Instructional design focuses on solving problems in a multitude of contexts. As such, designers are investigators, gathering evidence to optimally design solutions to learning problems within the identified context. The challenge described in this case study was the need to create an educational activity to promote interaction and collaboration…

It is imperative that students learn to read in the early grades, yet many fail to do so in developing countries. Early grade reading interventions have emerged as a common means to attempt to address this problem. This paper presents a definition of early grade reading interventions as interventions that employ a combination of five components:…

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to describe elementary level school teachers' experiences who worked with English Learners in a project-based learning model of instruction. The study focused on how teachers developed, planned, or utilized curriculum to support the language acquisition of their English Learners to meet state and…

The Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) was grappling with several issues including: (1) A respectable rate of growth in student achievement for both fourth- and eighth-grade math in the state of Alabama, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), but below the national average; and (2) A growing concern about…

Students with disabilities experience higher unemployment, attend postsecondary environments less often, and engage less in their communities after graduating from high school compared to their peers without disabilities (Newman, Wagner, Knokey, Marder, Nagle, Shaver, & Schwarting, 2011). In middle school, young adolescents with disabilities…

In this policy brief, TransformEd provides policy recommendations for local and state leaders seeking to take a data-informed approach to SEL. We specifically crafted recommendations that incorporate the use of data because gathering data on SEL allows educators to make meaningful connections between student experiences, school culture, and…

If special education teacher evaluation systems are to meet their promise of improving practice for students with disabilities, they need to be designed in a way that promotes and rewards strong instructional practice. In 2010, the Idaho State Department of Education (SDE) partnered with researchers from Boise State University to develop a special…

Maximizing the effectiveness of evidence-based practices (EBPs) requires an optimal balance of implementation fidelity and adaptation so EBPs fit local contexts and meet the individual learning needs of students with disabilities. The framework for classifying adaptations presented in this article can help educators make decisions about whether…

Extensive research on student development and learning theory shows that the value of a college experience can be challenging to measure because its impact is not strictly academic, but holistic (e.g., Evans, Forney, & Guido-DiBrito, 1998). ePortfolio programs have been successfully implemented at many campuses as 1 way for students to…

The author of this paper uses critical discourse analysis and draws on critical social theory and policy studies to analyze the interdiscursivity between neoliberal common sense discourses around crime and safety and race-neutral discourses, "evidence-based" policy, and the research that supports school policing programs. The author…

Human competence is a vital element for any organization that expects to survive and then thrive. Developing individual performance ability is necessary but not sufficient because trained people alone will not make an organization successful. We must determine what people should deliver and why it should be delivered in order to add measurable…

The sheer amount of time that school psychologists spend conducting assessments, coupled with the shift in the field toward incorporating a socially just lens into practice, elicits the question: What constitutes socially just academic assessments, and what are the related best practices? Considering the complexities related to applying a social…

In California, the passage of Proposition 63 set aside funds for prevention and early intervention (PEI) and allowed for local and statewide activities. Recognizing the importance of including evidence-based PEI approaches into a comprehensive spectrum of care for mental disorders, the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA)--a…

Educators remove over 3.45 million students from school annually for disciplinary reasons, despite strong evidence that school suspension policies are harmful to students. The research presented in this volume demonstrates that disciplinary policies and practices that schools control directly exacerbate today's profound inequities in educational…

The "gold standard" of youth outcomes is when they are achieving employment and pursuing a clear career path. The activities transition and employment initiatives, and the partnerships that support them, are most appropriately judged against this standard. This Guide presents approaches and considerations for the development and…