This qualitative study had a threefold purpose: to identify how high-ability students in kindergarten through grade 8 are identified and served in four large and diverse Midwestern school districts; to examine any differences in the identification procedures and pedagogical practices utilized with culturally and linguistically diverse students and…

In an effort to better align item development to goals of assessing higher-order tasks and decision making, complex decision trees were developed to follow clinical reasoning scripts and used as models on which multiple-choice questions could be built. This approach is compatible with best-practice assessment frameworks like Evidence Centered…

This article is an overview of identification of intellectual disabilities (ID), with a focus on meeting legal and ethical requirements when assessing children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and those living in poverty. Specific procedures and recommended instruments will be reviewed.

Teacher education is under increasing scrutiny regarding the preparedness of graduates to work in the profession in the early years of their career. To inform a teacher education program on the issues affecting graduates working in the field of special education, 77 special education teachers and principals were surveyed. Findings highlight the…

Scripted videos are based on a screenplay and are a viable and widely used tool for learning. Yet, reservations exist due to limited authenticity and high production costs. The present paper comprehensively describes a video production process for scripted videos on the topic of student misbehavior in the classroom. In a three step…

Concerns about the mental health of students have been documented at every level of formal education (cf., Castillo & Schwartz, 2013; Durlak & Wells, 1997; Soet & Sevig, 2006). Addressing the entirety of these concerns is beyond the scope of this forum, thus the author's comments are geared primarily toward higher education; however,…

The most challenging global problems of our age involve coupled human--environmental systems within the Food-Energy-Water Nexus. The undergraduate students currently in our classrooms will be tomorrow's global citizens, each of whom must be prepared to understand and reason about these challenges and ultimately make decisions about them in a…

Early childhood education programs play an important role in child family-to-school transition. In 1998, California voters passed Proposition 10, the California Children and Families Act, which levied a 50-cent tax on each pack of cigarettes and other tobacco products to finance programs for children ages 0-5. In less than two decades, First 5…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of Document Based Questioning (DBQ) with third, fourth, and fifth grade students during their 120-minute literacy block. Standardized test scores in the areas of reading and writing during the 2013-2014 school year dropped significantly (Florida Department of Education, 2013). As a result,…

Australia's education system has served the nation well, but must continue to evolve to ensure competitiveness in a world racing towards the future. The report recommendations presented seek to optimise the ways industry partnerships can assist in the provision of contemporary, internationally competitive Science, Technology, Engineering, and…

The Population Council is building one of the world's largest bodies of research on programs to improve the lives of adolescents, especially girls. For the past two decades, the Council has been identifying best practices, refining the critical elements of girl-centered programs, and using rigorous evidence to help decisionmakers allocate scarce…

This paper explores the professional development literature in the educational setting. The different literature pieces are aligned to a framework that requires effective professional development to focus on three concepts: content, context, and process. The content focuses on the "what" question in the programs while the context aims to…

Higher education has made impressive progress concerning student learning outcomes assessment practices. Yet--despite the assumption that better assessment would lead to better student learning--few examples of demonstrable student learning improvement exist at the academic degree or university levels. In 2014 Fulcher, Good, Coleman, and Smith…

Educators who engage in best practices utilize a variety of instructional delivery methods to assist all learners in achieving success in concept mastery. Best practices help educators set expectations for completing activities/lessons/projects/units, differentiate instruction, integrate curricula, and provide active learning opportunities for…

This study explored the perceptions of 88 pre-service teachers on the design of a learning environment using the Seven Principles of Good Practice and its effect on participants' abilities to create their Cloud Learning Environment (CLE). In designing the learning environment, a conceptual model under the name 7 Principles and Integrated Learning…