Research and Best Practices
The largest in-depth study of school leadership to date, this report gathers and analyzes quantitative data confirming that education leadership has a strong impact on student achievement, as measured by student test scores. The study shows that leadership makes its mark largely by strengthening a school’s “professional community” – an environment where teachers work together to improve classroom instruction. It also finds that rapid turnover of principals reduces student achievement. In addition, the study shows that although the.....
Middle Level Resources
Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices
For the purposes of this website, these recommendations have been merged into four practices: Vocabulary Instruction; Comprehension Strategies; Engaging Text Discussion; and Intensive Intervention. This Practice Guide was developed by an expert panel convened by the Institute of Education Sciences. It is designed to address challenges in improving literacy levels in middle and high school and providing interventions for struggling adolescent readers. The Practice Guide offers a set of five research-based recommendations. A summary of the.....
everythingESL - Includes Links to Lesson Plans
This link takes you to everythingESL. It includes lesson plans for beginning through intermediate students.
Intervention Report on three Voyager Reading Programs by the What Works Clearinghouse
What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) is releasing an Intervention Report on three Voyager Reading Programs. The three programs are Voyager Passport, a supplemental reading intervention system for students in grades K-5, Voyager Passport Reading Journeys, a reading intervention program designed for adolescents who struggle with reading, and Voyager Universal Literacy System, a K-3 reading program. The Clearinghouse examined the research on these Voyager reading programs for students with learning disabilities and identified 44 studies that were.....
Turnaround Strategies and Models for High Schools
(From the National High School Center) This resource is a synthesis of the literature on high school improvement organized by key elements of the turnaround/transformation models, as defined by the federal Title I School Improvement Grant regulations. The synthesis has been organized into the following three sections:
* Improving High Schools Overview/Background
o The High School Context
o Supporting Low Performing Schools: Lessons Learned
o Implications of the Lessons for High School Turnaround
*.....
SIOP Model: Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol
SIOP is a research-based observation instrument that has been shown to be a valid and reliable measure of sheltered instruction (Guarino, Echevarria, Short, Schick, Forbes, & Rueda, 2001). The SIOP is also used as a model for lesson planning and implementation of high quality sheltered instruction. All features of the SIOP model are aligned with current research on instruction for ELs.
In a study examining the effects of the SIOP Model on student achievement, students whose teachers implemented the SIOP model to a high degree in middle.....
Web-Based Resources for Science, Technology, and Engineering: Tools and Activities for Teaching and Learning
The entries compiled here are grouped by type (general or subject-specific), and include information about the appropriate grade level(s) for the online activities and sample lessons. Following these entries is an annotated bibliography of online articles and books.
Both the links and the resources presented here were selected by CAST in fall 2005 according to two criteria: 1) they shed light on the kinds of effective research, classroom practices, and policies that support standards-based learning, and 2) they can be accessed free of.....
A Research Paper Discussing Direct Instruction in Middle and High School Mathematics for Students with Learning Disabilities
This paper focuses on direct instruction (DI) and the Six Teaching Functions as applied to middle school math for students with learning disabilities. DI refers to a specific method of teaching that focuses on both “what” to teach (i.e., the design of the curriculum) and “how” to teach (i.e., specific teaching techniques), direct instruction (di) refers to more general teaching methods.
Enhancing Academic Literacy of ELLs in Science and Social Studies Classrooms
This is a presentation from the first of a series of 90-minute webinars designed to provide an opportunity to engage with national experts in an interactive learning process centered on adolescent literacy best practices used in traditional content-area classrooms in grades 4-12. It includes an overview of two experimental studies aimed at boosting the academic achievement of older English learners.
The Educator's Reference Desk - Sample Lesson plans by subject sponsored by GEM/ERIC
This collection contains more than 2000 unique lesson plans which were written and submitted by teachers from all over the United States and the world. These lesson plans are also included in GEM, which links to over 40,000 online education resources. The Educator's Reference Desk builds on over a quarter century of experience providing high-quality resources and services to the education community. (From the Information Institute of Syracuse, the people who created AskERIC, the Gateway to Educational Materials, and the Virtual Reference.....
Engaging Learners the SMARTboard Way - Using the Smartboard in the Classroom
Interactive whiteboards are gaining in popularity in schools. SMART technology is one of the most popular interactive whiteboard options. This workshop explores ideas for using interactive whiteboards in the classroom, adapting existing Notebook projects, and integrating resources for each subject area.
Faculty Photo Montage Art Lesson
From the rich art website - Incredible Art Lessons - the purpose of this assignment is to introduce digital manipulation using Adobe Photoshop. Scanning, Crop and selection tool techniques, use of the digital camera and how to create a photomontage using the faculty as the subject to print.
Intervention Report on Connected Mathematics Project: Grades 6-8
A new intervention report released this week looks at the research on the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP). This curriculum is designed for students in grades 6–8. Each grade level of the curriculum is a full-year program and covers numbers, algebra, geometry/measurement, probability, and statistics. The curriculum uses an investigative approach, and students utilize interactive problems and everyday situations to learn math concepts.
The WWC review found that CMP has no discernible effects on mathematics achievement. This rating is.....
Effective Science Instruction: What Does Research Tell Us? (K-12)
Effective Science Instruction: What Does Research Tell Us? [K-12] Published by COI
A debate continues over what constitutes effective science instruction. This brief endeavors to distill the research on science learning to inform a common vision of science instruction and to describe the extent to which K-12 science education currently reflects this vision. A final section on implications for policymakers and science education practitioners describes actions that could integrate the findings from research into science education.
