Direct assessments of instructional practice (e.g., classroom observations) are necessary to identify and eliminate opportunity gaps in students' learning of mathematics. This study examined 114 middle school mathematics classrooms in four instructionally focused urban districts. Results from the Instructional Quality Assessment identified high…

We used mixed methods to examine differences in the early writing development of children, identified as at risk of literacy difficulties, in the context of Reading Recovery (RR). From an extant dataset of 24 children, we identified those who made fast progress (n = 6) and those who did not (n = 8). We studied change over time in the sources of…

This research study, grounded in experiential learning theory, utilized a draw-and-explain assessment to measure change in secondary students' knowledge before and after an experiential field trip. Our results indicated that the secondary students (aged 15-18 years) had pre-existing knowledge of the local delta area that included both abiotic and…

This study explored student teachers' cognitive presence and learning achievements by integrating the SOP[superscript 2] Model in which self-study (S), online group discussion (O) and double-stage presentations (P[superscript 2]) were implemented in the flipped classroom. The research was conducted at a university in Taiwan with 31 student…

In this study, we examined the ability of grades 1-8 pre-service teachers (PSTs) to engage in thinking about patterns, relationships, and functional rules. Using the algebraic habit of mind Building Rules to Represent Functions as a framework, we examined whether and how well our PSTs (n = 18) used seven features of this habit of mind: organize…

This article describes the results of a follow-up investigation to a study in which researchers proposed a model for implementing a college-wide initiative in which ten essential learning outcomes students acquire from curricular and extra-curricular learning experiences were developed and implemented at the university. Using descriptive and…

This study investigated students' evaluating process and their perceptions of peer assessment when they engaged in peer assessment using Calibrated Peer Review. Calibrated Peer Review is a web-based application that facilitates peer assessment of writing. One hundred and thirty-two students in an introductory environmental science course…

This study examines the relationship between students' demographic background and their experiences with writing at school, the alignment between state and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) direct writing assessments, and students' NAEP writing performance. The study utilizes primary data collection via content analysis of writing…

Student-led discussion modules are the bread and butter of the language arts classroom; however, teachers are currently limited to very few techniques to choose from, such as large class Socratic Seminars and fish bowls, or small group literature circles. In order to determine which of these discussions are more successful for students, each…

This book presents an approach to teacher education and professional development that emphasizes carefully deconstructing fundamental instructional practices that are complex and often not visible through observation, definition, or brief explanation. Its goal is to assist teachers in learning how to enact specific practices, referred to as…

Data collection, organization, and analysis are indispensable means of seeking solutions during the process of inquiry. Representations (called inscriptions by some educators) including graphs, tables, photographs, and equations are powerful ways of arranging and displaying data in visual form. This study aims to analyze quantitatively the use of…

Researchers, instructors, and funding bodies in biology education are unanimous about the importance of developing students' competence in experimental design. Despite this, only limited measures are available for assessing such competence development, especially in the areas of molecular and cellular biology. Also, existing assessments do not…

There has been a drastic increase in the use of technology in the classroom over the past 20 years. As computers and tablets permeate our schools, their presence is oftentimes seen as a cure to whatever problems may exist. While the promise of technology has held true within some domains, little has been done to examine its efficacy in some areas.…

Argument construction is a valuable ability for explaining scientific phenomena and introducing argumentation skills as part of a curriculum can greatly enhance student understanding by promoting self-reflection on the topic under investigation. This article aims to use argument construction as a technique to support an activity designed to…

To date, research on the Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) has focused principally on student performance, largely neglecting the experiences of instructors. This is a substantial gap, for it is instructors who are responsible for both designing and administering the IPA. The present study, therefore, used concepts from the literature on…