The school-aged population in the United States is becoming more culturally and linguistically diverse, while achievement gaps across content areas persist. At the same time, more rigorous academic demands are being placed on all students, including English language learners (ELLs). Teachers of ELLs face the double challenge of promoting English…

Too often, researchers get a bad name for engaging in inquiry that is inaccessible to the practitioner and policy communities who could most benefit from it. Although speaking to others in the scholarly community is important, researchers must also be able to translate their results into more accessible language for multiple audiences. This…

In this article, we utilize the concepts of conceptual metaphors, cultural models, and master myths to discuss the ways by which three new immigrant children, native speakers of Spanish, were developing conceptions of English language, literacy, and learner's identities. Our findings point to 3 main metaphors that were often implicit in the school…

This article discusses schema-based instruction (SBI) as an alternative to traditional instruction for enhancing the mathematical problem solving performance of students with learning disabilities (LD). In the authors' most recent research and developmental efforts, they designed SBI to meet the needs of middle school students with LD in inclusive…

Response to Intervention (RTI) is an instructional framework through which schools can provide early intervention for students experiencing academic and behavioral difficulties. It is also promoted as an alternative to the IQ-discrepancy model for identifying students with learning disabilities. Most states have developed, or are developing,…

In this article, the author argues that educational policymaking, teaching, and assessment are most effective and ethical when they are carried out with attention to local contexts. He explores this concept through a consideration of Nebraska's unique School-based, Teacher-led Assessment and Reporting System (STARS), which created a statewide…

In this article, the authors explore the role of district and school leaders in reconceptualizing accountability policy by adapting and mediating it using three primary strategies. Specifically, they discuss how leaders cultivate relationships and interactions, reculture the district and schools, and integrate and align school and district…

Describes the types of state assessment and accountability policies in place when Congress enacted the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, noting how districts in eight states responded to these policies and identifying four challenges facing states and districts as they implement the NCLB (e.g., the need to expand the size and scope of state…