Rural schools, especially smaller ones, offer enormous opportunities for teachers to get to know their students and to cultivate their academic talents. However, students with potential in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) face specific obstacles to having their talents fully realized in rural schools. Joni Lakin, Tamra…

In a time of social and political unrest and challenge, teaching mindfulness skills to the next generation is a wise investment that will bring positive rewards to all of our futures as we become better able to meet life's challenges. Arnett (2011) said there is a growing awareness of the unique challenges faced by young people in "emerging…

Game-based learning has received more focus as a way to engage students and increase interest in mathematics. Game-based learning should be integrated with effective practices for teaching mathematics, though these is a need for further research on effective implementation models. The purpose of this article is to describe two modes of game-based…

Students from underrepresented populations--females, working class, and youth from marginalized racial/ethnic groups--are less likely than their middle-class Asian and White male peers to study computer science (CS) in college. The dearth of CS undergraduates from these groups contributes to projected labor force shortages. Sources of the dilemma…

The article discusses a year-long outreach activity, "Sparking interest in German." Five University of Utah German students engaged in the AATG/Goethe-Institut-sponsored SPARK program and taught German to local middle schoolers. At the heart of this outreach project were questions such as whether student-run outreach programs could truly…

Background: Youth violence is a significant problem affecting community health. Community-academic partnerships can advance youth nonviolence education by synergizing the strengths of collaborators while working toward a common goal. We describe a collaboration between an urban public middle school, community nonprofit, and university-based…

This design-based research investigated the context and impact of a three-year practice-based professional development (PD) project introducing science teachers to pedagogical shifts required for full implementation and synergy among disciplinary literacy components of "Next Generation Science Standards" and "Common Core State…

"ACCESS", A Culture Creating Effective Systems for Success, was a three-year Investing in Innovation (i3) development grant funded by the Office of Innovation and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. The "ACCESS" grant led the way for a district-wide redesign of educational practices based on the novel approach of…

In this article, we discuss a partnership with a district-wide Ethnic Studies (ES) program, the Ethnic Studies Professional Development (ESPD) project, through which we designed and led a year-long teacher professional development series for middle and high school ES teachers in one school district. We describe the context of the ESPD project, our…

This case study explores the degree to which mathematical knowledge for teaching can be developed by prospective teachers in a multi-site teacher education context. The majority of the article focuses on a description of the target middle level mathematics endorsement program, including distance-based instructional norms, community building…

Service-learning college courses and service-learning components of traditional courses combine discipline-specific learning objectives with service activities in the community. "Chemistry Discovery" is a one-unit service-learning course focused on chemistry outreach at the University of Arizona. In a collaborative learning environment,…

Student-Question-Based Inquiry (SQBI) represents a form of inquiry where pupils design their research questions, hypotheses, and protocols. The "Savanturiers" program aims at helping teachers overcome their potential apprehension of SQBI by matching hundreds of elementary and middle school teachers with mentors. These mentors are usually…

The authors examined how middle and high school students participating in a literacy-and-songwriting initiative in Detroit, Michigan, experienced moments of possibility that supported the youth in envisioning themselves as college bound. The authors explain how they drew from culturally relevant and sustaining educational approaches to design…

This paper highlights an investigation of how middle school students responded to a theatre performance designed to portray science as a humanistic and relatable endeavour that youth -- similar to the youth in the audience -- engage in during their everyday lives. The play included in this study was generated as a part of a design research project…

Although not new, participatory art practices are finding their way into art education theory; however, practices have yet to take hold in schools or teacher practicum. In this qualitative study, four teacher candidates' efforts to implement two socially engaged art projects in a middle school are examined to better understand how participatory…