Reading Apprenticeship is a research-based professional learning model and instructional framework designed by the Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI) at WestEd to improve student literacy and learning. Based on understandings of the close relationship between curricular reform and professional development (Heller & Greenleaf, 2007), Reading…

The document is from a featured presentation at the 2017 annual conference of the Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT) in Houston, Texas, November 9-11, 2017. When educators discuss student achievement, it is rare not to hear names like Robert Marzano and John Hattie. Both have clear, specific, and concrete strategies teachers can use to…

This study focused on preservice secondary teacher's use of the Understanding by Design (UbD), framework to create effective, engaging lessons for their future secondary level students. The subjects consisted of 69 secondary pre-service secondary education majors at a Texas University who were enrolled in a required course for admission into the…

This report examines the ongoing effort to revamp teacher evaluations. After collecting and synthesizing data from 17 states and the District of Columbia, it provides five major lessons for policymakers. New evaluation systems are just one part of sweeping changes in American schools. Because the number and extent of these changes are daunting,…

The Center on Standards, Alignment, Instruction, and Learning (C-SAIL), examines how college- and career-readiness (CCR) standards are implemented, if they improve student learning, and what instructional tools measure and support their implementation. This brief presents findings from C-SAIL's Implementation Study, which uses interview and survey…

The purpose of this study was to explore the evolution of collaborative practices of PLCs as they emerge when using technology based formative assessment via iFAIT or innovative Formative Assessment with Instruction and Technology developed by the researcher using audience response systems and the online data compiler, Eduphoria!. This study used…

Ninth grade often is considered a make-or-break year in determining whether students will be successful in high school and beyond. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) created the Texas Ninth Grade Transition and Intervention Program to ease the transition of at-risk students into high school and increase the likelihood that they graduate on time and…

After accepting the principal position at Farmersville (TX) Junior High, the author decided to increase instructional rigor through question mapping because of the success he saw using this instructional practice at his prior campus. Teachers are the number one influence on student achievement (Marzano, 2003), so question mapping provides a…

In this essay, the authors accomplish three tasks: (1) identify common limitations of programs designed to increase the success rates of Latina/o college students, (2) describe the common characteristics of programs that exhibit effective practice, and (3) provide a framework to guide colleges and universities in designing effective program…

An alarmingly high percentage of recent high school graduates are not prepared to succeed in college-level courses, and the impact of this educational shortcoming is substantial. Underprepared college students incur a monetary cost of enrolling in remedial courses, and states and taxpayers subsidize much of the overall cost of developmental…

Open concept schools were a popular architectural design in the 70s. They were built to provide large areas of flexible space for team teaching with small enclosed areas for restrooms, science labs, and special needs classrooms. Because there are no barriers and no closed doors, an attitude of inclusiveness is created merely by the building's…

Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) aimed to improve teacher practice and improve student outcomes at Lanier and International High Schools in AISD. Overall, QTEL was moderately effective based on the myriad of mixed program results.

The project operates year-round sites at Connell and at Moses Lake, Washington. A mobile site which operates in La Grulla, Texas during the home base period, sends teachers out to follow migrant families as they move north for seasonal farm work, operating the educational program in temporary sites along the northern work route. The project…