Parents want to work with their children's teachers to help them succeed in school. "What Brain Research Says about Student Learning" provides parents and teachers the most recent findings in brain research and learning theory in a very approachable way. The reader will see how the child's brain develops, learns, remembers, and creates…

What does student-centered learning look like in real-life classrooms? In this collection, educator Bill Nave and nine award-winning K-12 teachers tell the story of how and why they changed their teaching and redesigned their classrooms in order to "reach every child." They reflect on their successes and struggles to put students in…

Some students with disabilities who receive special education services need accommodations or modifications to their educational program in order to participate in the general curriculum and to be successful in school. While the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and its regulations do not define accommodations or modifications,…

Linking assessment to everyday classroom instruction requires a shift in both thinking and practice. For many, the term "assessment" simply means "grade". "Using Classroom Assessment to Improve Student Learning" shows how teachers can move away from using tests, letter or numerical grades, or passing or failing as…

This chapter provides an overview and implementation guidelines of Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT), an interactive engagement pedagogy used across disciplines and across the academy, now in its fourteenth year. The heart of JiTT pedagogy is Web-based pre-instruction assignments called warm-ups, with some colorful local variations, such as GeoBytes in…

Motivation, one of the leading problems in education, is an ongoing issue for teachers. Motivation is important because it highly contributes to achievement. Teachers have to be certain that their students are being motivated in order to develop a positive outcome. This article suggests some strategies to sustain students' classroom motivation.

Scholars who study teaching and learning have provided the academy with a range of progressive pedagogies that move beyond traditional ways of teaching. In the call for the use of diverse classroom practices in higher education, many have highlighted the benefits and challenges that come with collaborative teaching models. In this chapter, the…

Objective: To examine whether teacher reports of accommodations and interventions for inattentive first graders are consistent with best practice guidelines. Method: A total of 36 teachers completed the Teacher Management Questionnaire (TMQ) for 92 students in five predominantly low-income, minority schools. The TMQ is a newly developed measure…

Spiritual nurturing includes the recognition that children have valuable ways of knowing, such as pondering, sacred listening, intuition, and dreams and visions. Children nurtured in spiritual ways of being are supported through the traits of creativity, compassion, love, gratitude, affirmation, contemplation, and silence. These attributes are…

Overburdened with athletics, play rehearsals, band practice, volunteer work, after-school jobs, friendships, and--if their parents are lucky--quality time with their families, it is hardly surprising that even the most dedicated students resent homework as an incursion on their time. Meanwhile, their teachers watch the growing stacks of unread…

This digest adapts information from "Attention Deficit Disorders: A Guide for Teachers," prepared by members of the Education Committee of Children with Attention Deficit Disorders. It defines attention deficit disorders and describes the two types (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and undifferentiated attention deficit…

This video is one of a four-part series which is designed to introduce teachers and parents to standards and teaching in a standards-based environment, and aims to help teachers and parents understand how teaching with standards can change classrooms, work assignments, and student performance. This video demonstrates what starting to meet the…

This checklist, designed to help elementary school teachers assess why a student is unable to complete a classroom assignment, lists criteria grouped under physical, academic, perceptual, behavioral, and motor factors. Compensatory actions such as adapting the classroom environment or referring the student for further evaluation are suggested. (CB)

Embedded in a sensitive instructional context rather than a stifling testing atmosphere, diagnostic lessons provide assessment that is reliable, practical, valid, and efficient. In this type of assessment, there are several determiners of instructional placement: (1) students' propensity to adapt strategies as a result of specified instruction,…

Specific suggestions to help teachers structure the classroom to prevent disruptive behaviors are offered in the areas of physical arrangement and "traffic rules" time management, assignments, grouping practices, classroom atmosphere, and professional demeanor. (DB)