In the United States, school curricula are often created and taught with distinct boundaries between disciplines. This division between curricular areas may serve as a hindrance to students' long-term learning and their ability to generalize. In contrast, cross-curricular pedagogy provides a way for students to think beyond the classroom walls and…

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, integrated STEM education, and integrative STEM education are all actively pursued teaching approaches currently being highlighted in the United States and abroad (Sanders, 2009; Semali & Mehta, 2012), and in recent years the increase in interest, engagement, and pressure to…

Lesson study (jugyou kenkyuu) has spread outside Japan in the last decade, providing opportunities to see how lesson study fares in countries where the instructional practices and curriculum materials differ from those in Japan. This study reports an elementary mathematics lesson study cycle from the United States. To investigate the nature of the…

Research shows that an effective teacher is key to student success. But determining what evidence best reflects teacher effectiveness and how this information can be used to improve the quality of teaching are among the significant issues facing public education today. The impetus for meaningful teacher evaluation reform from many sectors set the…

Determines and clarifies the differences and similarities between the goals and strategies for science teaching as perceived by elementary school teachers in Japan and the United States. Discusses teaching methods, content, and materials; lesson plans; classroom management; and student evaluation. Concluding comments address staff development in…

Background: This study evaluated the impact on student's writing ability of a structured writing program, called "Writing Wings," for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders developed by the Success For All Foundation (SFAF). Writing is a critical skill for success in school. Purpose: The study was intended to answer one confirmatory question,…

To address the issue of declining reading achievement in the school where she worked, the author analyzed reading records and written work of primary students attending several district elementary schools over the course of one school year. From that analysis, it appeared that an obstacle to reading success for many children in the third grade was…

Despite being a relatively new sport in the United States, soccer is incredibly popular among elementary aged children in physical education classes. Unfortunately, because the sport is still emerging, some physical educators lack the experience, content knowledge, and confidence to provide quality, developmentally appropriate lessons. This…

While working with music teachers in training at the university level, the author learned how helpful it can be to model a curriculum that mirrors America's changing demographics. As a Native American who grew up on the Stockbridge-Munsee Indian Reservation, in central Wisconsin, she discovered that Native history and culture were absent from…

Curriculum resources such as textbooks and lesson guides communicate messages about the social relations between the teacher, students, artefacts, and the mathematics. Because of their implicit nature, these messages can be hard to surface and perhaps therefore are not frequently covered in curriculum resource analysis. Tackling this shortcoming,…

Designed for elementary, secondary, and post-secondary classrooms and community use during the week of November 11-15, 1985--the week before the Reagan-Gorbachev Summit meetings in Geneva, Switzerland--these lesson plans and units accomplish two goals: (1) to inform young people and adults and raise the level of understanding around specific…

This Toolkit is meant to be a resource for teachers, parents, and administrators involved with two-way immersion (TWI) programs, particularly those at the elementary level. Two-way immersion is a form of dual language instruction that brings together students from two native language groups for language, literacy, and academic content instruction…

The junior-high-level teaching guide incorporates historical, geographical, social, political, and cultural materials that cover the heritage of the society of the Western Frontier and Upper Missouri region: Minnesota, Iowa, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Montana. The purpose is to acquaint students with culture of…

American crime and violence have overflowed onto the college/university campus, and are now affecting senior high, junior high and elementary schools. This research presents suggested causes of school crime and also suggests possible solutions. In most urban environments, crime is a "way of life." When assessing the family incomes of…

This study compared area lessons from Korean textbooks and US standards-based textbooks to understand differences and similarities among these textbooks, as well as how these textbooks address known learning challenges in area measurement. Several well-known challenges have been identified in previous studies, such as covering, array structure,…