Spanish educational curriculum adopts a mathematical process-based approach, which encompasses problem solving, reasoning and proof, communication, connections and representation. A fundamental role in the integration of these processes in mathematics teaching is played by teachers' professional practice of designing tasks. According to this, our…

Access to core subject-area curriculum for students from immigrant backgrounds who are learning the dominant language of instruction has long been a barrier to equitable education around the world, especially in secondary schools. This article explores the promise of Complex Instruction (CI) to address barriers to access for such multilingual…

The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts have prompted enormous attention to issues of text complexity. The purpose of this article is to put text complexity in perspective by moving from a primary focus on the text itself to a focus on the comprehension of complex text. We argue that a focus on comprehension is at the heart of…

The purpose of the study was to address possible text complexity shifts across the past six decades for a continually best-selling first-grade core reading program. The anthologies of one publisher's seven first-grade core reading programs were examined using computer-based analytics, dating from 1962 to 2013. Variables were Overall Text…

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which commonly used core reading curricular materials supported research-based pedagogical features for oral vocabulary instruction in kindergarten. A document analysis was completed for 12 weeks of instructional materials from the teacher's editions of the 4 most widely used curricula.…

The Common Core Standards for the English Language Arts (CCSS) provide explicit guidelines matching grade-level bands (e.g., 2-3, 4-5) with targeted text complexity levels. The CCSS staircase accelerates text expectations for students across Grades 2-12 in order to close a gap in the complexity of texts typically used in high school and those of…

The common core state standards, which have now been adopted by 46 states and the District of Columbia, were designed around the goal of ensuring college and career readiness for all students. In this article, Rothman discusses research showing that a large proportion of U.S. high school graduates are ill-prepared to succeed in college or a…

Despite the fact that rigor is generally advocated for gifted learners, how it should be measured is not well defined. This lack of specificity in defining academic rigor often makes it difficult to determine if curriculum for gifted learners met their learning needs. With this need in mind and in response to the challenge of the North Carolina…

Potential students hoping to gauge the quality of courses at Portland State University might be forgiven for feeling confused. On the one hand, the University Studies program, which uses interdisciplinary seminars during the first two years to develop students' core skills, has been widely praised and emulated. The Council for Higher Education…

The University of Chicago met widespread national opposition ten years ago after it instituted a new, less demanding core curriculum to make way for more electives. It was part of a plan to make the curriculum significantly less demanding in order to attract more students and improve the school's bottom line in a time of putative budget deficits.…

Describes the International Baccalaureate (IB), a demanding core curriculum with rigorous examinations developed for secondary students in Europe. Discusses the reactions of several U.S. educators who have used the IB and presents sample questions from IB examinations. (RW)

This is an annotated bibliography of: readers, workbooks, conversation books, cultural sources and readings, flash cards, duplicating or line masters, and media kits submitted by publishers as applicable to French second language instruction from kindergarten through senior high school levels. (MSE)