One-quarter of households in the state of Missouri are connected to an onsite sewage treatment system. These systems are necessary due to the risks human effluent poses to public health and our states' aquifers and waterways. For these systems to function correctly, a thorough and accurate evaluation of the soils and landforms onsite must be…

Research favors active learning through STEM disciplines to improve understanding; however, opportunities for well-aligned STEM integration presented challenges for Northside Independent School District (NISD). First, state standards did not align across contents and grade levels. Second, the standardized tests created a lack of flexibility to…

To date six states (Oregon, California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, and New Jersey) have adopted legislation that amends curricular standards to include affirming representations of LGBTQ+ people and identities in schools. Nonetheless, the legislation falls short of clarifying what constitutes an LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum. Thus, the decision of…

Many initiatives aim to ensure students can access inquiry-based learning that positions them to address global problems such as climate change and economic inequality. However, in the U.S., curriculum that centers students' positions as activists is rare, particularly in schools that serve marginalized students. In this study, inquiry and…

Early learning and development standards (ELDS) describe the knowledge, skills, and dispositions young children should demonstrate before kindergarten. This article describes a review of state ELDS for children from birth to 5 years of age to determine if they included information and guidance about the learning needs of young children with…

Over the past several decades, educational policymakers around the world have made changes based on three competencies they believe students will need to be successful in an increasingly globalized society: Knowledge, skills, and mindset. While many advocacy efforts in music education have focused on the first two global competency domains…

A small group of middle level teacher candidates collaborated to create place-based integrated curriculum. These candidates and the authors, two teacher educators, selected two local sites, visited them together, and debriefed these visits. State and national standards as well as guidelines for integrated curriculum (e.g., Beane, 1997; Nesin &…

This brief from the Region 2 Comprehensive Center, in consultation with the New York State Education Department, presents seven state case studies that illustrate the implementation of performance-based assessments. It contributes to the growing research on performance-based assessment, highlighting specific state-level policies that include…

In 2019, the State of South Carolina (USA) adopted new social studies standards with an emphasis on disciplinary skills in addition to content throughout the social studies areas of history, geography, civics, and economics. These skills were introduced for all grades, kindergarten through grade 12. Geography courses were added in grades 3 and 7.…

Project-Based Learning (PjBL) curricula offer unique opportunities for student engagement, yet they do not guarantee an engaging classroom. Furthermore, there has been little scholarly work on PjBL pedagogy that supports student engagement. This qualitative research study explores enactment of a PjBL Advanced Placement Physics 1 curriculum and the…

Teachers present their perceptions when designing and mapping curriculum to implement standards-based instruction and assessment. It appears that teachers are willing but not always able to make curriculum and instructional decisions. Participation of teachers varies from district to district. When curriculum is given to teachers as part of their…

This qualitative research study sought to understand teachers' resistance to English language educational change in Kyrgyzstan. The participants were six English teachers working in both rural and urban public schools in Kyrgyzstan. Analysis of non-participant observation and post-observation interviews revealed that, despite changes in English…

High school students' prevalence as food-service industry employees and their lack of food safety knowledge make them prime candidates for food safety education. The researchers developed a food-safety-focused curriculum for high school students aligned with Indiana Academic Standards for Agriculture, Advanced Life Science: Food. The curriculum…

Rapid adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the Race to the Top (RTTT) competition, and backlash around these policies created widespread uncertainty among state educational agencies (SEAs). SEAs may have not had a clear direction about how to support standards implementation in a new context, and therefore, may have looked to their…

Existing research in global and social studies education has focused on methods, tools, and instruments to impart dispositions and skills for global learning, with little research pertaining to key global content knowledge. In this manuscript, the authors consider the use of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a prospective global…