This article discusses five reconsiderations (lessons) the research on the education of the gifted and talented suggests. Although several of the considerations derive from traditional practice in the field, some reconsideration is warranted because of more currently researched differences in how the gifted learner intellectually functions. It is…

This article summarizes the continuous latent trait IRT approach to skills diagnosis as particularized by a representative variety of continuous latent trait models using item response functions (IRFs). First, several basic IRT-based continuous latent trait approaches are presented in some detail. Then a brief summary of estimation, model…

Effective teachers differentiate their instruction to ensure that content is delivered to students in a way that is accessible and engaging. The differentiation of instruction in core classes such as math and English is becoming commonplace in education faculties across the United States. But what does "differentiated" human rights…

Throughout the United States, legislators, business leaders, educators, and other stakeholders are debating the impending crisis of the shortage of mathematicians and scientists in the United States. Several books, such as Thomas Friedman's "The World Is Flat" and Ted Fishman's "China, Inc.," accentuate this growing dilemma.…

In this position article, we explore what happens when school district policies regarding desegregation, accountability, and foreign language immersion education collide. Specifically, we contrast 2 immersion programs that experienced distinct outcomes as a result of the conflicting agendas underlying these 3 policies. One program, originally…

This paper describes the confirmatory factor analysis, validity, and reliability data collection stage of the development of a scale to measure mainstream teachers' self-efficacy beliefs for teaching ELL (English Language Learner) students. Data were collected from 708 K through 12 teachers and pre-service teachers with varying degrees of…

The Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) supports projects that are designed to reform teacher and principal compensation. Initially, the Department of Education (the Department) made two rounds of awards, in 2006 and 2007, to a total of 34 grantees. The specific goals of TIF were to reward teachers and principals for improving student achievement,…

One of the key concerns of educators is to come to know what works in language teaching and under which conditions (Intercultural) Communicative Competence can be furthered. This concern is even bigger among professionals experimenting or willing to experiment with new media. Following socio-constructivist theories of learning (Vygotsky, 1978) and…

Purpose: The purpose of this self-reflective paper is to focus on practical efforts to combat inequality and foster intercultural dialogue in education. It introduces "knowledge alliances", a type of social practice open for education technologies. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is structured in a theoretical and an empirical…

Purpose: This paper aims to: extend the concept of "The learning organization" to "The learning community," especially disadvantaged communities; demonstrate how leaders in a migrant community can achieve positive change at the personal, professional, team and community learning levels through participatory action learning and…

hapTEL, an interdisciplinary project funded by two UK research councils from 2007 to 2011, involves a large interdisciplinary team (with undergraduate and post-graduate student participants) which has been developing and evaluating a virtual learning system within an HE healthcare education setting, working on three overlapping strands. Strand 1…

This article reports on the outcomes from the "e-scape Primary Scientific and Technological Understanding Assessment Project" (2009-2010), which aimed to support primary teachers in developing valid portfolio-based tasks to assess pupils' scientific and technological enquiry skills at age 11. This was part of the wider…

A national directory of tutorial projects was prepared by the Tutorial Assistance Center of the United States National Student Association. The directory is arranged alphabetically by states, including the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. The listings indicate the person to contact, number of tutors and tutees, program…