Effective instruction creates engaging and differentiated learning experiences that cater to the diverse needs of students. This Spotlight will help you identify how connecting tutoring to curriculum can improve instruction; review new research on how to give effective feedback to students; assess ways to get students engaged; uncover quick…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Breaking Barriers to Learning." Contents include: (1) The Importance of…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Equity Auditing." Contents include: (1) Using Equity Audits to Assess and…

Lofty ed-tech visions are always tempered by reality. Unexpected problems that arose during a launch of a 1-to-1 computing program and ambitious digital curriculum initiative in Los Angeles led to the dialing back of the effort. Financial, legal, and managerial repercussions continue to swirl in the wake. These problems should not prevent schools…

Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Curriculum Quality and includes: (1) Suggestions for Conducting Effective Teaching Demonstrations in Classrooms with Diverse Learners…

In the past, researchers believed that reading fluency developed as a result of good word recognition skills; however, it is now believed that fluency must be explicitly taught and practiced orally in order to develop. Readers who are not fluent in reading will be less motivated to practice, have more difficulty learning academic content, and…

A survey of 414 child care providers in southeastern Wisconsin reveals that cost as well as low wages and lack of benefits for workers can constrain providers from pursuing improvements to child-care quality. Of survey respondents, approximately half of whom are home-based and half center-based, 13% have at least three of five structural factors…

This is the second of two issues focused on teaching beginning reading skills to adults--both native and non-native English speakers. According to the latest research in reading, one of the best strategies for improving reading skills is systematic, explicit instruction in decoding skills or phonics. Although many critics have argued that the…

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) Is History... History?: Standards, Accountability, and the Future of Our Nation's Past (Robert Rothman); (2) Curriculum Access for All: How Teachers Can Use Universal Design…

In this two volume set, educators explore the intersection of gender and education. Their entries deal with educational theories, research, curricula, practices, personnel, and policies, but also with variations in the gendering of education across historical and cultural contexts. The various contributors discuss gender as a social construction.…

This is the fourth part of a 5-part survey of land-grant college education. Other parts are: (1) History and Educational Objectives of Land-Grant College Education; (2) The Liberal Arts and Sciences and Miscellaneous Subjects in Land-Grant Colleges (3) Agricultural Education in Land-Grant Colleges (including agricultural engineering)(4); and Home…