This article is an analysis of the role of assessment portfolios in teacher learning. Over 18 months, 23 science teachers developed, implemented, and evaluated assessments to track student learning, supported by portfolio tasks and resources, grade-level colleagues, and team facilitators. Evidence of teacher learning included (a) portfolios of a…

The environment has a profound effect on the ability of students to regulate their behavior or disposition and effectively engage in the learning processes. Active engagement is important because it increases performance. Certain types of environmental structures actually increase students' ability to be agents of their own learning. These…

Within the field of adult education a paradigm shift, or at least a paradigm creep, is taking place as a result of advances in technology. This comprehensive, quasiexperimental study examining the efficacy of online education (OE) for professional development, conducted among American police officers, compares OE to traditional delivery methods,…

This article features a first-grade, ESL classroom in which students engaged in learning to read and write nonfiction as part of a genre study. The most effective way of teaching genres has been an important topic in literacy education. On the one hand, literacy scholars have drawn attention to how overt instruction and scaffolding on the…

The Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE) and the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) are now entering the tenth year of a fruitful collaborative partnership. This anniversary provides an opportunity to revisit the history, objectives, and future opportunities for this partnership. The initial impetus for…

Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Student Engagement and includes: (1) Teaching for Cognitive Engagement Materializing the Promise of Sheltered Instruction (Adela…

The overall aim of the research which informs this report is to examine the extent to which the learning needs of older people are understood and addressed within the adult and community education sector, and to explore how adult educators can be supported to develop innovative approaches and processes which engage older people in learning and…

School-community partnerships make a difference in student achievement. Synthesizing 35 years of research to provide insight into "what works in schools," Robert Marzano (2003) concluded that community involvement is a critical factor. Though community involvement takes many forms, generally organizations such as libraries, museums, parks, zoos,…

In South Africa, in the prestigious profession of medicine, women are still in the minority. Men continue to form nearly three quarters of the number of registered practitioners, although social and institutional exclusionary structures have been abolished. It is important to investigate the reasons underlying this state of affairs, which exists…

This essay discusses an approach to teaching religious studies in a general education or core curriculum that I have experimented with for the last decade, which I call the "Learning Covenant." The Learning Covenant brings together various pedagogical theories, including transformational, experiential, contract, and cooperative learning, in an…

This paper examines the effect of tuition subsidy in the form of in-state tuition to undocumented students on the education of noncitizen Mexican young adults. The policy is found to be associated with a 2.5 percentage point increase in college enrollment (base mean = 8%), a 3.7 percentage point increase in the proportion of students with at least…

Mentoring programmes have gained increasing popularity in institutions of higher education to support undergraduates in community service or outreach efforts. Many of these programmes partner mentors with inner-city youth, providing assistance in underserved communities while mentors gain experiences that connect theory and practice. Here we…

While middle school educators are faced with No Child Left Behind's demands for improving students' literacy learning, it is also wise to incorporate family and community involvement into the curriculum. In designing activities that meet such demands, middle school educators should consider allowing their students to write profiles on family and…

This article describes one seventh-grade teacher's classroom efforts to integrate traditional exercises from different content areas to form more robust questions that provide genuine problem-solving opportunities for students. These exercises are illustrated by connecting the Pythagorean theorem with a variety of prealgebra topics. Since the…

Daily lessons at the Learning Gate Community School often tap the wonders of nature on the 27-acre campus, with its open fields and overgrown orange groves, and a treehouse overlooking an idyllic pond. Educators at Learning Gate say the outdoor classrooms and lessons are a balm for many of the ills that can hinder students' physical and mental…