Elementary social studies resources have faced criticism for well over 30 years. Text that is too complex (Beck et al., 1989; Beck & McKeown, 1991), contains questionable content (Chu, 2017; Wade, 2012), and is boring to students (Kelley, 2021; Schug, 1982) and teachers (Zhao & Hoge, 2010). More recent studies have found that teachers are…

Although extracurricular activities are valuable for school communities, they present specific contextual challenges including (a) scheduling outside of school hours/locations, (b) attendees who may not be directly connected to the school community, (c) large groups together in unstructured spaces, (d) potential opportunities for increased access…

Prior to the pandemic, a survey of Pennsylvania parents found that for every child that was enrolled in an afterschool program, four more would participate if more programs were available. The pandemic has only emphasized the need for out-of-school time (OST) programs as students across Pennsylvania and the country cope with learning loss and…

The digital and professional teacher competency standards for blended TVET describe specifically the new and emerging skill development needs related to blended delivery. The standards are contextualised to take into account the technology and capability challenges common in TVET institutes in developing countries, the range of teaching methods…

Several studies have investigated factors guiding children's decisions when learning from others, although less is known about factors that govern children's decisions when they transfer knowledge to others. Here we asked whether children would privilege ingroup members when teaching and, if so, whether this tendency would persist when…

This research examines the impact of social studies teachers' personal practical knowledge on their roles as gatekeepers to controversial topics in the classroom. The findings indicate that the context of the school and community directly impact the teachers' decision-making process. Furthermore, the teachers perceived the content area standards…

The mathematics education literature indicates a consensus regarding the importance of developing algebraic thinking in elementary school mathematics. However, the approaches used to implement this concept vary around the world. This study examines how a popular standards-based elementary mathematics textbook series in China provides opportunities…

Allergic reactions to allergenic foods can pose a lethal threat to children with food allergies. Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of using behavioral skills training (BST) plus in situ training (IST) to teach safety responses to children. However, there has not been an evaluation of using BST to teach food safety to children…

In 2019, Kentucky unanimously adopted new social studies standards featuring a version of the C3 Framework's inquiry arc, joining dozens of other states with inquiry practices embedded in their standards. The state legislature revised them in 2022 by passing the "Teaching American Principles Act." The Kentucky law requires teachers to…

This study investigates the potential of integrating social studies instruction with critical literacy practices to challenge and/or expand elementary students' perceptions of gender. Gender stereotypes develop early in childhood and are often reinforced throughout elementary education. Thus, this study examines the use of a framework for social…

Purpose: The article distinguishes between the three concepts of standardization of the tasks of pedagogical action in modern educational systems: the traditional concept of standardizing educational goals through curricula, the literacy concept of psychometric standardization, and the concept of competence, which can be developed in different…

Drawing upon notions of a global higher education policy field and recently theorised conceptions of 'global-local' imbrications in social space, this article explores the complex tensions that characterise the enactment of internationalisation policies in Chinese higher education (HE) and their contrasting effects upon domestic and international…

Decolonisation aims at exposing the ills of colonialism in an attempt to undo their long-standing effects. Important criticism of curriculum decolonisation has focused on potential conflicts with academic freedom. However, this criticism has to some extent suffered from a perceived lack of agreement on the concept and status of academic freedom…

K-12 students need to become familiar with engineering because 21st-century careers integrate engineering practices across all science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. While the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emphasize learning real science and engineering practices, further work is needed to authenticate…

Water is one of Earth's fundamental natural systems. It is crucial to foster water literacy in today's global citizens, particularly through formal education. The purpose of this research, in parallel with a study focused on human dimensions of water systems (Mostacedo-Marasovic et al., in press), is to examine water-related K-12 standards for…