While performance assessment (PA) is well aligned to project-based learning (PjBL), teachers find it challenging to design and implement PA that is faithful to the authentic context of their projects and viewed externally as rigorous. In contrast to standardizing PA tasks--thereby diminishing authenticity--we formed a research-practice partnership…

In spring 2017, for the third year running, 10th graders at Boston Green Academy (BGA) presented GreenTalks, a showcase of research on food justice issues. The day Christina Kuriacose visited the school, students were presenting the PowerPoints they had put together. All of them included a map plotting out the proximity of their neighborhood or…

Given the common problem of incoherence in district reform efforts, this qualitative study sought to understand what conditions enable (and/or constrain) the efforts of Technical Assistance Organizations (TAOs) to align their products and services with each other and with the specific goals of a district. This paper explores the complexity of TAOs…

With the introduction of "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS"), teachers have been called to find meaningful and engaging ways to teach science content while incorporating engineering practices and, to a lesser extent, computing and computational thinking. The task becomes even more complex when they also have to…

The International High School at Langley Park (IHSLP) opened during the 2015-2016 school year. By the fourth year of operation, the school will be home to 400 English language learners (ELLs) new to the United States. Working in partnership with the Internationals Network for Public Schools, the school is designed around the "HELLO…

This case study described teachers with varying technology skills who were implementing the use of geospatial technology (GST) within project-based instruction (PBI) at varying grade levels and contexts 1 to 2 years following professional development. The sample consisted of 10 fifth- to ninth-grade teachers. Data sources included artifacts,…

For their ambitious project, called America at War, high school juniors at Da Vinci Charter Academy in the Davis (California) Joint Unified School District didn't just study history. They became historians. Their project offers compelling evidence of what students can accomplish through project-based learning (PBL), an instructional approach that…

Exhibitions are among the performance-based assessment methods that benefit students and educators. Students gain a sense of their capabilities and areas for growth and emerge better prepared for the future by completing projects and exhibitions that replicate the kinds of open-ended challenges faced by people working in a field of study. Through…

A recent employer survey sponsored by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills found that the skills new job entrants most need for success in the workplace--oral and written communication, time management, critical thinking, problem solving, personal accountability, and the ability to work effectively with others--are the areas in which recent…

Poster presentations are one way scientists present their latest research findings at professional meetings. This format also works well in the classroom and gives students the opportunity to communicate the results of their experiments (perhaps the most critical portion of their studies). In a performance-based task such as a poster session,…