The purpose of this study was to examine brick-and-mortar and online teacher best practice themes using thematic analysis and a newly developed theory-based analytic process entitled Synthesized Thematic Analysis Criteria (STAC). The STAC was developed to facilitate the meaningful thematic analysis of research based best practices of K-12…

This qualitative study sought to identify current principal professional development practices in four school systems in Georgia and to examine them by applying the principles of adult learning theory. The cross-case analysis of principal professional development initiatives in four school districts revealed nine common practices: connecting…

Teachers often struggle to provide all students access to specific learning activities that work best for them--and what works best for some students will not work for others. Differentiating instruction makes sense because it offers different paths to understanding content, process, and products, considering what is appropriate given a child's…

Metro Deaf School (MDS), located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is one of the first charter schools in the nation. MDS, provides a bilingual environment in ASL and English for deaf and hard of hearing students, ages 3-21, in pre-K through high school. In its 20 years of operation, MDS has seen its students become more diverse, and with the diversity…

The growing numbers of ELLs (English language learners) makes the search for new effective and efficient instructional methods a priority. While several teaching methods and tools are used to help ELLs succeed in becoming proficient English speakers, technology has gained substantial attention due to the abundance of new technology tools, which…

Leaders of urban school systems are faced with a daunting fact: Some individual schools achieve incredible results for students from low-income communities, but no urban "school systems" achieve those results for all--or even most--children in an entire city. For generations, students in urban America have been underserved, with few…

Urban schools are struggling to hire and retain effective literacy teachers. Alternative certification programs throughout the country seek to bridge the achievement gap and to bring qualified teachers to underserved classrooms. This dissertation explores the transformative inquiry of developing "resident" teachers in their journey as…

This interim report from the RAND Corporation is the first in what will be a series of research reports based on an ongoing long-term study of foundation-funded schools that are using a variety of approaches to personalized learning. Although the early results are encouraging, the study does not attempt to make claims about which aspects of these…

Summer activities have grown old. Going swimming has lost its allure, and boredom has set in. No matter how well parents have planned interesting and educational activities for the summer months or how much they have enjoyed the freedom from stricter schedules and more rigid bedtimes, it is time to transition back to the routines of the school…

Kolby is a four-year-old, identified on the autism spectrum as having sensitivity issues, attention challenges, and limited verbal language abilities. Next to Kolby sits Melanie, a reserved four-year-old with visual, fine-motor, and gross-motor challenges. Amy rounds out the group as one of the peer models in the inclusive classroom setting. Mrs.…

Elementary school teachers in Seattle, Washington, are encouraged to adapt differentiated instructional practices in math to accommodate the particular students in their own classrooms. Seattle Public Schools is a large, urban district serving 47,000 students who speak over a hundred languages. More than a third receive free or reduced lunch. The…

All good teachers recognize their students' varying learning needs and strive to meet them. So differentiation is certainly not a revolutionary idea. In fact, Tomlinson and Eidson describe differentiated instruction as "really just common sense" (2003, p. 1). In practice, however, offering such opportunities for students is challenging. In this…

In recent years, there has been a tremendous increase in the popularity of distance education among higher-education administrators. Students in growing numbers are also taking advantage of the flexibility and accessibility that distance education offers. This growth, however, has been a mixed blessing since it derives from using the Internet…

The list of 61 finalists for the latest Race to the Top competition shows that the U.S. Department of Education was successful in enticing high-scoring applications from districts in rural America and in states that had not shared in the Race to the Top bounty before. But whether the ultimate winners, which will be announced this month, will be…

Literacy, differentiated instruction, student engagement and academic achievement continue to be hot topics for educators, parents, legislators, and government officials. "Now I Get It! Differentiate, Engage, and Read for Deeper Meaning" is a practical, easy to use resource for classroom teachers, literacy coaches, school administrators and post…