This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Jennifer G. Beasley, Roya Q. Scales, Sang Joon Lee, Kelly N. Tracy, Dung Tran, Christine Briggs, Valerie Harlow Shinas, Morgan S. Polikoff, Cliff Chestnutt, and Julie A. Marsh.
(2017). Using Text Sets to Facilitate Critical Thinking in Sixth Graders, Literacy Research and Instruction. This case study examines features and processes of a sixth grade teacher (Jane) utilizing text sets as a tool for facilitating critical thinking. Jane's strong vision and student-centered beliefs informed her use of various texts to teach language arts as she worked to address demands of the Common Core State Standards. Text sets promoted multiple perspectives and fit with her beliefs about student empowerment. Despite contextual constraints, Jane used professional judgment to apply her learning from professional development to design and implement instruction. Findings support the idea that teachers need autonomy when choosing multiple texts across genres as well as effective strategies to engender critical thinking. Results can help guide further inquiry into types of teaching and classroom environments that facilitate or impede critical thinking. [More] Descriptors: Critical Thinking, Grade 6, Language Arts, Common Core State Standards
(2017). Speedometry: A Vehicle for Promoting Interest and Engagement through Integrated STEM Instruction, Journal of Educational Research. The curriculum, Hot Wheels Speedometry (Mattel, El Segundo, CA, USA), was designed to align with the Next Generation Science Standards for science and the Common Core State Standards for mathematics. Our objective was to develop, implement, and evaluate the impact of this integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum on students' knowledge, interest, and engagement. The authors conducted the study in a district where students were predominantly from communities under-represented in STEM fields. The findings indicate that student individual interest developed. Furthermore, students demonstrated affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement along their progression of interest development. The study shows promise for the development of interest and engagement in under-represented groups through the use of an integrated STEM curriculum. [More] Descriptors: STEM Education, Integrated Curriculum, Student Interests, Learner Engagement
(2017). Gifted & Green: Sustainability/Environmental Science Investigations That Promote Gifted Children's Learning, Gifted Child Today. Environmental studies provide an ideal opportunity for gifted children of any age to build critical and creative-thinking skills while also building skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas. Exploring issues related to sustainability and environmental concerns permits gifted learners to identify problems, develop research questions, gather and analyze data, develop possible solutions, and disseminate this information to others. Green issues are especially appealing to gifted learners as they are sensitive to the world around them and often long to engage in projects that touch on issues facing their communities. Although the relevance to STEM subjects is clear, green investigations can also build skills across the content areas, in diverse subjects such as English/language arts, social studies, music, and art. A variety of resources, including national and Common Core State Standards, exist that can help parents and teachers create investigations for gifted children that permit them to be both gifted and green. [More] Descriptors: Environmental Education, Academically Gifted, Creative Thinking, Skill Development
(2016). Playing with Mathematics: How Play Supports Learning and the Common Core State Standards, Journal of Mathematics Education at Teachers College. International rankings show children in the United States perform well below average in mathematics. There are also large mathematics achievement gaps between children of lower- and higher-socioeconomic status. As today's teachers face these challenges, they are also faced with the pressures of sweeping educational reforms that arrived with the adoption of No Child Left Behind and continue into the Common Core State Standards era. These strict standards and the implications of low-performance can easily push teachers and parents towards the belief that direct instruction is the only way to help children learn effectively. In this article, we review evidence from the literature about playful learning as an alternative and powerful pedagogical approach. We apply the principles of playful learning to specific state standards for mathematics and illustrate promising ways to improve mathematics learning in the classroom. [More] Descriptors: Play, Common Core State Standards, Mathematics Instruction, Evidence Based Practice
(2017). Short-Form Science, Science Teacher. Reading provides a unique window into the history and nature of science and the norms of scientific communication and supports students in developing critical-reading skills in engaging ways. Effective use of reading promotes a spirit of inquiry and an understanding of science concepts while also addressing expectations of the Common Core State Standards for literacy in science. This article demonstrates how teachers can blend close reading of challenging text with traditional science instruction to achieve these goals. Close reading is the practice of investigating a short piece of high-quality text. The authors share a lesson plan and strategies that they used to implement close reading in a physical science class. [More] Descriptors: Units of Study, Molecular Structure, Science Education History, Content Area Reading
(2016). Transitioning to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics: A Mixed Methods Study of Elementary Teachers' Experiences and Perspectives, School Science and Mathematics. This mixed methods study explored elementary teachers' (n = 73) experiences with and perspectives on the recently implemented Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSS-Mathematics) at a high-needs, urban school. Analysis of the survey, questionnaire, and interview data reveals the findings cluster around: familiarity with and preparation to use the standards; implementation of the standards, including incorporation and teacher change; and tensions associated with enactment of the standards. Notably, the teachers believed in the merit of the standards but were constrained by their inadequate content knowledge, limited aligned curricular resources, lack of student readiness, and a perceived mismatch with ELLs. The results illuminate the professional needs of teachers during this critical time of transition to the standards and also add to the scant research on this national-scale reform in mathematics education. This article features a Research to Practice Companion Article. [More] Descriptors: Common Core State Standards, Mathematics Education, Mixed Methods Research, Elementary School Teachers
(2016). Statistical Association: Alignment of Current U.S. High School Textbooks with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, School Science and Mathematics. This study examined the alignment of three selected U.S. high school textbooks series with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) regarding the treatment of statistical association. A framework grounded in the literature for inclusion and exclusion of reasoning about association topics was developed, and textbook entries were compared with the CCSSM learning expectations (LEs). Across the three series, about 77-90% of the 582 association problems addressed two numerical variables. All CCSSM LEs were covered by two of the three series. However, additional association LEs not found in the CCSSM were included in the textbooks. Implications for curriculum revision and development, and content analysis are suggested. The study challenges the notion of CCSSM-aligned curricula. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Textbooks, Comparative Analysis, Curriculum Development
(2016). Preservice Secondary Teachers Perceptions of College-Level Mathematics Content Connections with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, Investigations in Mathematics Learning. Preservice Secondary Mathematics Teachers (PSMTs) were surveyed to identify if they could connect early-secondary mathematics content (Grades 7-9) in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) with mathematics content studied in content courses for certification in secondary teacher preparation programs. Respondents were asked to identify college-level mathematics courses they had taken in their preparation programs that specifically addressed connections to early-secondary school mathematics content in the CCSSM. The analysis of the results specifically focuses on PSMTs' inability to self-identify connections between this CCSSM content and college-level mathematics coursework. In this study, the goal that content coursework for teachers emphasize visible connections between the content PSMTs will teach and mathematics coursework in preservice preparation programs was seemingly not achieved. [More] Descriptors: Preservice Teachers, Secondary School Teachers, Mathematics, Mathematics Instruction
(2017). Bridging the Gap 10 Years Later: A Tool and Technique to Analyze and Evaluate Advanced Academic Curricular Units, Gifted Child Today. The need for a shared vision concerning exemplary curricula for academically advanced learners must be a priority in the field of education. With the advent of the Common Core State Standards adoption in many states, a new conversation has been ignited over meeting the needs of students with gifts and talents for whom the "standard" curriculum is not a good fit. The purpose for this article is to highlight the current need for high-quality curriculum, discuss how the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) Curriculum Awards rubric has been updated to reflect the research in the field, and look at additional ways to use the NAGC Curriculum rubric as a tool to support the development of quality curriculum and to select and award exemplary curricula for addressing advanced academic needs of students with gifts and talents. [More] Descriptors: Academically Gifted, Advanced Students, Common Core State Standards, Educational Research
(2010). Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. Appendix C: Samples of Student Writing. This document presents writing samples that have been annotated to illustrate the criteria required to meet the Common Core State Standards for particular types of writing–argument, informative/explanatory text, and narrative–in a given grade. Each of the samples exhibits at least the level of quality required to meet the Writing standards for that grade. The range of accomplishment within each grade reflects differences in individual development as well as in the conditions under which the student writers were expected to work. Some of the samples were written in class or as homework; others were written for on-demand assessments; still others were the result of sustained research projects. Where possible, each sample includes information about the circumstances under which it was produced. The samples come from students in kindergarten through grade 12. [For the main report, see "Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects" (ED522008). For additional appendixes to the main report, see: (1) "Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. Appendix A: Research Supporting Key Elements of the Standards, Glossary of Key Terms" (ED522007); and (2) "Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. Appendix B: Text Exemplars and Sample Performance Tasks" (ED522010).] [More] Descriptors: Writing Instruction, Writing Evaluation, Writing Assignments, Evaluation Methods
(2015). Procedures for Obtaining and Analyzing Writing Samples of School-Age Children and Adolescents, Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. Purpose: Many students' writing skills are below grade-level expectations, and students with oral language difficulties are at particular risk for writing difficulties. Speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') expertise in language applies to both the oral and written modalities, yet evidence suggests that SLPs' confidence regarding writing assessment is low. Writing samples are a clinically useful, criterion-referenced assessment technique that is relevant to helping students satisfy writing-related requirements of the Common Core State Standards (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010a). This article provides recommendations for obtaining and analyzing students' writing samples. Method: In this tutorial, the authors provide a comprehensive literature review of methods regarding (a) collection of writing samples from narrative, expository (informational/explanatory), and persuasive (argument) genres; (b) variables of writing performance that are useful to assess; and (c) manual and computer-aided techniques for analyzing writing samples. The authors relate their findings to expectations for writing skills expressed in the Common Core State Standards (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010a). Conclusion: SLPs can readily implement many techniques for obtaining and analyzing writing samples. The information in this article provides SLPs with recommendations for the use of writing samples and may help increase SLPs' confidence regarding written language assessment. [More] Descriptors: Children, Adolescents, Writing (Composition), Writing Evaluation
(2015). Assessment User Guide for Colleges and Universities. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is one of two multi-state consortia that have built new assessment systems aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is composed of 18 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands that have worked together to develop a comprehensive assessment system aligned to the Common Core State Standards (Iowa, North Carolina, and Wyoming participate as affiliate members but do not yet offer the assessments). The assessments were field tested with 4.2 million students, and operational testing will begin in Spring 2015. End-of-year summative assessments will replace existing tests used in Grades 3-8 and 11 for state and federal accountability reporting. Optional interim assessments are available to inform school decision-making throughout the year. The assessment system also includes a digital library of instructional and professional development resources to help teachers implement the formative assessment process in their classrooms. This guide is designed to serve two purposes: (1) Provide practice recommendations on how to use the new assessment data; and (2) Outline specific guidance shared by technology solution providers for how to incorporate the new test scores into the various technology systems. [More] Descriptors: Summative Evaluation, Formative Evaluation, Educational Assessment, College Readiness
(2017). Sarah's Story: One Teacher's Enactment of TPACK+ in a History Classroom, Literacy Research and Instruction. This article presents a descriptive case study that describes a secondary history teacher's expression of sociocultural-oriented technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) in the classroom, the execution of which we describe as TPACK+. TPACK+ describes sociocultural-oriented teacher knowledge requisite for the dynamic execution of TPACK such that socially situated learning experiences occur in communities of learners within and beyond the classroom. Data were collected from classroom observations and semi-structured interviews. A priori codes were applied to data, which were analyzed using the constant-comparative method. This case presents a narrative of an honors U.S. History II lesson and explication of the teacher's demonstration of TPACK+ in the context of Common Core State Standards-driven history content instruction. [More] Descriptors: Technological Literacy, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Case Studies, Secondary School Teachers
(2016). Professional Development for Promoting 21st Century Skills and Common Core State Standards in Foreign Language and Social Studies Classrooms, TechTrends: Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning. To help satisfy the pressing need for technology-related professional development for in-service teachers, the Global Academic Essentials Teacher Institute (GAETI) was implemented to provide in-service foreign language and social studies teachers with content, pedagogy, and technology explorations centered on the teaching of the Common Core State Standards and 21st Century Skills. Sixteen teachers attended the institute, which consisted of 20¬ days during the summer plus one follow-up day in September and one in March. The strongest aspects of GAETI were the demonstration activities that integrated subject-area content, successful pedagogies, and ways to effectively integrate the latest and most effective classroom technologies. Participants not only reflected positively on their experiences with GAETI but also showed a significant level of improvement in all dimensions of technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK). Improvement from pre to post-test was most pronounced in the four dimensions of TPACK most closely associated with technology. [More] Descriptors: Professional Development, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills, Problem Solving
(2017). Interactive Reading, Science and Children. Although the "Next Generation Science Standards" and "Common Core State Standards" do not extend to prekindergarten, early learning experiences are vital to preparing young children entering kindergarten with the background knowledge, technical vocabulary, resourcefulness, and dispositions for inquiry that are the foundations for future science learning. Informational texts are excellent media to connect children's background experiences with new and interesting ideas. This article demonstrates how young children, such as the students in Ms. Mitchell's prekindergarten class, are capable of successfully engaging with informational texts to build scientific knowledge. They can connect science concepts to real-world experiences and should have abundant opportunities to use these valuable learning resources. [More] Descriptors: Preschool Education, Teaching Methods, Preschool Children, Scientific Concepts