The existing literature on indicators of an optimal learning environment for high-ability students frequently discusses the concept of challenge. It is, however, not clear what, precisely, constitutes appropriate challenge for these students. In this study, the authors examined an undergraduate honours course, Advanced Cell Biology, which has…

The United States has a tradition of faith-based K-12 education that can be traced back to the 1600s. This sector of education has played a vital role in America's urban communities. Faith-based schools have a strong record of serving disadvantaged families. They provide moral grounding, community ethic, safe and structured environment, academic…

The consequences of failing core academic courses during the first year of high school are dire. More students fail courses in ninth grade than in any other grade, and a disproportionate number of these students subsequently drop out (Herlihy, 2007). As shown in Chicago and elsewhere, academic performance in core courses during the first year of…

During the last decade, cognitive researchers identified three major challenges facing the use of multimedia materials in instruction. The first challenge is the inclusion of extraneous content that competes with the essential information for limited cognitive resources. Researchers found that including extraneous material in multimedia materials…

To make it in college, students need to be up for the academic rigor. But that's not all. They also must be able to manage their own time, get along with roommates, and deal with setbacks. Resiliency and grit, along with the ability to communicate and advocate, are all crucial life skills. Yet, experts say, many teenagers lack them, and that's…

As education has changed to meet the needs of society and has been shaped by the enactment of new laws, various aspects included under the massive umbrella of education have also changed to maintain momentum One such educational program is career and technical education (CTE). Changes to CTE have been made to continually meet the needs of all…

This study had several purposes. The first purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between selected student, family and school characteristics, and state exit exam policies and the impact on graduation from high school among a sample of students with disabilities. A second purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between…

There is much focus at the state and national levels in graduating students that are prepared for college and careers. In order for students to be prepared at the end of their K-12 education, indicators are also needed along the way about whether students are on track. Using historical state data, nine different methods were used to align…

A recurrent trend in higher education research has been to identify additional predictors of college success beyond the traditional measures of high school grade point average (HSGPA) and standardized test scores, given that a large percentage of unaccounted variance in college performance remains. A recent study by Wyatt, Wiley, Camara, and…

This paper reports on a design experiment within a professional development context purposefully planned to teach teachers about students' mathematics thinking and learning. We examine the factors to which participating elementary teachers attributed student mathematics success or failure when engaging with the projects' professional learning…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were developed through an unprecedented, state-led initiative that drew on the expertise of teachers, parents, administrators, researchers and content experts from across the country. The Standards define a staircase to college and career readiness, building on the best of previous state standards in English…

Sorting students into different tracks within a school correlates strongly with student race and economic status and predicts and contributes to student outcomes. Students in higher-level classes typically experience better teachers, curriculum, and achievement levels than peers in lower-level classes. Creating classrooms that support equity of…

This study investigated the effects of simultaneous written text on the comprehension of spoken English as a foreign language, when the text is presented with the aid of a personal digital assistant (PDA) as a learning tool. Eighty-seven university students majoring in applied foreign languages were randomly assigned to either listening with…

This article brackets assumptions embedded in the framing of this special issue on "problematizing methodological simplicity in qualitative research" in a effort to understand why policymakers put pressure on all types of researchers, including those who use qualitative methods, to provide relatively simple, even somewhat mechanistic portrayals of…

An effective reading comprehension process demands a strategy to enhance the cognitive ability to digest text information in the effort to elicit meaning contextually. In addition, the role of emotions also influences the efficacy of this process, especially in narrative text comprehension. This quasi-experimental study aims to observe students'…