Many studies of comprehension strategies instruction rely on an internalization metaphor of strategy learning. In this view, strategies eventually enter students' heads after repeated interactions with teachers who introduce strategies and control how they are used. In this article, the author discusses the limitations of the internalization view…

Young adult literature (YAL) is one of the most engaging and effective tools to promote the goal of lifelong literacy for middle and high school students. This article addresses the stakes of exploring--or failing to explore--common perceptions and misperceptions of YAL. Readers' lives as family members, consumers, and students play roles in their…

Adolescents who struggle with reading most often encounter problems with comprehension, rather than the ability to read words. Comprehension is a dynamic process that requires the reader to use multiple strategies as meaning is constructed. To improve the reading comprehension of their students, teachers must be knowledgeable about what…

This article discusses the relevance of four dimensions of urban teaching: foci on relationships and shared authority, linking classroom content with student experience, incorporation of familiar and culturally compatible communication patterns, and development of counter narratives that challenge stereotypical conceptions of at-risk students and…

Given the importance of quality teaching for student success, it is clear that every child needs to be able to receive instruction from a teacher who possesses the knowledge and skills for quality teaching--an accomplished teacher. It is less clear, however, how current teacher development policies and practices can ensure that all students will…

This article describes a project that positions high school students as teacher educators within an undergraduate secondary certification program. A brief review of researchers' arguments for listening to students and a description of the project contextualize the perspectives of graduates of the program who teach or have taught in city schools.…

Person-centered instruction recognizes the importance of internal motivation in learning. It is difficult, however, for many teachers to hold on to their early visions of interacting in classrooms filled with internally motivated students. This may be due to escalating demands for test score accountability. It may be due to reliance on packaged…

Despite broad recognition that teaching excellence requires meeting students' intellectual and social needs, teachers struggle to manage--and learning theory struggles to explain--the interplay between the academic and social dimensions of classroom life. Drawing from research on parenting and child development, the author offers parenting style…

This article explores how teachers manage classrooms to facilitate the intellectual engagement of disengaged students. The author proposes that teachers create an environment conducive to intellectual engagement when students perceive: (a) that there are opportunities for them to succeed, (b) that flexible avenues exist through which learning can…

Educational reformers often partner with others to make change happen in their schools. But few reformers look to students as agents of change. In this article, the authors discuss how students are an often under-utilized, and yet crucial, educational partner. They share their student voice work in the San Diego Unified School District's high…

This article briefly describes the central tenets of a program several low-income middle schools implemented to remove failure as a choice students could make in completing their assignments. Instead of doling out Fs for poor and nonexistent work, teachers devised a variety of options students had to follow to demonstrate eventual mastery of…

Teachers at all levels of education today struggle in their efforts to assign fair, accurate, and meaningful grades to students with disabilities, especially those placed in general education classrooms. Lacking specific policies or recommendations, most teachers apply informal, individual grading adaptations for such students. Although these…

Museum resources for teachers that are available online today go way beyond the occasional lesson plan or thumbnail reproduction available via the Internet 10 years ago. New technologies have made it possible for art museums to imagine, create, and deliver a broad array of teaching resources, from online interactive multimedia to tools teachers…

Contemporary culture has become increasingly dependent on the visual, especially for its capacity to communicate instantly and universally. Advances in technology fueled this shift. Students must learn to cope with and intelligently contribute to a culture rife with easy access to the visually rich Web, photo dependant social networks, video…

For some teachers, the increasing attention to digital and multimodal composing in English and Language Arts classrooms has brought into sharp relief the profession's investment in print as the primary means of expression. Although new forms of communication that combine words, still and moving images, and animation have begun to dominate digital…