teachers to accommodate these needs. There is also little understanding of the depth and…

The Center on Standards, Alignment, Instruction, and Learning (C-SAIL), funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, examines how college- and career-readiness (CCR) standards are implemented, if they improve student learning, and what instructional tools measure and support their implementation. This brief presents findings from C-SAIL's…

This article explores the intersection of new, large-scale standards-based testing, teacher accountability policy, and secondary curriculum and instruction in the United States. Two federally funded consortia--the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and the Partnership for Readiness of College and Careers--prove focal to this paper, as these…

This article reports on the first two phases of a project to promote the classics through English at Key Stage 3, a scion of the Cambridge Schools Classics Project. We discuss the primary importance of speaking and listening in the English classroom both for the individual and the collective, and reflect on the power and importance of using…

This paper presents a framework intended to link the following assessment development concepts into a systematic framework: evidence-centered design (ECD), scenario-based assessment (SBA), and assessment of, for, and as learning. The context within which we develop this framework is the English language arts (ELA) for K-12 students, though the…

This article discusses the relationship between culture and English language teaching (ELT) in the Arab World. A critical question arises in terms of ELT, that is, whether to teach culture along with English. To answer such a bewildering question, this article presents related literature and studies and discusses a theoretical frame based on…

This article presents and illustrates a qualitative research methodology for studies of uptake. It does so by articulating a theoretical framework for qualitative investigations of uptake and detailing a research study designed to invoke and capture students' uptakes in a first-year writing classroom. The research design sought to make uptake…

This article considers the affordances of interactive whiteboards (s) for English teachers by reflecting on the typical use of s by a number of secondary English teachers who use them routinely within their teaching. Drawing on a PhD study, it looks at the practice of these teachers and considers when the technology is used within lessons, in…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the interface between high-stakes testing, disciplinary knowledge and teachers' pedagogy in English. The most prevalent standardized assessment form in the current Australian context is the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) undertaken each year by students in Years 3, 5,…

The Common Core State Standards Initiative adopted a goal of having every student in the United States college and career ready by the end of high school. As a result, the CCSS English/Language Arts have influenced the way teachers approach literacy instruction. Since the implementation of the CCSS (or standards similar to the actual CCSS but that…

The 2023 edition of the Annual Condition of Education Report (COE) marks the 34th edition of the report. For over 30 years, the Department has published the COE in order to provide education stakeholders critical data about the status of Iowa's education system. The 2023 COE includes a wide variety of content including information about Iowa's…

Using case study research methods, we investigated the effectiveness of a dialogic tutoring model informed by cognitive strategy instruction to implement a problem-solving strategy using a gradual-release-of-responsibility model of instruction situated in stasis theory. Eight minority 10th graders participated because of their difficulties with…

Through a case study of a seventh-grade ELA teacher, this article examines New Literacies pedagogy and more specifically a digital video project amid high-stakes testing pressures that often place limitations on teaching and learning.

Unfortunately, the journey to college can be lengthy for immigrants who must demonstrate English proficiency by completing a series of ESL classes while balancing work, family, and school (Blumenthal, 2002). At Southeast Community College (SCC), in Lincoln, Nebraska, the sequence ranges from classes in Beginning ESL to ESL for Academic Success,…