Sustained professional development can support STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) reform. The authors describe a 3-year study of sustained professional development for 3 diverse urban schools across the salient factors of fidelity of implementation of project-based learning, development of professional learning communities,…

Hampton High School, located 10 miles north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, serves 1,100 students in grades 9-12. The school district has a strong academic tradition, and more than 90% of graduates continue their education. For four consecutive years, Hampton has been ranked among the top 6% of the nation's high schools by "Newsweek"…

School improvement efforts often focus on students who perform below grade level. These improvement efforts typically focus on improving instruction, often through a framework and professional development. The question remains, how do students who are gifted and talented respond to this type of instruction? We observed 48 students in their…

Mathematics curriculums and pedagogy do not cater to minority students. This paper will concentrate on Latina/o students with the understanding of the battle of all minorities and the poor with insensitive curriculums and un-culturalized schooling. With the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) law, schools must perform according to standards and levels…

The primary purpose of this twelve-week case study was to explore the use of a cooperative learning strategy with small groups of students in a 12th-grade economics class as diverse learners prepared for tests. The complete case study was based on observations of students, student surveys, focus group interviews, and interviews with educators at…

Constructivist pedagogies are generally not considered to support the teaching of mathematics for externally assessed examination-based courses. In large part, teachers have believed that such approaches are inefficient in covering a set syllabus. This article summarises the author's learning journey in Year 12 mathematics in 2004 where attempts…