For decades, New York City's high school graduation rates hovered at or below 50 percent. In attempt to turn around these disappointing results, the NYC Department of Education enacted a series of large-scale reforms, including opening hundreds of new "small schools of choice" (SSCs). Recent research by MDRC has shown that these schools…

"An International Study in Competency Education: Postcards from Abroad" seeks to highlight components of competency education in international practice, to inform US policymakers and decision makers seeking to implement high-quality competency pathways at the state or local level. Other countries are studying our innovations, and we are…

The best way to teach children how to read has been debated for more than a century. Accumulating research now shows that there is no one best way to teach reading. The effect of various types of instruction depends on the constellation of skills learners bring to the classroom. In this article, we discuss the idea of…

This essay addresses the success of differentiated instruction (DI) as a student-centered teaching strategy in grades K-12 and how it can be used in higher education. Most college instructors deliver instruction through lectures, a teacher-centered strategy. A review of research studies in higher education demonstrated students achieve higher…

Language used in the field of special education is important; it can serve to influence both curriculum and placement decisions for students with intellectual disability. Historically, "Functional Curriculum" was used to describe curriculum adaptations necessary for students to access their environment (school and community). However,…

With ever-changing government mandates, new standards for accountability, and the uniquely diverse classroom of this millennium, educators are scrambling to meet the needs of all students, such that each unique learner, regardless of background, special needs, or level of commitment to coursework can demonstrate content mastery. In this article,…

In this paper, a personalized recommendation-based mobile language learning approach is proposed. A mobile learning system has been developed based on the approach by providing a reading material recommendation mechanism for guiding EFL (English as Foreign Language) students to read articles that match their preferences and knowledge levels, and a…

Concern about students' math achievement is nothing new, and debates about the mathematical training of the nation's youth date back a century or more. In the early 20th century, American high-school students were starkly divided, with rigorous math courses restricted to a college-bound elite. At midcentury, the "new math" movement sought,…

A plethora of laboratory studies have shown that including the study of worked examples during problem-solving practice improves learning (Sweller, 1999; Sweller & Cooper, 1985). While most worked-example research focuses on the use of correct examples, recent work suggests that asking children to explain a combination of correct and incorrect…

Students are motivated when they have a constant system of rewards. They have a desire to please others and be recognized. It was with this idea in mind that the Smokey Road Middle School Band in Newman, Georgia, started using the "Power in the Progress System" in 2011. This system, created by H. Dwight Satterwhite, a professor of music…

Intelligent tutoring systems are adaptive learning environments designed to support individualized instruction. The adaptation embedded within these systems is often guided by user models that represent one or more aspects of students' domain knowledge, actions, or performance. The proposed project focuses on the development and testing of user…

The U.S. National Educational Technology Plan recommends the need to have a common set of technology competencies specifically for teacher educators who prepare teacher candidates to teach with technology (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, 2017). This study facilitated the co-creation of the Teacher Educator…

Studies have shown that when K-12 school districts implement a new technology initiative, it is not always accompanied by effective teacher professional development (PD). Many teachers have indicated that effective technology PD experiences should incorporate their individual PD needs. The authors surveyed technology-using K-12 teachers at two…

Differentiated instruction (DI) is nothing new and is believed to be an effective research-based strategy to cater for learner diversity. Differentiation involves finding multiple ways to structure a lesson so that each student is provided with an opportunity to work at a moderately challenging level. Previous studies, however, found that teachers…

The study integrated self-paced mobile learning (m-learning) into a language course, and examined what impacts were being produced on learners' reading comprehension and student satisfaction resulting from the instruction with m-learning integration. The self-paced, learner-centered mobile learning integration instruction (MLI) was compared with…