Educational technologies have advanced one of the most important visions of educational reformers, to customize formal and informal learning to individuals. The application of a complex systems framework to the design of learning ecologies suggests that each of a series of ten desirable and malleable features stimulates or propels the other ten,…

School systems' central office administrators sometimes take paths that seem easiest, even when it is clear the paths will not lead to sustained positive results that are needed--particularly in terms of twice-exceptional (2e) students. To appropriately address the needs of 2e learners, we must ensure that central office administrative services…

In this one-stop resource for middle and high school teachers, Kristina J. Doubet and Jessica A. Hockett explore how to use differentiated instruction to help students be more successful learners--regardless of background, native language, learning style, motivation, or school savvy. They explain how to: (1) create a healthy classroom community in…

Personalization, the idea that teaching can be tailored to each students' needs, has been a goal for the educational enterprise for at least 2,500 years (Regian, Shute, & Shute, 2013, p.2). Recently personalization has picked up speed with the advent of mobile computing, the Internet and increases in computer processing power. These changes…

The academic model of this charter high school for boys in Rochester, New York has four pillars: 1) strong relationships, 2) personalized year-round academics, 3) character education, and 4) career preparation. The two-page grantee profiles from Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) provide factual information about the secondary school and…

Caliber: Beta Academy is reimagining education as we know it, with the belief that the innovations in its model will allow 100% of its students to graduate ready to attend and succeed in a competitive four-year college and beyond. The academic model of the school features personalized learning plans, blended learning for English and math,…

In this series of candid reflective writings, a former high school teacher interrogates her teaching practice, students' identity development, the giftedness label, and differentiated instruction.

Teachers make numerous decisions each day, yet processes undergirding these decisions are elusive and have not been the subject of many in-depth investigations within special education. The purpose of this qualitative investigation, therefore, was to complete a micro-level analysis of the influence of curriculum on 11 middle school teachers'…

Objectives: To explore differentiated instruction within a calculus curriculum. For college students to learn concentration, motivation and the impact of academic achievement; explore the attitudes and ideas of students on differentiated instruction within a calculus curriculum; build up the diversity of mathematics education within varied…

This paper argues that it is very possible, even in times of monetary austerity, to decrease the perceived costs of inclusion by resurrecting the vocabulary of belonging, friendship and love. Qualitative research was conducted with special educators' (n = 33) regarding curricular access decisions for students with significant cognitive…

Children who cannot spell fluently are likely to encounter difficulty in writing texts across the curriculum. Furthermore, spelling is often a component in high stakes tests, the results of which have significant implications for students and schools. In the context of debates on teacher quality, it is pertinent to examine the views of early…

Technology, engineering, and design (TED) education is replete with hands-on projects and activities to engage students in project- and problem-based learning. TED design briefs provide a realistic context for problems so that students are immersed in as realistic a problem scenario as possible. This article provides a model of best practice for…

With more than 35 years of combined experience teaching English language learners (ELLs), Larry Ferlazzo and Katie Hull Sypnieski understand how students learn. Together, they have written a series of books on the topic, and in this article they share their insights. Chief among them is that ELLs require particular instructional strategies to help…

The paper aims to present research results on using Web 2.0 tools for learning personalisation. In the work, personalised Web 2.0 tools selection method is presented. This method takes into account student's learning preferences for content and communication modes tailored to the learning activities with a view to help the learner to quickly and…

This paper outlines new educational policy initiatives that have been recently introduced to Australian schooling contexts and describes the challenges of providing rich and empowering professional development opportunities for classroom teachers and educational leaders in an era of heightened accountability and change. A framework for large-scale…