As students enter the middle grades, many lose academic momentum and thus reach ninth grade unprepared. This lack of preparedness snowballs: It leads students to disengage from their studies, causing them to miss opportunities to get back on track in high school and thrive in the years beyond. Sixth grade is a particularly critical juncture.…

Many students rely on rote algorithms that have been recently taught as they look for a direct way to tackle challenging problems. Especially for students who have not succeeded in the typical high-school curriculum, problem-solving in a novel situation is complex, and students ask for a direct way to solve rather than persevering. The purpose of…

Background/Context: As part of a national movement to eliminate a global tracking system that disproportionately assigned underserved students to low-level math classes, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) mandated academic algebra for all students entering high school in 1997. The results were disappointing: low-skill students experienced elevated…

A qualitative approach was utilized in this study to examine four transition programs' best educational practices in building transition programs for eighth to ninth grade. An analysis of a retrospective study of the four transition programs provided data to support recommendations for best educational practices to build a transition program for…

This study sought to determine the factors that motivate teachers to differentiate curriculum for gifted students in a case study school in Victoria, Australia. For this purpose, 10 teachers from Year 7-9 mixed ability classes at the school were engaged in interviews about their practice of differentiation specifically for gifted students and the…

This qualitative, phenomenological research study explores the best practices that secondary Grades 6-12 educators employ when using microcontrollers in the classroom. Governmental and private organizations have investigated and promoted the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) and computer science in education (Code…