"Personalized Learning in the Middle Grades" shows how teachers in grades 5--8 can leverage the use of personalized learning plans (PLPs) to increase student agency and engagement, helping youth to establish learning goals aligned with their interests and assess their own learning--particularly around essential skills that cut across…

Now revised and updated, with many new lesson plans and a new chapter on writing instruction, this trusted book guides upper elementary teachers to design and implement a research-based literacy program. The expert authors show how to teach and assess students in differentiated small groups, and explain how instruction works in a tiered…

This topic brief is one in a series on personalized learning prepared for Conversations with Innovators, 2018. Student voice is a critical element in implementing student-driven personalized learning. Yet it is one that is often marginalized or ignored. Student-driven personalization is a critical concept in the pursuit of a personalized learning…

Over the last decade, most states have adopted new college- and career-readiness standards in math and English language arts (ELA), standards that call for the mastery of ambitious content and raise expectations for student success and classroom instruction. To support teachers in the implementation of these new, challenging standards, the Center…

Communication is a critical skill for students to possess in preparation for college and their future careers. One way for students to communicate their ideas in all content areas is through writing. The English language arts portion of the Common Core State Standards (CCSSI 2010a) specifically states that students need to understand perspectives…

Strategic grouping can transform reading instruction in the middle grades from a hit-or-miss learning experience to a targeted, responsive one. This book features a practical and field-tested model for small-group differentiated reading instruction in Grades 4-8. Jennifer Berne and Sophie C. Degener offer a clear, detailed discussion of how to…

Grounded in theory and best-practices research, this practical text provides teachers with 40 strategies for using fiction and non-fiction trade books to teach in five key content areas: language arts and reading, social studies, mathematics, science, and the arts. Each strategy provides everything a teacher needs to get started: a classroom…

Tens of thousands of students begin each new school year with the hope that they will finally find "the" teacher who will help them succeed as readers, writers, and learners. This book shows how teachers can provide the type of differentiated instruction that struggling readers need by drawing on students' individual and cultural backgrounds, as…

This practical guide describes ways of working with learners diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) by using Multiple Intelligences Theory. Written for all educators as well as parents, it examines curricular, instructional, school partnering, and leadership issues that may arise for these students in grades K-8. Supported…

This publication helps educators create differentiated reading instruction experiences for their students by showing the relationship between two distinct resources: Student Center Activities (SCAs) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSSs). Reading specialists, reading coaches, and teachers will find this document useful in lesson planning, as…

With a unique focus on grades 4 and 5, this book explains how to design and implement a research-based reading program that helps all students build major literacy skills (word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). The expert authors present ready-to-use activities, strategies, and lesson plans, along with detailed guidance for…

This book demonstrates a five-part framework for teachers, reading specialists, and literacy coaches who want to help their least engaged students become powerful readers. Merging theory and practice, the guide offers successful strategies to reach your "struggling" learners. The authors show how you can "turn-around" your instructional practice,…

Young people entering post-secondary institutions or seeking employment generally require senior high school diplomas. There are few jobs available that do not require advanced levels of many kinds of literacy and most employers will consider only those applicants who have completed senior high school, even for entry-level positions. When English…

The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a program evaluation conducted to examine the effectiveness of the Schools Attuned program in a north Texas school district. Schools Attuned was developed by a professor of pediatrics, Dr. Mel Levine (2002), as a professional development model to train teachers to identify cognitive and…