There has been much debate about having standardized curricula content standards for all. Some have criticized state curriculum content standards for varying in quality by state. The purpose of this study was to compare content complexity as it appears within the high school English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the former…

Using a college admissions test as the statewide summative assessment is an attractive but risky option for some policymakers and parents. These assessments are used for admissions by nearly all higher education institutions, are shorter in length than most state-designed and consortia assessments, have brand name recognition, and are known for…

The intent of this study was to investigate the teleological priorities of Christian higher education. As a sample size, the study drew from the Christian College Consortium that features leading liberal arts institutions. From a review of the literature, four historical epochs emerged with different defining features: the age of faith, the age of…

This study seeks to answer the overarching question of how the use of a digitally delivered arts curriculum, including a virtual museum environment, affects teacher's perceptions of curriculum integration and whether they believe it is successful in the classroom. This study is based on the analysis of archival data collected during a pilot study…

Given recent calls for integrating metacognitive strategy instruction in classrooms and current models of self-regulated learning that emphasize the importance of skilled metacognitive monitoring throughout the reading process (Azevedo, 2009a; de Bruin, & van Gog, 2012; Dent & Hoyle, 2015), this study investigated the effects of…

Within this study, I explored English language arts (ELA) pre-service teachers' (PST) language beliefs, specifically the ways in which they align with and diverge from the standard language ideology (SLI) beliefs laid out in the language subordination model (LSM) (Lippi-Green, 2012). The participants were ELA PSTs in both middle grades and high…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to discover reasons Oklahoma T & I teachers choose to remain in teaching; many of whom were described as career switchers. Of particular interest was examining various types of teacher supports and factors, including mentorship that contributed to participants' decisions to remain in the teaching…

This article describes how four English language arts teachers formed an inquiry group to design approaches to writing assessment that would support and foster student writers' agency, empowerment, and freedom. They hoped that by focusing assessment on students' articulation of their writing processes rather than on rubrics or final products, they…

Responsible instruction teaches students to navigate digital news and social media spaces that barrage and overwhelm many of them. In truth, it overwhelms many adults. This article examines how English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms are uniquely positioned to curtail this trend by teaching students the value of informed citizenship and compelling…

In secondary schools in the United States, youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or queer (LGBTQ) encounter unwelcoming and unsafe, if not outright hostile, climates, experiences which lead to negative outcomes, both personal and academic. However, school-based supports such as supportive adults, GSA clubs, and LGBT-inclusive…

The Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) is one of the most current reforms in the U.S. educational system. The standards were introduced, adopted, and implemented by 46 states along with the District of Columbia in 2009. Since the adoption of the CCSS, educators have expressed concern regarding the implementation process, specifically…

In this article, Michelle Ann Abate examines the typographical features of the comics and graphic novels frequently finding their way into English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms and challenges the viewpoint that they are secondary to prose-only texts, arguing instead that many comics can be seen as requiring more advanced levels of literacy…

In many early childhood classrooms, visual arts experiences occur around a communal arts table. A shared workspace allows for spontaneous conversation and exploration of the art-making process of peers and teachers. In this setting, conversation can play an important role in visual arts experiences as children explore new media, skills, and ideas.…

Shaping OurSpace was an urban planning project asking children to propose plans for a housing project phased for redevelopment. Our primary aim was building visual-spatial thinking. McCormack's (1988, 2011) hierarchical framework was used to operationalize visual-spatial thinking, and we believe that embodied cognition served as a vehicle for…

Drawing from contemporary Western theories of environmental esthetics and ancient Chinese esthetics of nature, the author proposes ecological education through esthetic engagement. Esthetic engagement removes the opposition between the esthetic subject and object and requires whole-body engagement with the natural environment. It provides an…