If we intend to teach through educational media, we also have to teach about those media. This article explores the implications of this perspective for the use of computer games in the classroom. It seeks to explain why and how teachers might teach about computer games as a medium in their own right, just as they teach about film or television or…

This article offers a critical perspective on the default mode of freshman composition instruction, that is, its traditionally middle-class and white racial orientation. Although middle-classness and whiteness have been topics of critical interest among compositionists in recent years, perhaps the most effective challenge to this hegemony in…

Content-area instruction for English-language learners (ELLs) represents a growing area of instructional need in U.S. high schools. In this article, the authors focus on diverse approaches to developing an effective instructional environment for teaching secondary-level social studies curriculum to ELLs. The authors participated in a…

Jo-Anne Kerr relies on teacher-research practices to discover insights for making her classes more beneficial to "resistant learners." She shares her experience of observing two previously struggling male vocational-technical students, conducting informal and formal interviews with them throughout the year, and collecting data from their…

When the literature anthologies did not arrive, Allen Webb turned to the Internet, where he found a wealth of classic and contemporary e-texts. Using these online resources opened up possibilities for new ways of teaching and learning traditional skills of close reading and critical analysis. Students created blogs of poems and commentary,…

In light of research on diversity learning and teaching, this article describes how an introductory course on cinematic depictions of African Americans taught at a predominately white, rural university campus leads students to see the impact of history and Hollywood on their own local and statewide communities. Like others who teach courses on…

We look at some of the theoretical and methodological issues underlying international university ranking systems and, in particular, their conceptual connection with the idea of excellence. We then turn to a critical examination of the two best-known international university ranking systems--the "Times Higher Education Supplement (THES)" World…

This article presents several winning activities for students in the classroom. These activities include: (1) making Abraham Lincoln costumes; (2) creating frosty scenes from torn-paper collage for a grammar activity; (3) listening to Dr. Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech; (4) hosting an architectural challenge for a kindergarten class;…

Given the latest reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and evolving views on the identification of cognitive disabilities in special education, many high school graduates with learning disabilities and/or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder will have a Summary of Performance (SOP) in lieu of a recent…

In this article, the authors describe the Reading Buddies program. In this program, children of varied ages experience cooperation and mutual respect, have fun together, and share themselves with others. When Reading Buddies meet, reading and learning to read are the activities, yet another real benefit appears to be the enhancement of the…

This study is based on a statewide longitudinal sample of adopted foster youth and explores the relationship between early pre-adoption risk factors and subsequent elevated levels of psychopathology symptomatology. One central goal of the study was to evaluate the impact of preadoption stressors (prenatal drug/nicotine exposure, early…

A national literacy professional development project reduced the achievement gap for students experiencing difficulties in reading or writing in 91 of New Zealand's schools. It was based on two premises: coherence within and between the multiple levels of the schooling and educational administration systems, and a focus on evidence-informed…

This study focused on the meaning of measurement to a group of 16 first grade students. A university professor and the teacher of the students partnered together using qualitative analysis of field notes, student interviews, and student work samples gathered from September through May of a school year. Findings indicate students' knowledge of…

The point of Choi and Clark (2006) was that after many well-designed studies, they have no evidence for either the learning or the motivational benefits of pedagogical agents. In their study, they found compelling evidence that when agents are found to enhance learning, a less expensive and less distracting pedagogical method has equal or greater…

This paper sets out to investigate (i) gender differences in whole class classroom interaction with a sample of teachers who were not using interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in their lessons; and (ii) the short-term and longer term impact of IWB use upon gender differences in classroom interaction. The study focused upon teacher-student interaction…