The study aims to gain a better understanding of the national large-scale curriculum process in terms of the used implementation strategies, the function of the reform, and the curriculum coherence perceived by the stakeholders accountable in constructing the national core curriculum in Finland. A large body of school reform literature has shown…

Research indicates that the social and emotional well being of students impacts academic outcomes; however, due to a limited amount of class time, the counseling core curriculum that addresses these needs often takes a back seat to academic learning. This article proposes a paradigm shift where teachers and school counselors collaborate to…

In response to requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), state policymakers have made concerted efforts to align state standards with state accountability assessments. When strongly aligned and articulated, state standards and assessments can provide a clear and coherent set of expectations for students and educators. How do districts…

Siedentop and Locke (1997) proposed three critical elements that must exist in our profession to make a difference and achieve systemic success in physical education (SSPE): (a) quality PE in the schools, (b) effective physical education teacher education (PETE)programs, and (c) a working relationship between the two. Using Cuban's (1992)…

Cooperative learning is viable yet generally underutilized method of instruction at the college level (Paulsen and Faust, 2008). This paper highlights the work of teacher educator Dr. Paul J. Vermette in his implementation of cooperative learning based practices in a graduate level Multicultural education course. In analyzing the "Five…

To give states the information they need to sustain hard-fought education reform effectively, Achieve conducted research on state education reforms that have been sustained successfully for over a decade or more. Funded by the GE Foundation, Achieve hopes this work will help other state leaders, wherever they may be on their road to reform,…