IDEA and NCLB support the case for including English language learners with disabilities in standards-based reform and school accountability efforts. Few states make statewide data on the participation and performance of English language learners with disabilities publicly available. Therefore, district assessment data on English language learners…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of one year of regular "LEGO" training on pupils' performances in schools. The underlying pedagogical perspective is the constructivist theory, where the main idea is that knowledge is constructed in the mind of the pupil by active learning. The investigation has been made in two…

Active student engagement with course materials, such as note-taking and cooperative learning, is associated with greater performance. This study investigated the relationship between scores achieved by students in an undergraduate course and active engagement during testing, whether using a cheat sheet or engaging in a form of cooperative…

Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL) integrates inquiry, problem- and project-based learning, cooperative learning, and authentic assessment. Case studies were carried out on 21 teachers who used CTL to teach science in elementary schools to diverse groups of children. The findings indicated that the conditions that fostered the implementation…

Assessment theorists and academics alike espouse the importance of feedback on performance assessment tasks for supporting improvement and progress in student learning achievement. Despite these espoused ideals, students claim a lack of adequate, timely feedback and their teachers claim that students fail to heed the advice given. This paper…

The UK Government's recent emphasis on the graduate workforce raises the profile of work placements within higher education. Anecdotally, the authors find that students on their optional bioscience sandwich degrees benefit academically from placement experience but there is little supportive evidence of this in the literature. To investigate…

The purpose of the study was to assess the relative effectiveness of print, sign, and pictures in the transfer of reading-related information to children who are deaf. By means of personal computers, deaf children were presented CD-ROM-generated stories in four different formats: print only, print plus pictures, print plus sign language, and print…

This article explores the impact of high-stakes gate-keeping assessments (of both K-12 students and new teachers) on teacher development of equitable teaching practices. Drawing from two studies of field experiences in Washington State--one of teacher interns and one of cooperating teachers--findings include that state level policies in response…

The present study is designed to investigate the effects of advisement and informal cooperative learning when students used a multimedia database. Participants were 159 undergraduate students (54 males; 105 females) enrolled in a computer literacy course at a large university in the southwestern United States. The majority of participants were…

Background: Research into teacher expectations has shown that these have an effect on student achievement. Some researchers have explored the impact of various student characteristics on teachers' expectations. One attribute of interest is ethnicity. Aims: This study aimed to explore differences in teachers' expectations and judgments of student…

This report presents findings from the second-year evaluation of the Governor's Educator Excellence Grant (GEEG) program. The GEEG program was federally- and state-funded and provided three-year grants to schools to design and implement performance pay plans from the 2005-06 to 2007-08 school years. GEEG was implemented in 99 high poverty, high…

This book will help teachers examine and choose reading assessment in relation to current understandings of the reading process, students' development, and the culture of schooling. Each chapter focuses on a particular type of reading assessment to familiarize teachers with the broad array of assessments available; uses the CURRV framework as an…

Meeting a crucial need, this book provides clear recommendations for authentic developmental assessment of children from infancy to age 6, including those with developmental delays and disabilities. It describes principles and strategies for collecting information about children's everyday activities in the home, preschool, and community, which…

The evaluation of the New Century High Schools (NCHS) initiative examined operations and student outcomes in 75 schools from 2002-2003 through 2005-2006. This report, the final in a series of annual evaluation reports, presents data collected over those years, with a focus on school year 2005-2006. The NCHS initiative grew out of a program theory…

This paper reports a three-year study of Praxis Inquiry based developments in teacher education undertaken by an international consortium of university colleagues who have worked in Australia, Iceland, Latvia, and the United Kingdom. Our study suggests that the attainment of inclusive community responsive pedagogies--in schools and in teacher…