Due to the implementation of No Child Left Behind and the Common Core State Standards, disciplinary literacy has become a vital component of social studies instruction in middle and secondary classrooms. This paper determines the degree to which nine middle and high school social studies teachers were successful in designing integrated learning…

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to gain an understanding of what school innovation looks like as well as how school and district leaders address the concept. Technology has forever changed society. We must be careful not to confuse school innovation as the implementation of technology in the classroom. Educational leaders face the…

Policies that require the use of information about student achievement to evaluate teacher performance are becoming increasingly common across the United States, but there is some question as to how or whether to use student test-based teacher evaluations when student assessments change. We bring empirical evidence to bear on this issue.…

In this article I discuss findings of a qualitative study that explores the insights of a group of teachers about implementation of the New York State Education Department (NYSED) Bilingual Common Core Progressions (BCCP). Moreover, I explain teachers' suggestions on best pedagogical practices that could be used in the instruction of multilingual…

Immigration is a public issue that needs student exploration. This cross-disciplinary study brings awareness of diverse cultures by studying immigration through personal history in a multiethnic urban elementary school. Research suggests the importance of integrating assets students bring into the classroom in instruction. Changing pedagogies also…

This study sought to determine the relationship between teachers' attitudes toward the Common Core State Standards and three predetermined factors. These factors were (1) teachers' attitudes toward the practicality of pedagogical shift three, balancing informational and literary texts, (2) teachers' attitudes toward school support with the…

Although U.S. schools that provide bilingual education typically must negotiate English-only policies and pressures to sustain their programming over time, little is known about what this entails at the individual school level. Our research examines in detail how the leaders of an elementary school in New York City with a Spanish-English…

This study presents how beginning teachers create and teach an English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum in urban schools in the context of an educational reform movement driven by mandates such as Common Core State Standards (CCSS), high stakes tests, and prescribed curricula. They serve in schools with each using unique and individual curricula due…

The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) was created to support teachers in implementing college and career readiness standards in order to teach literacy skills throughout the content areas. Teachers work collaboratively with coaches to further develop their expertise and design standards-driven, literacy-rich writing assignments within their…

Using various strategies, the City University of New York--a large, public, urban university system--engaged hundreds of faculty across 15 colleges in integrating the Common Core state standards (CCSS) in college coursework. Against the backdrop of a dynamic political climate, this CCSS initiative is described along with findings from a…

Through the study of The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, pre-service art teachers learn the about interdisciplinary design and the importance of using discipline-specific literacy strategies alongside the materials and methods of their craft. The creativity and enthusiasm with which these preservice teachers approached the work convinced us that…

Expository writing--the kind of writing that explains and informs--is essential for success in school and the workplace. Students who cannot write at a competent level struggle in college. With the advent of e-mail and the Internet, an increasing number of jobs require solid writing skills. No matter what path students choose in life, the ability…

Using administrative longitudinal data from five states, we study how value-added measures of teacher performance are affected by changes in state standards and assessments. We first document the stability of teachers' value-added rankings during transitions to new standard and assessment regimes and compare our findings to stability during stable…

To better understand how and why students are accessing Facebook to support their college readiness and access, the author engaged in a research study with a small group of twelfth-grade students during the 2012-13 school year. The study used a Social Participatory Youth Co-Researcher (SPYCR) methodology to conduct interviews with peer…

Over the past few years, students by the thousands have refused to take their state's standardized tests. This "opt-out" phenomenon has prompted debate in state legislatures and in Washington, putting states at risk of losing Title I funds. Advocates describe opt-out as a grassroots movement of parents concerned about overtesting,…