Science teaching continues to move away from teaching science as merely a body of facts and figures to be memorized to a process of exploring and drawing conclusions. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emphasize eight science and engineering practices that ask students to apply scientific and engineering reasoning and explanation. This…

The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS), in the state of North Carolina, has gone through considerable recent effort to revise, support, and assess their seventh-grade social studies curriculum in an effort to serve three goals: comply with the Common Core State Standards (Common Core), comply with the North Carolina Essential Standards…

Educational discourse, particularly since the advent of recent educational reform initiatives, has become saturated with a discourse of "high expectations." One can hardly hope to hold a conversation regarding the problems facing American schools without someone innocently remarking that of course students need to be held to "high…

Teachers in the trenches have led the charge to bring civics back in Illinois. Teachers played a leading role in the creation of a state civic education task force, were active participants on it, and ultimately worked with their students to advocate for action on its recommendations. Teachers are at the center of efforts in Illinois to implement…

This study was conducted to investigate perspectives of upper elementary mathematics teachers on the Alabama College and Career Readiness Standards, the Common Core State Standards for Alabama. Participants in this study were six mathematics teachers from one school in a large school system in Alabama. Two third grade teachers, two fourth grade…

Blue Valley, the fourth largest school district in Kansas, covers 91 square miles. More than 20,000 K-12 students attend its 34 schools ( five high schools, nine middle schools, and 20 elementary schools). Of the district's students, 8% qualify for free and reduced lunch and about 3% are English Language Learners. Blue Valley began using Measures…

It has been six years since California adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). District leaders have been busy building capacity and developing infrastructure to support effective CCSS implementation, while teachers have been working hard to implement standards-aligned instruction that supports academic success for all students. In a state…

The purpose of this study was to review research studies investigating the role of instructional materials in relation to the Common Core State Standards and to evaluate whether a new organisation, EdReports.org, founded to evaluate the alignment of instructional materials to the Common Core State Standards, has achieved its objectives. Content…

This non-experimental study investigated the relationship of teachers' trust towards their administrators and student achievement. Ginsberg's (2003) survey, as modified from Smalt's (1997) Teachers' Analysis of Their Principals' Supervisory Styles (TAPES), was translated to an on-line assessment and emailed to teacher participants from three…

States across the country have always established their own academic standards, curricula, and achievement goals. What students are expected to know and be able to do often differs from state to state. Additionally, states with low standards may leave students unprepared for higher standards in other states. This inconsistency creates problems for…

According to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the concomitant academic discourse, to ensure that students are literate in the 21st century, all teachers must grapple with the ideas inherent in the words and phrases cited above. In this article, the writer describes how the Common Core State Standards in the English classroom can improve…

The demand for test items far outstrips the current supply. This increased demand can be attributed, in part, to the transition to computerized testing, but, it is also linked to dramatic changes in how 21st century educational assessments are designed and administered. One way to address this growing demand is with automatic item generation.…

Briggs and Peck (2015) have written a thought-provoking article on the use of learning progressions in the design of vertical scales that support inferences about student growth. Organized learning models, including learning trajectories, learning progressions, and learning maps have been the subject of research for many years, but more recently…

Over the past 20 years learning trajectories and learning progressions have gained prominence in mathematics and science education research. However, use of these representations ranges widely in breadth and depth, often depending on from what discipline they emerge and the type of learning they intend to characterize. Learning trajectories…

An understanding of the importance of nonfiction literature in classroom instruction is not new within the field of education. The recent implementation of the Common Core State Standards (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010) has brought an increased policy focus. The Common…