Writing on-demand, text-based analytical essays is a challenging skill to master. Novice writers, such as the sixth grade US students in this study, may lack background knowledge of how to compose an effective essay, the self-efficacy skills, and the goal setting skills that will help with completing this task in accomplished ways. This sequential…

This paper describes one child voice enabling strategy that allowed children in sixth class in an urban primary school in Ireland to have a say in the organisation of their learning. The lack of involvement that children have in the organisation of their school week was questioned and this prompted an investigation into a new approach to enabling…

We present a youth development intervention program and its evaluation. Deriving from the theories of agentic self and positive youth development, we adopted a holistic perspective that focused on social agency with growth mindset and self-efficacy conceptualized as its motivators. The intervention consisted of 14 weekly sessions with 508 sixth…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the conditions and challenges that facilitate teacher professional learning through the implementation of pedagogical mentoring (PM) within the Chilean school context. Design/methodology/approach: This study employed a qualitative methods approach, utilizing an instrumental case study. As the…

As environmental and sustainability issues are becoming embedded in the school curriculum, there is a need to understand how environmental identity develops within the complex social structure of the classroom. Reflection is a potentially valuable classroom process to consider as it intersects student learning, identity work, and agency. This…

This article aims to explore the contribution of action research to the development of active participation of pupils in the context of the sustainable school. Action research is looked at not simply as a methodological tool for the exploration of participation, but as a key element of the educational actions that promote the active participation…

It is imperative that schools and communities give students opportunities to participate in active citizenship and prepare them with the important skills and dispositions needed to become informed citizens. Action civics is a promising practice that puts students at the heart of civics learning by providing them with the opportunity to learn about…

Studies have reported that pre-service teachers often enter teacher preparation programs with beliefs and attitudes not conducive to teaching the subject conceptually. In the USA, the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics have brought a renewed focus on procedural and conceptual understanding. However, many U.S. pre-service teachers have…

Research has begun to show that certain schoolwide characteristics--such as student-centered learning environments, leadership, and safety--can be important for improving student outcomes. In keeping with these insights, school improvement efforts around the country are becoming less narrowly focused on the performance of individual students and…

Can the National Board certification process support school improvement where large proportions of students score below grade level on standardized tests? This SCOPE study examines a project that sought to seize and capitalize upon the learning opportunities embedded in the National Board certification process, particularly opportunities to learn…

Can the National Board certification process support school improvement where large proportions of students score below grade level on standardized tests? This SCOPE study examines a project that sought to seize and capitalize upon the learning opportunities embedded in the National Board certification process, particularly opportunities to learn…

The development and implementation of a comprehensive and systemic career development program, The Career Institute, provided the mechanism through which one school community addressed students' career development and college readiness needs while also attending to their academic and personal-social development. The Career Institute consisted of a…

This article synthesises an investigation of the making of a didactic programme as a consequence of the excess of consumption of audiovisual messages and the non critical and non-thoughtful attitude the youngsters have towards it. As an answer to this problem, the authors have produced a didactical programme about cinema and its language, the main…

A challenge that professional development coordinators and instructional leaders face is designing and implementing professional development that is the most effective for improving teaching and learning in their school. To determine what is the perceptions and beliefs of elementary teachers' value of and responses to their professional…

The literature is sated with calls for more and better communication between home and school. Teachers believe that parents should be more involved, but seem at a loss as to how to make that happen, and parents often feel disconnected to their child's teacher and the school. Few would argue that it is the responsibility of classroom teachers to…