Over the past decade, states have dramatically expanded prekindergarten services (Pre-K), given the evidence that high-quality early childhood education can put children on a path to success in school and later life. To support the expansion, most of those states have adopted a mixed delivery system, developing the new educational opportunities in…

Afterschool programs can help students develop knowledge to enhance academic success while also providing them with opportunities to develop social and problem-solving skills. In our work with afterschool programs, we have seen that positive relationships with school-day personnel, families, community members, and between and among program staff…

This paper describes a theoretical model for systemic change as it concerns the learning and teaching of mathematics in K-12 schools, with particular attention being paid to the rural context. Systemic change is the active process of establishing change in the community through lasting, long-term relationships, practices, and procedures (Adelman…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to draw from data collected as part of the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) and present cases of democratic and heroic leadership from three countries, discussing to what extent successful school principals in each of their research sites (Melbourne, Australia; Umeå, Sweden;…

A team of science teacher educators working in collaboration with local elementary schools explored opportunities for science and engineering "learning by doing" in the particular context of urban elementary school communities. In this article, the authors present design task that helps students identify and find solutions to a…

I am a public elementary teacher currently serving as a school-based supervisor for a Professional Development School (PDS) undergraduate elementary-teacher-education program in Madison, Wisconsin, where our charge is to leverage the intersecting contexts of school, university, and community to prepare skilled and caring teachers for urban…

Using the Teacher Leader Model Standards as a guide may help teachers and administrators put a collaborative, forward-thinking mind-set into action.

Our goal in this session is to open up new pathways for addressing the seemingly immutable educational disparities, often brought about by historical power imbalances and traditional transmission pedagogies in classrooms and schools that continue to value and perpetuate a view of knowledge and learning maintained by the dominant group. We share…

The aim of this paper is to enhance understanding of the contradictions that arise in the drive to improve teaching practices among pupils with special educational needs (SENs). A questionnaire was administrated to 167 classroom teachers, subject teachers, special education teachers and teaching assistants in Finland. The analysis, based on…

This report presents the SPARK literacy model, an innovative approach developed by Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, for addressing the literacy needs of low-income and minority schools in Milwaukee. It also presents the results of a two-year randomized control trial evaluation of the SPARK literacy program's impact on reading…

The end of the 19th and early 20th centuries is characterized by justification of reforming pedagogical trends in Western Europe and accumulation of relevant ideas required to create a new type of school, educate independent and initiative individuals and improve teacher training. Based on comparative pedagogical analysis of the mentioned period,…

The overarching goal of the Common Core State Standards is to graduate students from P-12 schools who are college and career ready (CCR). School-university partnerships play an important role in preparing students, families, and teachers to achieve this goal. University partners can be especially helpful as children begin to imagine how they can…

This paper focuses on a community-university partnership built around a programme of study co-created by residents of a disadvantaged community and situated, for the most part, within that community. The aim of this paper is to share lessons learned from this community engagement initiative, as identified through a research study which ran…

This case study report provides practical examples on how the Academy of Indigenous Studies has built lasting relationships with local First Nations communities -- demonstrating how existing provincial course offerings can be leveraged to create a for-credit learning track that allows Indigenous and non-Indigenous students to learn about…

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) is the fifth-fastest-growing occupational cluster in the South and the seventh-largest employer with projected employment of 2.6 million workers by 2020. In order to prepare students to take advantage of the vast opportunities in this field, educators must equip students with the knowledge and…