According to MetLife's March 2011 Survey of the American Teacher: Preparing Students for College and Careers, approximately 93% of secondary school parents, 85% of secondary teachers, and 80% of business executives believe college and career readiness should be a priority in the nation's classrooms. This college and career readiness priority is…

A comprehensive assessment system is one in which three types of assessments: summative, benchmark, and formative assessments are routinely administered to all students in K-12 classrooms. The first part of this report summarizes the research on comprehensive assessment systems and provides clarity in terms of how each individual assessment type…

First, the author briefly outlines genre theory and sets out some broad definitions of genre. She also discusses how genre knowledge is acquired and how it has been taught in ESP and EAP. Following this, she highlights two challenges to using this pedagogy in a general EFL class. Finally, she argues that despite these challenges, teachers can…

The benefits of students' experiences of community, especially in K-12 settings, are well established in the professional literature; however, the influence of college students' perceptions of classroom community is a relatively new focus in educational research. Even less is known about professors' perceptions of classroom community; particularly…

To look closely at definitions of competency for those who specialize in infant mental health (IMH), the authors conducted a careful examination of interviews with IMH home visitors. The interview responses were categorized and then compared with interviews with the families who were served by the same IMH home visitors and with competency…

Many see trust as an important social resource for the welfare of individuals as well as nations. It is therefore important to be able to identify trust and explain its sources. Cross-country survey analysis has been an important tool in this respect, and often one single variable is used to identify social trust understood as trust in strangers,…

The article reviews the distinctive components of school reputation and exposes various determinants that shape this reputation among parents. Some 21 Israeli parents participated in semi-structured interviews during 2009-2010 in which they were asked about their interpretations of school reputation and its determinants. Research data demonstrates…

Collaborative inter-professional practice (IPP) is hailed increasingly by policy-makers and a growing number of practitioners as "the" new form of professional practice for those working within and across services for children and young people. Based on desk research, and drawing upon an increasingly invasive use of the term…

More than a decade after Prensky's influential articulation of digital natives and immigrants, disagreement exists around these characterizations of students and the impact of such notions within higher education. Perceptions of today's undergraduate learners as tech-savvy "digital natives" (Prensky, 2001a), who both want and need the…

In this article, the authors argue that teachers and researchers must expand current verbo- and logo-centric definitions of critical literacy to recognize how texts and responses are embodied. Ethnographic data illustrate the ways that youth perform critical literacy in ways that educators might not always be prepared to see, hear, or acknowledge.…

This study examines the usage and contexts of "wellbeing" in New Zealand's curriculum, a formal statement of education policy enacted by a democratically elected government. The analysis is guided by a current model of student wellbeing rooted in seven, interdependent domains: "Having," "Being," "Relating,"…

Teacher leadership has been recognized as a necessary ingredient to support educational reform efforts. Leaders provide the needed expertise to ensure reforms are successful in promoting student learning. The overarching goal of the "Leadership in Freshman Physics" program is to support a cadre of teachers-leaders who will become advocates for…

This study explores teachers' beliefs about urban students and urban teaching. The author discusses some cultural aspects of these teachers' definitions of urban and points out their highlighting of race as an essential component of urban teaching. Even though race is rarely named, it is often at play in the teachers' descriptions of urban…

Alexander, Schallert, and Reynolds (2009/this issue) proposed a definition and landscape of learning that included 9 principles and 4 dimensions ("what," "who," "where," "when"). This commentary reflects on the utility of this definition and 4-dimensional landscape from the standpoint of educational…

This paper studies the interactive structure and the interactive meaning of definitions in primary school classroom interaction. The classes that were chosen are classes which consisted solely or for a large part of second language learners, as definitions might have a special importance for them in their second language acquisition. Three…