In the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), problem-solving skills are part of science and engineering practices for K-12 students in the United States. Evaluating these skills for the youngest learners is difficult due to the lack of established measures. This paper reports on our process of developing an observation instrument to measure…

Secondary schools have managed significant changes in the Key Stage 4 curriculum they offer in response to changes in performance tables and accountability measures from 2010 onwards. In this piece, the authors assess how these changes are starting to affect the educational choices and successes of pupils at the ages of 16 and 18. This is…

Play is so important that it is declared as one of the human rights by the United Nations. Although it is focused on children, play does "not" stop there. In the 1990s the author designed and facilitated a blended curriculum for a Head Start Program. The instructional goal was to introduce and get the children to effectively and…

This randomized controlled trial tested whether teaching quality in Head Start classrooms could be improved with the addition of evidence-based curriculum components targeting emergent language or literacy and social-emotional development and the provision of associated professional development support. Participants were lead and assistant…

In 2001, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched a 10-year, multi-million dollar initiative, the Washington State Achievers Program (WSA), to increase opportunities for low-income students to attend postsecondary institutions in Washington State. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation granted funds to the College Success Foundation…

An interdisciplinary curriculum program was introduced at a suburban high school almost 1,700 students when the school became eligible for a Chapter 1 program grant for academically at risk students. The interdisciplinary program, which integrated English, Algebra, Biology, and World History, developed and was expanded to all students, including…

This document is a collection of three papers: (1) "Some Variables Why So Few Black High School Graduates Attend Post-High School Area Vocational Schools," by Max Farning, (2) "The Role of Simulation in Teaching Complex Problem Solving Skills," by Curtis R. Finch and Patrick A. O'Reilly, and (3) "Investigation of the…

The "Thinking Actively in a Social Context" (TASC) project, currently underway with African-American high school pupils and teachers in KwaZulu/Natal schools (South Africa), stresses the systematic development of thinking and problem-solving skills. The program has been very successful with relatively high achieving students but requires…

This article describes how Everyday Mathematics, a new program that is being used for kids at all levels across the US, is now a part of a curriculum change in the New York City school system. Instead of teaching standard ways to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and long division and then drilling students with worksheets, teachers…

The purpose of the project evaluated in this third-party report was for the North Central Technical Institute in Wausau, Wisconsin, to provide career education to the adult population (including youth 16 years of age and over) in school and out of school, in the area served by the North Central Vocational, Technical and Adult Education District.…

A project was designed to measure the effects of integrating basic reading and mathematical instruction with prevocational instruction through the addition of a basic skills resource room, a technical simulation unit, and guidance and counseling to the ninth grade vocational experience program for educable mentally handicapped and disadvantaged…

This description of career education activities in Jefferson County (Louisville, Kentucky) was prepared as part of a study conducted to identify evaluated, exemplary career education activities which represent the best of the current career education programs and practices referred to in Public Law 93-380. (See CE 018 212 for the final report of…