There is no doubt that a lesson plan is a necessary product of Lesson Study. However, the collaborative work among teachers that goes into creating that lesson plan is largely under-appreciated by non-Japanese adopters of Lesson Study, possibly because the effort involved is invisible to outsiders, with our attention going to its most visible…

One of the important differences between educational systems from different countries is the age at which students are placed into separate tracks. We examined the effects of the age at which tracking occurred on student achievement in a comparative perspective, making use of recent waves of three internationally standardized student assessments…

The need for and employment of qualified teachers have always been in the agenda since the foundation of our country. It is aimed with this study to reveal the convenience of the Content Knowledge Test for Teaching (CKTT), which was first held in 2014, in terms of the content of the classroom teaching undergraduate programs, general competencies…

The literature establishes that education drives economic performance, but the extent that education is associated with a country's competitiveness is empirically untested. Our study analyses Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data from 63 countries to ascertain education's role in explaining the competitiveness of a country.…

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released proposed Science and Technology/Engineering standards in 2013 outlining the concepts that should be taught at each grade level. Previously, standards were in grade spans and each district determined the method of implementation. There are two different methods used…

This report provides an update on the state of the research on testing accommodations as well as to identify promising future areas of research. Previous reports by NCEO have covered research published since 1999. We summarize the research to review current research trends and enhance understanding of the implications of accommodations use in the…

Although science educators at all levels have focused on teaching students scientific literacy for nearly five decades, studies indicate that the average student remains far from scientifically literate. To address this issue at the local level, faculty at Trinity University, in San Antonio, Texas, significantly revised the curriculum of an…

This paper is the first part of a multiphase study examining students' mental models about the quantization of physical observables--light, energy, and angular momentum. Thirty-one second-year physics and physics education college students who were taking a modern physics course participated in the study. The qualitative analysis of data revealed…

Comprehension of geologic time does not come easily, especially for students who are studying the earth sciences for the first time. This project investigated the potential success of two teaching interventions that were designed to help non-science majors enrolled in an introductory geology class gain a richer conceptual understanding of the…

In this study, we aimed at demonstrating the power of Variation Theory in exploring the local situation of Indonesian teachers and Teacher Professional Development program. The projection of Variation theory regarding the enterprise of teaching results on the need of sensitivity of students and exemplary teaching strategy that differ with teachers…

Questions remain about how to best prepare students to be environmentally literate. Although Canada and U.S. share similarities in education systems, diversity in student population, and historical roots in formalizing environmental education, Canada is one of the top performing countries in international science assessments while U.S. matches…

Teacher knowledge of science content is an important but under-studied construct. A curricular and professional development intervention consisting of a fifth grade science curriculum, teacher workshops, and school site support was studied to determine its effect on teachers' science content knowledge as measured by a science knowledge test,…

English language learners (ELLs) and their teachers, schools, and communities face increasingly high-stakes consequences due to test score gaps between ELLs and non-ELLs. It is essential that the field of educational assessment continue to investigate the meaning of these test score gaps. This article discusses the findings of an exploratory study…

The ability to build arguments is a crucial skill and a central educational goal in all school subjects including science as it enables students to formulate reasoned opinions and thus to cope with the increasing complexity of knowledge. In the present cross-sectional study, we examined the domain-specificity of argumentative writing in science by…

This memorandum presents results from the Center on Standards and Assessments Implementation's (CSAI's) most recent scan of state assessment systems, with attention to changes from the previous school year to the 2014-2015 school year. CSAI derived the information reported in this memorandum from websites maintained by state, district, and…