As co-headmaster of Boston Arts Academy, the author tells the stories of two students whose passion and talent in the arts helped them become more successful in academic subjects. Boston Arts Academy accepts students on the basis of auditions, regardless of their previous academic or discipline records. Yet a large majority of its students go on…

What are new literacies and how do they mesh with core curriculum? Classroom teachers who find their students' interests and bases of knowledge about new technologies expanding exponentially often ask this question. While broadening the definition of new literacies beyond internet literacy this article explores the history of new literacies and…

With the Common Core State Standards' emphasis on transformations, teachers need a variety of approaches to increase student understanding. Teaching matrix transformations by focusing on row vectors gives students tools to create matrices to perform transformations. This empowerment opens many doors: Students are able to create the matrices for…

In recent years, Hungary has been frequently criticized about press freedom issues by organizations including Human Rights Watch, Freedom House and others. In the current situation, it is thus imperative to understand how media literacy is positioned in public education. The objective of this paper is to analyze the 2012 education curriculum on…

The University of California-Merced's Core 1 has potential to foster genuine interdisciplinary thinking by asking students to conceptualize knowledge across fields of inquiry. Core 1 introduces students to the range of scholarly inquiry at the university all in the span of one semester-long, writing-intensive, integrated curriculum that encourages…

The purpose of this article is to provide guidance on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts (CCSS-ELA). Toward this end, suggestions and cautions are provided that focus on understanding the vision, understanding the anchor and grade-level standards, and understanding the implications for instruction. In…

Almost three-fourths of the American public has lost confidence in the nation's schools, but the recent passage of the Proposition 30 shows that the majority of voters in California hold on to their hope for their schools. School administrators need to build on that vote of confidence, starting at the local level, so they can help the public…

Zoom in on the academic skills students are required to learn in reading, writing, speaking/listening, and language! This book cuts through all of the Common Core jargon and gets right to the heart of what students need to learn now. "Big Skills for the Common Core" is packed with engaging strategies you can use immediately to improve your…

This article describes the elements of the undergraduate core in kinesiology that have been established by the American Kinesiology Association. The American Kinesiology Association also describes a set of ten student-learning outcomes that emanate from the four core content elements. This information has been developed by the American Kinesiology…

To develop second-grade students' confidence and ease, this author presents examples of learning tasks (Number of the Day, Word Problem Solving, and Modeling New Mathematical Ideas) that align with Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and that build mathematical fluency to promote students' creative expression of mathematical…

After 30 years in the field of gifted education, and, more specifically, 30 years of studying the psychology of gifted students, author Tracy Cross has come to believe that the single greatest threat to the psychological well-being of gifted students is the mismatch between the school's curriculum and the student's needs. Cross argues in…

Evidence is mounting that the vast majority of students who are currently placed into prerequisite remedial education could be successful in gateway college-­level courses if they receive additional academic support as a corequisite. Recent research on college placement exams reveals that the exams are unreliable at predicting college success, and…

Questions remain regarding whether professional development focused on response to intervention can be implemented effectively on a large scale. One important goal of professional development involves educators' beliefs regarding foundational response-to-intervention concepts (e.g., data-based decision making, importance of effective instruction).…

Japanese is a popular choice amongst higher education students on IWLPs (Institution-Wide Language Programmes), but the language presents challenges for many learners. Students on university elective programmes begin their courses with enthusiasm but often become discouraged and drop out at the post-beginner stage. Thus Japanese elective…

All students need to learn how to read, write, solve mathematics problems, and understand and apply scientific principles to succeed in college and/or careers. The challenges posed by entry-level career fields are no less daunting than those posed by college-level study. Thus, career and technical education students must learn effective math,…