This article explores how arguments are made in student essays through the use of writing and visual resources. The data set comprises 54 essays with a passing grade from students in their final year of upper secondary school in Sweden. The data is analysed using a multimodal approach to knowledge representation on arguments in essays, involving…

Purpose: Teachers who demonstrate authentic care make culturally affirming connections with students and critically consider injustice in student communities. Authentic care is distinct from aesthetic care that only emphasizes academic achievement. A full version of care--its academic, cultural, and critical components--expands opportunities for…

Previous research has revealed that U.S. schools are hostile and unsafe for queer youth, yet school-based supports, such as LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum, are associated with more welcoming schools. Studies focusing on inclusive curriculum have implicitly characterized this curriculum didactically, in other words, as a direct intervention into the…

Although formative peer assessment (FPA) has become a prevailing learning activity in different educational settings, there are not enough suggestions on how to structure it with instructional supports in online environments to optimize its benefits. Therefore, this study aims to propose design guidelines for the development of an effective online…

To engage all learners, schools must offer career-pathway courses that combine academics and deeper learning. Gene Bottoms, until recently head of the Southern Regional Education Board, describes a transformation he believes must happen in US high schools--adopting curriculums that include intellectual rigor in career and technical education (CTE)…

Almost twenty years ago, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) published "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" (2000), which recommended that teachers should incorporate more writing into their math lessons, claiming that writing helps students "consolidate their thinking" (p. 402) by causing them…

Teachers often struggle to utilize reform-based teaching strategies in their first few years of teaching for many reasons (Ball, Thames & Phelps, Journal of Teacher Education 59, 389-407, 2008; Berlin & White, "International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education" 8, 97-115, 2010; Frykholm & Glasson, "School…

The transition from high school to college is challenging for many students, especially first-generation college students. College courses require disciplinary specific reading, writing, and thinking skills not often taught in high school, such as reading and analyzing complex texts and constructing original arguments in discipline-specific…

Traditional methods for teaching the Lewis dot structure model emphasize rule-based learning and often neglect the purpose and function of the model. Thus, many students are unable to extend their understanding of molecular structures in new contexts. The assignment described here addresses this issue by asking students to read and write about the…

The authors recently studied how well schools were teaching a a range of complex, higher-order skills. Their findings were grim. Out of 25 skills that researchers have found to be critical to success in life and work, just three were the focus of most instruction: recall, application, and (occasionally) analysis. Even when teachers explicitly made…

A mathematical investigation (MI) encapsulates the reform movement in mathematics education by addressing content and process simultaneously and providing a novel opportunity for students to develop thinking skills and good mental habits. However, introducing MI to teachers and students who are used to routinised teaching approaches and…

This study documents how an urban high school science teacher engaged her English Language Learners (ELLs) in the discourse-intensive science and engineering practices of (1) arguing from evidence and (2) obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. The teacher taught an introductory integrated science course to classes with a large…

This paper reports on findings from a classroom study on the introduction and effectiveness of new methods of instruction using English literature in a Japanese high school setting. It is based on data compiled during a two-year research project. In this paper, we will detail the investigation and findings from an analysis of student questionnaire…

The authors of this article are two teacher educators who worked collaboratively to co-teach an interdisciplinary English and US history class to eleventh-grade students in an urban high school. They wanted to ensure the methods they were teaching preservice teachers were current and effective. The article discusses the foundational beliefs that…

Drawing on theoretical and empirical research concerning the relationship between academic work and student learning, this article explores the following questions: What skills are required to execute the academic tasks teachers assign on a daily basis? How do teachers and administrators interpret the task demands represented in instructional…