Out-of-school time programs are well-positioned to enhance students' Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) skills, increase their interest in STEM fields, and increase their engagement in learning overall. In its 2011 Request for Proposals (RFP) for Out-of-School Time (OST) programs for youth in the elementary and middle grades, the…

'Literacy in the Science Classroom Project" was a three-year professional development (PD) program supporting minority-language secondary teachers' use of effective language-based instructional strategies for teaching science. Our primary objective was to determine how teacher beliefs and practices changed over time and how these were enacted…

This article outlines research into innovative language teaching practices that make optimal use of technology and Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) for an integrated approach to Project-Based Learning. It is based on data compiled during a 10- week language project that employed videoconferencing and "machinima" (short video clips…

As English is one of the most spoken languages in the globally interconnected world of today, many Saudi universities are enrolling their EFL students in summer intensive English programs at US universities. The main purpose is to enhance their EFL students' oral competencies. This new policy is, in fact, the result of the failure of CLT practices…

The challenges of ensuring the right to education are numerous, especially when working with marginalised populations in fragile contexts. Despite having the legislation, strong constitutional support, and even educational innovations designed to guarantee the right to education, a major gap exists in Colombia between political intentions and the…

This investigation concerns the latest teaching and learning innovations in Chinese engineering higher education with special reference to Tsinghua University in Beijing, a leading university of China. Set in the context of rapid enrolment expansion in Chinese higher education since entering the 21st century, the study addresses how university…

As stated by Valero-Garcés (2006, p. 38), the new scenario including public service providers and users who are not fluent in the language used by the former has opened up new ways of linguistic and cultural mediation in current multicultural and multilingual societies. As a consequence, there is an ever increasing need for translators and…

This paper reports on the early stages of a locally funded research and development project taking place at Rennes 2 university. It aims at developing a comprehensive pedagogical framework for pronunciation training for adult learners of English. This framework will combine a direct approach to pronunciation training (face-to-face teaching) with…

With online programs growing across the nation, virtual teachers are continually working to reengage students. Online learning has the potential to reach a diverse group of students and offer them equal access to learning. In this article, the author describes her online English class for high school students, and states that she has been…

Due to demographic changes, there is a growing number of adolescent students who learn in classrooms in which their teacher and peers come from cultural and linguistic backgrounds that are different from theirs. In these diverse classrooms, teachers need to be able to facilitate language learning spaces that are welcoming for all children,…

Experiential learning theory places experience at the center of learning. Kolb's four-stage cycle of experiential learning suggests that effective learners must engage fully in each stage of the cycle--feeling, reflection, thinking, and action. This research assesses the alignment of Kolb's experiential learning cycle with the week-long Summer…

For many years English learners (ELs) have lagged behind native speakers of English in the academic community. In an era of accountability, the pressure to achieve and maintain Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status is increasing the burden of success on ELs, especially when trying to learn a second language. The population of English learners is…

In music education, current assessment trends emphasize student reflection, tracking progress over time, and formative as well as summative measures. This view of assessment requires instrumental music educators to modernize their approaches without interfering with methods that have proven to be successful. To this end, the Longitudinal Scales…

A teacher is doing something right when his high school students--kids with limited English, no less--form groups and begin discussing a lesson on quadratic equations at the start of class, without any teacher direction. Bondie, Gaughran, and Zusho describe "discussion routines" that teachers at International Community High School in the…

Feedback provides a vehicle for integrating all components of formative instructional practices: clear learning targets, evidence of student learning, and student ownership in the process. Feedback is the keystone to formative instructional practices as it is one of the most powerful instructional tools available. This paper (a) describes the role…