This paper reports on a study of the current state of the art in teaching assessment. The major goal of the study was to examine a sample of assessment systems and then develop a specification for a state-of the art performance assessment system to be used for human capital management functions. The authors hope was that this specification would…

Educators must consider how learning environments can structure experiences to produce desired learning outcomes. In this paper, the author describes one type of learning environment where youth have the opportunity to construct adaptive, emergent identities--a "dramaturgical" process that structures the telling, adapting, and performing of…

Beginning in 2002, The Chicago Community Trust embarked on an ambitious grant- making strategy to improve education outcomes primarily in the city of Chicago and Cook County, Illinois. Known as The Education Initiative, this effort focused on three priority grant areas: literacy, professional development, and alternative models of schools. In…

This paper explores the possibilities and challenges games and simulations pose for informal science education. The authors begin with a brief overview of the recent history of games and games research. They then attempt to clarify the distinctions between games and simulations. Next, they examine types of informal learning…

In this paper, the author describes an ethnographic study of a graduate-level practicum at a large Midwestern university in order to examine one of the ways urban planners develop expertise. The graduate students in the practicum were guided in the production of a site plan for a developing area by a planner with 34 years of planning experience.…

The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify and describe some of the dimensions of scientific collaborations using high throughput computing (HTC) through the lens of a virtual team performance framework. A secondary purpose was to assess the viability of using a virtual team performance framework to study scientific collaborations using…

Time regulates the lives of educators. Time on task, 45-minute classes, 2-hour literacy blocks, 10-week marking periods, and 40-week school years are central to teachers' lives and to the operation of schools. In contemporary schools, benchmarks, standards, promotion, retention, graduation, and ultimately school success are all intricately…

A case study of one low income African American child, Peter Horner, is used to explore how children accumulate various forms of writing capital. Peter's development was tracked over 10 years, from first grade through high school. The construct of time is explored by examining how capital contributes to the construction of "habitus" (Bourdieu,…

The practice of tracking and ability grouping--the division of students into separate tracks, classes, and groups for instruction based on their purported interests and abilities--has long been debated. Evidence from decades of research indicates that tracking magnifies inequality between high and low achievers without raising achievement overall,…

This qualitative case study reports on processes and outcomes of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded System-Wide Change for All Learners and Educators (SCALE) project at the California State University, Northridge (CSUN). It addresses a critical challenge in studying systemic reform in complex organizations: the lack of methodologies that…

This paper describes the analysis of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program's January 2008 Learning Network Conference (LNC). This study focuses on the methodologies used by the MSP community to generate evidence and seeks to understand topics of interest to the 320 LNC participants. The data set for this…

This study investigated middle school students' conceptual understanding of algebraic equations. Participants in the study--257 sixth- and seventh-grade students--were asked to solve one set of algebraic equations and to generate story problems corresponding with another set of equations. Structural aspects of the equations, including the number…

This paper is a synthesis of case studies of four districts that implemented multifaceted reforms aimed at offering rigorous instruction in mathematics and science for all students as part of a National Science Foundation-supported partnership. A common theory of action aimed for a rigorous curriculum, professional development delivered close to…

We compared the structure of discussions in a middle school mathematics classroom before (Year 1) and after (Year 2) teacher participation in professional development activities aimed at enhancing students' participation and the co-construction of mathematical ideas. Changes in the role of teacher and student were accompanied by identifiable…

Many urban districts have adopted interim assessments in recent years as a supplement to annual testing. Possible purposes for such tests include monitoring and assisting student progress, aligning the curriculum, and practicing for state exams, but little is known about how effectively real systems advance these purposes. The Providence Public…