GreatSchools.org neatly ranks more than 136,000 traditional public, private, and charter schools nationwide on a scale of 1 to 10, based on state test scores. But what often draws readers are the gossipy insider comments posted by parents, students, and teachers, and the star ratings those commenters contribute. The growth of online school rating…

"Educator day" is one of the most important and nerve-racking for the people taking part in Imagine K12, the biggest incubator program in the United States specifically for education technology startups. Many entrepreneurs in K-12 believe technology can solve education's problems, but don't work to understand those problems before prescribing…

Music history and punk rock have long had an uneasy relationship because historians often fail to take two major factors into account when approaching the subject matter. One: punk's raison d'etre is to subvert much that music historians rely on in order to deem a particular performer or group significant. And two: punk is a living, thriving…

Introduces a lesson plan on astronomy and scientific research. Explains how astronomers conduct research and the detection methods they use. Provides demonstrations and ideas for students to build a giant model of the solar system. (YDS)

This article takes a look at how professors are becoming the latest YouTube stars. The popularity of their appearances on YouTube and other video-sharing sites end up opening the classroom and making teaching--which once took place behind closed doors--a more public art. Web videos open a new form of public intellectualism to scholars looking to…

This dissertation looks at the effects of an educator-scientist partnership on the creation of an inquiry based science lesson for the middle school classroom. The lesson was initially created by a scientist following their science research, but changed as the scientist began working with teachers. The changes in the lesson show that scientists…

The universe of topics to choose from when teaching an astronomy course is astronomically immense. This wide array of opportunity presents some inherently difficult choices for teachers at all levels on how to limit the scope of the course to make the syllabus manageable. As but one example, consider that even the most experienced astronomy…

In this article, the author talks about the resignation of New York State's commissioner of education David Steiner, and how it will affect the state's Race to the Top. He contends that Steiner was savvy enough to understand the importance of Race to the Top and able enough to turn the state's education energies toward it. The "Washington…

Each year, third graders in a rural Missouri intermediate elementary school are presented with a challenge--to collaborate on a virtual adventure to the nation's capital to find answers to these questions: (1) What were the main purposes of the Declaration of Independence?; (2) What is the purpose of the United States Constitution?; and (3) Why is…

The 2007-2008 school year marked the first year Florida's Title I schools that did not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for five consecutive years entered into restructuring as mandated by the "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001. My study examines the perceptions of teacher entering into their first year of school restructuring due to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the USA communicate sustainability through their websites. Specifically, the authors compare how and to what extent sustainability is communicated through an institution-wide sustainability website versus operational and academic department websites.…

"You are never too old, too young or too busy to learn". This means that you can be a lifelong learner, truly enjoying your learning experience. This has been quite an interesting change of perspective in learning, which is worth investigating. Both in environments primarily thought for education and during "ad hoc" experiences…

Research discloses that principals' effectiveness influences student success (Stronge, 2008). This study examined the extent of congruence between the daily activities and espousals of four middle school principals, and the extent their daily activities were artifacts of their values and beliefs about leadership. Also, this study examined if…

Supporting Teachers as Action Researchers (STAR) explores how school improvement initiatives may be sustained over time. It represents stage one of a broader investigation into how teachers' professional learning may be enhanced by positioning teachers as practitioner researchers and professionals who are capable of generating change from within…

As the author began her teaching career at Central Virginia Governor's School for Science and Technology (CVGS), it became apparent that many of her students were interested in doing research projects in astronomy and the number seemed to increase every year. At first she did not think that she had the tools to do a good job accommodating these…