In a regional gathering called the Youth Water Summit, high school students present projects that respond to the driving question behind their science curriculum: "How can you address a significant water resource challenge in your community's watershed?" Students exhibit scientific posters, interactive presentations, films, art projects,…

The aim of this study is (a) to investigate the usefulness of Bloom's revised taxonomy (RBT) for classification of standards, (b) to examine the differences and similarities between pre-service teachers' and in-service teachers' classification of the same standards and (c) to determine which standards are vague and broad. The 45 standards, in the…

When high school students are asked what's the best part of science class, many will say it's the field trips. Students enjoy engaging in authentic, community-based science outside the classroom. To capitalize on this, Patrick Willis created the Bird Box Survey Project for his introductory field biology class. The project takes students…

This article addresses teaching for skill and knowledge competency in high school based on the National Standards and grade-level outcomes. The outcomes guide teachers away from a curriculum that emphasizes competition through team sports, which appeals to just the highly-skilled and competitive students, toward one that is inclusive of all skill…

There are three "faces" of Technology Education. What is meant by this? It means that more emphasis should be given to the students who take industrial technology education (ITE) classes at the high school level with less emphasis given to standards, objectives, or outcomes developed by national organizations. Viewed in this light, three…

In an era of new standards and emerging accountability systems, an understanding of the supports needed to aid teachers and students in making necessary transitions in mathematics teaching and learning is critical. Given the established research base demonstrating the importance of justification and reasoning in students' mathematics learning and…

Distractor-driven multiple-choice assessment items and Rasch modeling were used as diagnostic tools to investigate students' understanding of middle school chemistry ideas. Ninety-one items were developed according to a procedure that ensured content alignment to the targeted standards and construct validity. The items were administered to 13360…