Simulation pedagogies, while offering powerful potential benefits to students, often have difficulty in combining two desirable outcomes: experiencing the consequential stakes associated with true crisis situations, on the one hand, with the direct relatability associated with more "realistic" hands-on scenarios, on the other. In this…

This knowledge brief is part of a continuing series designed to inform California education leaders about key policy issues related to teachers and teaching in the Golden State. The brief outlines the current policy environment surrounding math instruction in California, summarizes California information from a nationwide teacher survey on…

Background: Classroom discourse featuring meaning making supports students achieving discipline-specific learning. However, moving beyond recitation requires developing beliefs, skills, structures, and practices. Any theorizing we do about developing discussion practice must attend to realities of culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms.…

The purpose of this qualitative explanatory bounded single case study was to seek to understand how the use of curriculum that is influenced by experiential learning theory and based in scenario-based learning as an instructional methodology in a law enforcement academy influences the self-efficacy and job readiness of peace officers with less…

This mixed-method study examines the relationship between classroom discussion and student performance in twenty 3rd and 4th grade classrooms in northern California with 50% English language learners (ELLs). Discussions were scored on features including use of multiple approaches for solving problems, students' opportunities to speak, equitable…

ELLs need to engage with topics and situations in the classroom that equip them with the social, professional and civic cultural skills to address real-life interactions for their present realities, as well as their future realities (American, 2009, Garett, 2005; Perez & Morrison, 2016). Teachers face the challenge of balancing conventional…

This 13th report in WestEd's evaluation of the K-8 Early Implementers Initiative for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provides an extensive response to the following question: What does NGSS science teaching look like in the classroom? The report first discusses Initiative teachers' experiences with four instructional practices that…

Drawing on a multispecies ethnographic encounter with a physically disabled feral kitten, Whiskey, I take an intersectional theoretical approach to place disability studies in conversation with ecofeminist perspectives. In so doing I ask: How does a culture that produces disabled and unwanted humans render animals deserving of the same label? And…

A growing body of research explores theoretical models of teaching for social justice in P-12 classrooms and in teacher education. However, many of these models fail to account for the relationship between teachers' social justice frameworks and their classroom practices. In this article, I use vignettes drawn from a recent study of secondary…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to enhance and complement teaching about resource system feedbacks and environmental modelling. Students were given an interactive exercise based on a research model (ForeseerTM), developed by an inter-disciplinary research team, that explores the interconnectivity of water, energy and land resources. Two…

Grounded in discourse analytic and language socialization paradigms, this dissertation examines issues of language and social identity construction in children attending a Russian Heritage Language Orthodox Christian Saturday School in California. By conducting micro-analysis of naturally-occurring talk-in-interaction combined with longitudinal…

Urban youth in the United States often experience daily human rights violations such as racism and violence. Therefore, Human Rights Education (HRE) can strengthen their understanding of these issues and unleash their power to act toward positive change. This qualitative study attempted to gain a deeper understanding of the use of performance arts…

This paper describes the signature role played by accomplished, experienced teachers in professional learning communities, and the importance that these practitioners make their teaching public and shared. In so doing, the authors describe how accomplished practices can be shared between classrooms and between practitioners with varying levels of…

This case study investigates the development of the understanding of constructivist theory among students in a Masters level elementary teacher education program within a particular course. The focus of the study is a seminar entitled "Advanced Seminar in Child Development". The questions explored include: How do students' ideas of…