This review provides a comprehensive examination of the literature surrounding the current state of K-12 distance education. The growth in K-12 distance education follows in the footsteps of expanded learning opportunities at all levels of public education and training in corporate environments. Implementation has been accomplished with a limited research base, often drawing from studies in adult distance education and policies adapted from traditional learning environments. This review of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary Secondary Education, Public Education, Distance Education, Literature...
This article presents and compares the similar views of William Glasser, M.D., founder and president of the William Glasser Institute in Los Angeles, and author of scores of best selling books; and William Watson Purkey, Ed.D, co-founder of the International Association for Invitational Education (IAIE), Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and also a prodigious author. Dr. William Glasser is most famous for his contributions to psychiatry and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teaching Methods, Psychiatry, Counselor Training, Educational Change, Counseling,...
In this article, I analyse how schools in Alberta have defined the province's identity and its role in Confederation. During two eras, the 1930s and the 1980s, social studies curriculum and teaching resources contained assertions of provincial uniqueness. In the late 1930s, the progressive curriculum implemented in Alberta's schools represented the first time a strong provincial consciousness was evident. The resurgence of Western regionalism was reflected in reforms introduced in 1981. I note...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Social Studies, Educational Resources, Progressive Education,...
This study uses Partial Credit Rasch analysis to study a complex data set of student responses to survey items relating to chance and data. The items were administered in the classroom and collected from 1993 to 2003 in the Australian state of Tasmania. Data were collected from a total of 5514 individual students across Grades 3 to 11 over the decade and of these students 896 provided at least one repeated measure. As students completed a core of common items, Rasch analysis could be performed...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary Secondary Education, Foreign Countries, Longitudinal Studies, Mathematics...
The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' perceptions concerning the modular technology approach to teaching technology education in Georgia. The study addressed the following basic research question: What do teachers in Georgia perceive to be the main advantages and drawbacks to teaching technology education in a modular environment compared to a conventional environment? This study found that Georgia technology teachers who were familiar with teaching in modular laboratories tended...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Laboratories, Technology Education, Teacher Attitudes, Educational Facilities,...
Meeting the requirement for highly qualified teachers as outlined in the No Child Left Behind Act has left school districts in a quandary, especially those that serve a population of students deemed "at-risk" and where attracting and retaining highly qualified teachers is difficult. One professional development program based on recognized strategies for exemplary teaching--the National Board for Professional Teaching Standard's five core propositions--is being tested in one school...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Federal Legislation, National Standards, Program Effectiveness, School Districts,...
Increasingly, educational reform is linked to the concept of professional learning communities (PLCs). Definitions of PLCs vary, but generally the concept refers to a group of educators who "continuously seek and share learning, and act on their learning" (Hord 1997, 6). Stoll and her colleagues, concluding their review of the current state of PLCs and research, observe that there is a "paucity of longitudinal research" and that "little is yet known about the potential...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Change, Educational Research, Educational Cooperation, Educational...
Due to changing demographics in the K-12 student population contrasted with the homogeneous population of prospective teachers, the uncertainty about teacher preparedness to meet the needs of diverse student populations remains a controversial educational issue. Teacher educators have continued to question whether preservice teachers presently in schools, colleges, and departments of education (SCDEs) have the requisite skills and the necessary sensitivity toward racial and cultural diversity...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Cultural Pluralism, Elementary Secondary Education, Teacher Educators, Preservice...
Every teacher is a messenger. The message that a teacher communicates and portrays is acquired formally and informally through systematic study, and environmental and socialization processes. While formal study happens consciously within a particular period of time, experiential learning that impinges on the development of the message happens all the time. It is a pervasive force with a long incubation period. No matter how the effects of environmental processes are suppressed and ignored,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Beginning Teachers, Speech Communication, Secondary Education, Teacher Student...
Given the financial constraints facing U.S. schools and the expense of cutting-edge technology, partnerships between schools and corporations that specialize in technology are becoming more vital in the quest to remain competitive in today's educational market. Schools can benefit from these partnerships by receiving the latest hardware and software, and corporations benefit from increased profits. To find out exactly what (besides money) matters when principals engage in technology...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Computer Software, Guidelines, Educational Technology, Corporations, Principals,...
Reliable information on emerging technologies for learning is as vital as it is difficult to come by. To meet this need, the International Society for Technology in Education organized the Emerging Technologies Task Force. Its goal is to create a database of contributions from educators highlighting their use of emerging technologies to support teaching and learning. The database is online, and the demographics that are collected include grade level, size of district, and type of network...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary Secondary Education, Information Sources, Educational Technology,...
In this article, the authors introduce International Society for Technology in Education's (ISTE) Technology Facilitation (TF) and Technology Leadership (TL) standards and offer suggestions as to how these standards might be used to improve the performance and professional status of instructional technology specialists in the field. In fall 2001, ISTE partnered with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) to publish the TF and the TL standards. The TF standards are...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Professional Recognition, Technology Integration, Educational Technology, Elementary...
In part 1 of this article, the author introduced Microsoft's worldwide K-12 education initiative, Partners in Learning, and discusses the partnership with ISTE in creating project-based learning curriculum as part of Partners in Learning. The project-based learning curriculum can be adapted for classrooms across the globe. This paper, the second of a two-part article, discusses the use of the PBL curriculum in Estonia and Hong Kong and describes how it is being used and adapted in these very...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary Secondary Education, Partnerships in Education, Foreign Countries,...
This paper, the first of a two-part article, addresses ways that project-based learning is being used in countries around the world. It introduces Microsoft's worldwide K-12 education initiative, Partners in Learning, and provides some background as to why Microsoft is interested in developing project-based learning curricula for teachers to help them better integrate technology into learning and teaching. Through Partners in Learning (http://www.microsoft.com/partnersinlearning), Microsoft has...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary Secondary Education, Foreign Countries, Educational Technology, Technology...
The "achievement gap" is a well-documented problem in schools. Evidence of an academic performance problem requires that educators respond quickly and differently to signs of academic failure. As the lessons of the achievement gap suggest that historical decisions about when to intervene with performance support are flawed, performance support interventions must be provided much sooner than they have been considered in the past. Recent educational innovations, such as differentiated...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Failure, Academic Achievement, Educational Innovation, Appropriate...
Social networking is one of the latest trends to evolve out of the growing online community. Social networking sites gather data submitted by members that is then stored as user profiles. The data or profiles can then be shared among the members of the site. Membership can be free or fee-based. A typical social networking site provides members with a Web page or blog where they can post text, photos, and other content for visitors to view. Social networking sites have been expanding rapidly...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary Secondary Education, Profiles, Social Networks, Web Sites, Computer...
Digital media is a great multidimensional communication tool because it combines images, text, sound, and animation. For students to be effective communicators in the 21st century, they need to be sophisticated in expressing ideas with multiple communication technologies, not just the written word. Digital storytelling allows students to use multimedia tools in a sophisticated fashion while capturing the joy of creating and sharing their stories. In this article, the author offers tips on how...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Story Telling, Multimedia Materials, Teaching Methods, Educational Technology,...
Technology is a part of most teacher education programs, but once teachers are in the classroom, they often discover it is difficult to find time to learn new things. Technology changes so fast that it is hard to keep up. Especially for elementary-level teachers, this problem simply means that it is difficult or impossible to efficiently integrate technology. For middle and high school business teachers, the need to stay current on technology is a vital job requirement. A partnership between...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teacher Education Programs, Business Education Teachers, Partnerships in Education,...
Plagiarism is an ugly word. Copying someone else's work and attempting to claim credit for one's self is an act that involves a number of ethical failings--theft, laziness, coveting, and lying among others. Many educators blame the Internet for what they perceive as the rise of plagiarism. Although the Internet certainly enables more efficient plagiarism, blaming it for widespread copying is akin to blaming a bank robbery on the presence of cash in the building. This article presents several...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Plagiarism, Internet, Prevention, Ethics, Student Behavior, Teaching Methods, Higher...
One of ACTE's goals is to improve the image of career and technical education (CTE) through outreach to the media. As media relations manager, the author receives calls from reporters asking questions about the types of students who participate in CTE. Reporters often have a misconception that CTE students are troubled or "at the bottom of the rung." Today's CTE students are smart, technologically savvy and successful. ACTE is working to improve the media's perception of them and the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Technical Education, Career Education, Public Relations, Mass Media, Press Opinion,...
Many career and technical education (CTE) programs rely heavily on support from the business community to serve their students. However, there is very little information available on building solid business-education partnerships. Most people in the business world will say that they care about education, but how can educators find the people willing to pay education more than lip service by committing their time and resources to support schools? What do those people want to accomplish? What can...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Business, Partnerships in Education, Technical Education, Career Education, Program...
This article considers steps towards making a numeracy-across-the-curriculum policy. Numeracy means more than the kind of everyday arithmetic a person (a competent independent adult) needs to handle whole number (and simple decimal) calculations; e.g., money, time, and simple measurement. Importantly, aspects of numeracy arise in any everyday task or question which involves mathematical thinking, including logical reasoning, critical analysis, categorisation and sorting, and problem-solving....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Numbers, Numeracy, School Policy, Integrated Curriculum, Mathematics Skills,...
Fractions and algebra are critically important components of the mathematics education of the youth. Unfortunately, however, students have typically struggled in these areas. For this reason, teachers and researchers have focused their attention on these topics for at least the past century. This article discusses what research shows regarding fractions and algebra, particularly, on issues related to when fractions should be taught, how fractions should be taught, and how competence with...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Algebra, Teacher Effectiveness, Child Development, Learning...
The past two consecutive administrations in the Philippines saw the need for developing a greater sense of national identity among Filipinos. In response, the Education Sector strengthened the teaching of values on national ideals and Filipino heritage. One reform was the offering of Moral Education as an independent subject in the secondary education curriculum. In support of this, publishing companies developed textbooks on Moral Education, which teachers used, aside from the prescribed...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Ethical Instruction, Textbooks, Educational Change, Nationalism,...
Together with the many advantages incurred by educational reform there are concomitantly a number of challenges that have to be addressed. In the field of special education there have probably been more changes in the past decade than in any other area of education. In 2006, Hong Kong is undoubtedly at the cusp of major changes which continue to reflect the paradigm shifts occurring internationally. One area of concern for all is the issue of support for learners with special needs. It is clear...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Educational Change, Special Education, Special Needs Students,...
Meaning-making is vital in the realm of principalship. It serves as the fulcrum of one's practice which eventually leads to seeing the light and appreciating the serendipity of principalship. While explicit knowledge abounds in the literature and is communicated in professional development programs, the role of the principals' tacit knowledge derived from their experiences, day-to-day dealings with the school's stakeholders, observations, insights, and reflections are vital inputs in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Principals, Foreign Countries, Role, Knowledge Level, Secondary Education,...
This study focuses on a group of practitioners from a school district that adopted reform-oriented curriculum materials but later rejected them, partially due to the inclusion of alternative algorithms in the materials. Metaphors implicit in a conversation among the group were analysed to illuminate their perspectives on instructional issues surrounding alternative algorithms. Several possible sources of resistance to folding alternative algorithms into instruction were found, including the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics, Teaching Methods, Mathematics Education, Computation, Mathematics...
There is a certain kind of liberal educator who bases his or her practice on a particular attitude toward the "Big Questions." The questions of fundamental literacy in K-12 education, or of expertise in vocational and professional education, may be just as important, but they are seen as quite different in kind. Indeed, the questions of liberal education take hold of people only under certain conditions. They call for distinct curricular and pedagogical approaches suited to a...
Topics: ERIC Archive, General Education, Elementary Secondary Education, Liberal Arts, Teaching Methods,...
Today's classroom is a rainbow of cultures, traditions, and languages. In Hmong culture, parents think of a teacher as an authority figure who understands student needs, knows what would help students learn to excel academically, and understands how to teach students to become productive individuals. In this article, the author presents some information about the Hmong culture that will help K-12 teachers understand their Hmong students and provide them with the very best education. (Contains 1...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teaching Methods, Student Needs, Elementary Secondary Education, Hmong People,...
In this article, the authors review the research on curriculum-based measurement (CBM) in reading published since the time of Marston's 1989 review. They focus on the technical adequacy of CBM related to measures, materials, and representation of growth. The authors conclude by discussing issues to be addressed in future research, and they raise the possibility of the development of a seamless and flexible system of progress monitoring that can be used to monitor students' progress across...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Curriculum Based Assessment, Literature Reviews, Reading Achievement, Reading...
This article reviews research examining technical features of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) in written expression. Twenty-eight technical reports and published articles are included in this review. Studies examining the development and technical adequacy of measures of written expression are summarized, beginning with research conducted at the Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities at the University of Minnesota and followed by extensions of this work. Differences in technical...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Scoring, Learning Disabilities, Curriculum Based Assessment, Writing Instruction,...
The Iowa Chautauqua Program was developed in 1983 with support from National Science Foundation (NSF) which awarded the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) a major grant to study an inexpensive in-service model for stimulating reform in K-12 science classrooms. Iowa was one of the six Chautauqua sites which were modeled after a program for teachers from small colleges and operated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In Iowa this new Chautauqua effort focused...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Change, Science Teachers, Science and Society, Program Effectiveness,...
The authors argue that leadership networks when comprised of regional stakeholders including university faculty, school system administrators, and teacher leaders can begin to work together towards common reform goals. (Contains 1 figure.)
Topics: ERIC Archive, Science Education, Educational Change, Elementary Secondary Education, Teacher...
The author explores current efforts by educators and policy makers to harness the power of educational technology for both assessment "of learning" and assessment "for learning" in K-12 classrooms. (Contains 1 figure.)
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary Secondary Education, Educational Technology, Academic Achievement,...
The teaching of statistics at the elementary and secondary level is a relatively new expansion of the curriculum. Considering the many challenges faced by teachers of statistics in higher education, there is a continuing need to evaluate and monitor teaching and learning at this level. The purpose of this study was to survey elementary and secondary teachers to determine their attitudes about statistics, their perceptions related to student attitudes and achievement, and their attitudes about...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Statistics, Teacher Attitudes, Elementary Secondary Education, Elementary School...
Given the implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, one might reasonably assume that the research literature on the effects of standardized testing would have been exposed, made widely familiar, and meticulously analyzed in the early 2000s. But just the opposite happened. As belief in the research literature's nonexistence has spread, efforts to reference it have become less thorough or casually dismissed. After all, why bother to search a literature you believe does not exist? As...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Federal Legislation, Literature, Standardized Tests, Educational Policy, Literature...
In this article, we explore the models of literacy conveyed by contemporary secondary career education policies, programs, and imperatives in the province of Ontario. The Ontario career education policies we reviewed uniformly advance a functional and socially reproductive model of literacy that undermines the democratic agency of learners. In response to these concerns, we propose that critical literacy should be introduced into Ontario secondary career education initiatives to encourage the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Career Education, Educational Change, Critical Reading, Literacy,...
When thinking of leaders, people usually think of those in positions of power, such as political leaders, religious leaders, or student leaders. Yet, leaders can be found in all spheres of life, and leadership behaviors can be learned particularly in a small-group format (Hellriegel, Jackson, & Slocum, 2005). This article presents ideas and exercises to teach leadership skills to gifted students using a small-group format.
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academically Gifted, Leadership Training, Student Leadership, Interpersonal...
This paper seeks to explain why the subject media studies looks and sounds the way it does today through the production of a genealogy of the subject. The questions addressed are first, why was this subject introduced into the curriculum in the 1970s? Secondly, how has knowledge in the subject been defined and contested, how and why has it changed in the course of the subject's history? Thirdly, which knowledge attains the status of truth and becomes the accepted definition of what the subject...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational History, Postmodernism, Journalism Education, Sociology, Social History,...
In this paper I argue against a dominant view that social planning, supported by strategically located and tightly controlled research and development, is delivered from above and enacted downwards by the education system. As such the paper argues against a view taken by many theorists/politicians and reinforced by the major components of the educational bureaucracy. The Impact of Educational Research produces a warrant for an alternative form of thinking about the deeper forces of contemporary...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Social Planning, Research and Development, Teacher Characteristics, Educational...
Maximum academic achievement for gifted and talented students can only be accomplished when teachers are given the tools, support, and training needed to strengthen instructional skills and develop knowledge of the social and emotional needs of the students they serve. Providing meaningful professional development to develop or enhance these skills is a challenge for administrators responsible for the planning and implementation of training experiences for teachers of gifted students. As...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academically Gifted, Talent, Lifelong Learning, Staff Development, Professional...
In this article, we discuss the theory of successful intelligence as a basis for identifying gifted children, teaching such children, and assessing their achievement. First, we briefly review the theory of successful intelligence. Then, we describe how to teach and assess for successful intelligence. Next, we discuss and answer potential objections to teaching for successful intelligence. Then, we present some data based on teaching for successful intelligence. Finally, we draw some...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Intelligence, Gifted, Ability Identification, Teaching Methods, Cognitive Style,...
Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is an approach for assessing the growth of students in basic skills that originated uniquely in special education. A substantial research literature has developed to demonstrate that CBM can be used effectively to gather student performance data to support a wide range of educational decisions. Those decisions include screening to identify, evaluating prereferral interventions, determining eligibility for and placement in remedial and special education...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Inclusive Schools, Curriculum Based Assessment, Early Childhood Education,...
Across the United States the state education agency (SEA) is a "sleeping giant" with untapped potential to build instructional capacity in the nation's 110,000 public schools. The SEA is positioned to build the system-wide synergy requisite to achieve the unprecedented school-level student outcomes mandated by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. In this article, the authors illustrate this system-wide potential of the SEA by using the case of Kentucky, based on interviews with its...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Federal Legislation, Educational Change, State Departments of Education, Politics of...
The increasing use of school advisory councils for budgetary decision making is an obvious trend in new patterns of school governance. As decision makers, council members are lobbied by groups and individuals desiring funding for their particular interests. Problems that need attention are judiciously considered as competing interests vie for limited resources. A challenge then for the councils is to make spending choices that are most likely to improve learning outcomes for all students....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Interests, Governance, Accountability, Organizational Development, Advisory...
This article provides a brief picture of social studies education in the United States, China, and South Korea. It begins with a brief account of the K-12 curriculum structure and history of social studies education in each country in the 20th century. It then turns to a contemporary look at the social studies, the national curriculum standards that were developed in 1990s, and more recent trends and instructional practices in each country. Commonalities and differences in these areas are...
Topics: ERIC Archive, National Curriculum, Elementary Secondary Education, Global Approach, Foreign...
Technology, and the Internet in particular, is bringing constant change to American society, including the potential to enhance democracy by fostering participation in the electoral process. Because of the wealth of information available on candidates, issues, and policies, the Internet may foster citizens' ability to cast a more informed vote. As technology evolves and becomes more ubiquitous, it is likely that it will continue to reshape the American political process and landscape. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Voting, Elementary Secondary Education, Democracy, Elections, Internet, Social...
Curricular reform is an intense process. Broad-based reform--like that at the statewide level--takes on complexities that may not be easily predictable. Two states, Texas and Florida, with a large diversity of gifted populations, learn from each other as they experience creating curriculum standards for their gifted students. This article addresses the issues and dilemmas faced when committees of gifted educators in both states began redefining and designing their gifted curricula. It follows...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academically Gifted, Elementary Secondary Education, Accountability, Outcomes of...
Drawing on nine focus groups with secondary students in southern Ontario, we investigated secondary students' perceptions of, and experiences with, school codes of conduct and their application. While generally supporting the "big" rules such as no weapons, students engaged more critically with minor ones. We drew on Foucault's governmentality studies to discuss students' successful compliance. We evaluated students' contestation of the rules, rule-breaking as potential resistance,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Attitudes, Citizenship Education, Focus Groups, Foreign Countries, Compliance...
In this qualitative study, that took place in a coeducational government school in Western Australia, I adopt a social-constructivist perspective of learning (Rogoff, 1990; Vygotsky, 1986) to examine reading in an elementary classroom. The focus of this article is Nicholas, a grade-7 boy, who was identified as challenged by the literacy curriculum. The analysis utilizes a multiliteracies framework (The New London Group, 2000) and the four resources reading model (Luke & Freebody, 1999) to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Constructivism (Learning), Foreign Countries, Reading Instruction, Qualitative...