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Computer Science (CS) education helps students acquire skills such as computational thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration. Since these skills take preeminence in the rapidly changing 21st century, CS education promises to significantly enhance student preparedness for the future of work and active citizenship. Based on prior analysis and expert consultation, the authors selected 11 country, state, and provincial CS education case studies that may apply broadly to other education systems. These cases have come from diverse global regions and circumstances and have implemented CS education programs for various periods and with different levels of success. As such, they have examined information to extract lessons that can lead to successful implementation in other parts of the world. This study will focus on how the Canadian province of British Columbia (B.C.) developed its computer science program. B.C. is home to a growing technology industry and is one of the leading Canadian provinces for K-12 CS and computational thinking education (Gannon & Buteau, 2018). Its education system creates opportunities for students to pursue CS education based on their interests, including theoretical and quantitative concepts, practical applications, and problem-solving. Further, the province's approach to teacher professional development and student engagement merits consideration.

Title I, Part A; Title II, Part A; and Title IV, Part A funds are provided to the Houston Independent School District (HISD) through the 2015 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), also known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). All three funds focus on enhancing student achievement. Title I, Part A provides supplemental support for students to meet rigorous academic requirements. Title II, Part A provides supplemental professional development programs for principals and teachers to support students' academic progress. Title IV, Part A funds are used to provide all students with access to a well-rounded education, improve school conditions for student learning (Health and Safety), and support the use of technology to improve the academic achievement and digital literacy of all students. This report documents the contributions of the 2019-2020 centralized programs.

The Report of 2018 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education (NSSME+) details the results of a survey of 7,600 science, mathematics, and computer science teachers in schools across the United States. Areas addressed include: teacher backgrounds and beliefs; science, mathematics, and computer science professional development; science, mathematics, and computer science courses; instructional objectives and activities; instructional resources; and factors affecting instruction.

This policy brief is the sixth in a series of in-depth case studies exploring how top-performing charter schools have incorporated civic learning in their school curriculum and school culture. The brief reports on Ridgeview Classical Schools, an integrated K-12 public charter school in Fort Collins, Colorado. The school contains an elementary, middle, and high school, with all classes taking place on one relatively small campus. Students at Ridgeview master a body of literary and philosophical texts, language skills, and mathematical and scientific knowledge that begins in the lower grades with a curriculum based on "Core Knowledge," then expands to include more advanced works in grades 9-12. The school adheres to a classical approach to education, utilizing a Socratic method of discussion-based classes. It makes demands on students' intellects and on their characters, and those demands are inextricable: you cannot build the kind of intellectual community that Ridgeview strives to be without training students in good character and citizenship, nor can you train their characters without developing their minds.

Forty-six states and the District of Columbia have committed to fully implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) by the fall of 2013, and members of the two CCSS-aligned assessment consortia have committed to roll out an aligned assessment the following year. With less than a year until the CCSS must be in place in all classrooms, most states have at least some implementation activities already underway. But if these standards are to provide true game-changing leverage, advocates need to step up their involvement on at least two fronts. They need to make sure that the standards are implemented in effective and equitable ways. And they need to help parents and other stakeholders understand and support the standards. This brief guide is designed to help advocates who are new to standards work. It provides basic information on matters that are critical to common core implementation, including: (1) Transition Planning; (2) Communication; (3) Educator Training and Instructional Materials; (4) High School Curriculum and Graduation Policies; (5) Catch-Up Strategies; (6) English Language Learners; (7) Technology; and (8) Policy Alignment.

In Malaysia, the issue of weak and non-proficient graduates is a pressing matter. This implies that they are not well-equipped to cope with academic literacy, which is closely related to their language proficiency, as the main medium of instruction at most higher institutions is the English language. At this level, reading is the essence of academic achievement where they are required to read, explain and critically assess lengthy, often complicated academic texts, and process the obtained information either in written or spoken forms (Nambiar, 2007; Levine, Ferenz and Reves, 2000). The problem of reading that arises may be tracked down to the secondary school level, which may due to the inconsistencies and misalignment between the approaches and design with the implementation stage in the classroom. Thus, this study seeks to explore the perceptions of an English Language teacher with regard to the English Language Reading Curriculum in improving students' comprehension ability. Findings will serve as an efficient and operational guide to designing reading curriculum and instruction, as well as a tool that can be used to evaluate a set of curriculum and instruction, specifically in second language teaching and learning, and across subjects in general. It can also be utilised for reviewing or counter-checking of curriculum documents after a certain period of time. (Contains 2 figures.)

Engineering has gained considerable traction in many K-12 schools. However, there are several obstacles or challenges to an effective approach that leads to student learning. Questions such as where engineering best fits in the curriculum; how to include it authentically and appropriately; toward what educational end; and how best to prepare teachers need to be answered. Integration or infusion appears to be the most viable approach; instead of stand-alone engineering courses squeezing into the already crammed curriculum. An integrative approach whereby engineering is infused into the existing curriculum, within science, technology, mathematics or other courses, appears to be the best approach to expose students to engineering learning. However, little is yet known about how best to infuse engineering concepts into the K-12 curriculum. What does it mean to infuse engineering concepts into high school instruction? This question raises significant issues that need to be addressed in order to integrate appropriate engineering concepts and accomplish important learning outcomes. In order to explore this larger question, an expert focus group meeting was convened to inform the development of a model or descriptions for infusing engineering concepts into high school instruction and to address some of the pertinent questions involved. The focus group meeting is an important input toward a larger project, in which the researcher is a co-Principal Investigator. The Infuse Project was funded by the National Science Foundation to research teacher learning through an innovative approach to professional development that is engineering concept-driven. The project is focused on the infusion of engineering concepts into life science and physical science education. The present study, which is the subject of this report, addressed issues that needed clarification in order to inform the development of the protocol to be used in the major investigations of Project Infuse. (Contains 1 table and 2 footnotes.)

This document is a revised version of the National Consumer and Financial Literacy Framework (the Framework) originally developed in 2005. It articulates a rationale for consumer and financial education in Australian schools; describes essential consumer and financial capabilities that will support lifelong learning; and provides guidance on how consumer and financial education may be structured to support a progression of learning from Foundation-Year 10. Appended are: (1) Links to the Australian Curriculum's general capabilities; (2) Links to the Australian Curriculum's cross-curriculum; and (3) Acknowledgments. (Contains 20 footnotes.)

Improving high school graduation rates has become the focus of virtually every high school, district and state nationwide, as dropout rates in many areas remain unacceptably high. As 80-90% of students voice the expectation that they will go to college (and federal labor projections support the need for a more educated workforce), greater numbers of states are making a "college/and career-ready" high school curriculum the default curriculum to earn a high school diploma. Many education stakeholders at the state and local level are wondering how it is possible to raise high school graduation rates while increasing the number and rigor of courses required for a high school diploma. Credit recovery and proficiency-based credit are being adopted by a growing number of states that are working to simultaneously increase graduation rates, create a default "college/career-ready" high school curriculum, and provide acceleration options for students. This issue of "The Progress of Education Reform" addresses the following questions: (1) What is credit recovery? What is proficiency-based credit?; (2) How is credit recovery different from traditional remediation?; (3) Why does providing for these options matter for high school completion?; (4) How widespread are these options across the states? What do state policies look like?; (5) What are the challenges in implementing credit recovery and proficiency-based credit programs?; (6) What does the research say on the effectiveness of credit recovery and proficiency-based credit?; and (7) What are the essential policy components? (Contains 11 endnotes.)

The majority of public high school students in California are missing out on history. Many students may not see it that way, but that is because they have little understanding of what it means to appreciate history. The traditional high school history survey courses, US History and world history, provide an overview of "everything that ever happened," while going into very little detail regarding the people, controversies and rationales behind the events that shaped our nation and the world. High school students do not realize that studying history is more than sweeping overviews and general knowledge. Providing students with an eclectic choice of in-depth history electives would alleviate this misconception. Elective courses on themes such as women's history, US immigration, and local history open the idea of specific areas of interest and expertise in social studies. Simply the availability of these classes, even for the students who choose not to take them, can show students they can study, learn and focus on a myriad of specific topics, opening up a world of interests that they may have never otherwise considered. Appended is: Elective History Courses.

The Nation's Report Card[TM] informs the public about the academic achievement of elementary and secondary students in the United States. Report cards communicate the findings of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what the nation's students know and can do. NAEP has often been called the "gold standard" of assessments and provides a common measure of student achievement across the country. It reports results for different demographic groups, including gender, socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity. Assessments are given in subjects such as reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, economics, and the arts. In 2009, NAEP was administered in reading, mathematics, and science at the fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade levels. NAEP also conducted its periodic High School Transcript Study (HSTS) in 2009. Undertaken every four years, the HSTS surveys the rigor of curricula being followed at U.S. high schools, as well as the course taking patterns of graduating seniors. This brochure is a compilation of executive summaries from the reports, and includes results for the nation and participating states and districts. (Contains 5 figures and 1 table.)

Historians work in a discipline with few inherent concepts and are obliged to draw upon many fields in recreating the past. Yet authors of most school history texts, state and national standards and curriculum materials seldom incorporate economic analysis in their work. Just look at state standards that include Adam Smith and John Locke but draw no connections between their economic thought and contemporary institutions, to world history texts that treat the British Industrial Revolution as a virtual crime against humanity. This essay's objective is to integrate an economic perspective into five common topics that are taught, depending upon the course, in every world or U.S. history survey class; Ancient Greece and Rome, Imperial China, Colonial English America, the British Industrial Revolution, and the U.S. depression of the 1930s. An annotated list of pedagogical resources for topics is also included along with general resources. (Contains 1 table.)

Now that all 50 states and the District of Columbia are building statewide longitudinal data systems, the next step is to ensure that the information in these systems is used to improve student learning. The Data Quality Campaign (DQC) has identified 10 actions that states can take to ensure that the right data are available and accessible and that users have the knowledge and skills to use the data well (see "10 State Actions To Ensure Effective Data Use," page 2). This paper discusses reports that states can create using longitudinal data. These reports include, but are not limited to: (1) Growth reports looking at changes in the achievement of the same students over time; (2) Diagnostic reports providing academic histories of students' mastery of specific concepts or skills; (3) Early warning reports identifying students who need immediate help based on at-risk indicators; (4) Predictive reports showing the relationship between earlier and later student outcomes--for example, the relationship between 8th grade test scores and students' readiness for college and careers in 12th grade; (5) Cohort graduation reports showing graduation rates of groups of the same students followed since the beginning of 9th grade; and (6) Feedback reports providing information on outcomes for students after they graduate from a school or district. (Contains 3 tables, 10 figures, 16 resources and 20 endnotes.)

The ocean is the dominant feature on this planet that makes all life on Earth possible. Marine educators and scientists across the country have identified essential principles and concepts that define what an "ocean literate" person should know, but there is a lack of comprehensive ocean content coverage in secondary classrooms across the United States. In California, limited ocean content standards exist in the primary grades, and diminish in the secondary grades. The main purpose of this study was to examine obstacles for secondary (grades 6-12) teachers to teach about the ocean in California public schools. Interviews were conducted with five teachers with professional development in ocean related curricula, to identify their personal obstacles to including ocean content in their classrooms. Obstacles identified ranged from high stakes testing to lack of time, but not a perceived lack of importance. Three appendixes are included: (1) Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Concepts; (2) Sample of ocean knowledge questions asked in public opinion survey by the Ocean Project in 1999; and (3) Interview Questions.

Achieve's research suggests that for high school graduates to be prepared for success in postsecondary settings, they need to take four years of challenging mathematics--including content at least through Algebra II or its equivalent--and four years of rigorous English aligned with college- and career-ready standards. This paper offers a comparison table of state graduation requirements.

A comparative study was conducted to compare two approaches to engineering design curriculum between different schools (inter-school) and between two curricular approaches, "Project Lead the Way" (PLTW) and "Engineering Projects in Community Service" (EPIC High) (inter-curricular). The researchers collected curriculum materials, including handouts, lesson plans, guides, presentation files, design descriptions, problem statements, and support guides. The researchers conducted observations in the classrooms to collect qualitative indicators of engineering/technology reasoning, collect data on the nature of students' questions, how students define problems, and operate within the constraints of a design problem. Observational studies were conducted with students participating in "Project Lead the Way" and with students participating in "Engineering Projects in Community Service" (EPICS). Study participants were asked to work through an ill-defined problem, in this case the problem of creating a new playground for an elementary school. The data from these protocols were analyzed using a coding process; a list of universal technical mental processes (Halfin, 1973) and a computer program OPTEMP (Hill, 1997) to record frequency and time of each mental process employed by the students. The data were used to identify common cognitive strategies employed by the students and to determine where students placed greatest emphasis during the observation period. General findings indicated that participants in the "EPICS-High" program were in general more solution-driven problem solvers, while the "Project Lead the Way" participants were generally problem-driven as defined by Kruger & Cross (2006). Although the participants in both groups had completed advanced courses in mathematics; mathematics was rarely employed (less than 3%) to describe constraints of the problem or predict results of proposed solutions. Over half of the students became fixated at some point on the provided picture. (Smith, Ward, & Schumacher, 1993). This study provides important insight about how students solve ill-defined problems, providing vital information for technology education as it seeks to implement engineering design. Appended are: (1) Test Session Participant Instructions; (2) Transfer Problem; (3) Merriam's Observational Element Guidelines; (4) The Cognitive Processes identified by Halfin's 1973 Dissertation Study; (5) Research Poster; (6) Teacher Follow-up Questions; and (7) Teacher Follow-up Responses. A bibliography is included. (Contains 4 figures and 8 tables.)

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through increased requirements for mastery and attainment of competency as documented through both formative and summative assessments. The courses in this document reflect the statutory requirements as found in Section 37-3-49, Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended (Section 37-3-46). In addition, this curriculum reflects guidelines imposed by federal and state mandates (Laws, 1988, ch. 487, Section 14; Laws, 1991, ch. 423, Section 1; Laws, 1992, ch. 519, Section 4 effective from and after July 1, 1992; Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act IV, 2007; and No Child Left Behind Act of 2001). Welding is an instructional program that prepares students for employment or continued education in the occupations of the welding field. The curriculum framework for this program was developed in partnership with the Mississippi Construction Education Foundation (MCEF). MCEF is the accredited sponsor for the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER). Appended are: (1) 21st Century Skills Standards; (2) Mississippi Academic Standards; (3) ACT College Readiness Standards; (4) National Industry Standards; and (5) National Educational Technology Standards for Students. A list of references is provided for each unit.

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through increased requirements for mastery and attainment of competency as documented through both formative and summative assessments. The courses in this document reflect the statutory requirements as found in Section 37-3-49, Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended (Section 37-3-46). In addition, this curriculum reflects guidelines imposed by federal and state mandates (Laws, 1988, ch. 487, Section 14; Laws, 1991, ch. 423, Section 1; Laws, 1992, ch. 519, Section 4 effective from and after July 1, 1992; Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act IV, 2007; and No Child Left Behind Act of 2001). Simulation and Animation Design is a pathway in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) career cluster. This program is designed for students who wish to develop, design, and implement projects in the ever-expanding field of game design and development. The program emphasizes the techniques and tools used in game design and the creative design or content of such media. Both theoretical learning and activity-based learning are provided for students who wish to develop and enhance their competencies and skills. The program focuses on the basic areas of ethics, character development, audio and video production, and design using visualization software. The program finishes with a performance-based unit that requires students to develop their own gaming environment. This comprehensive project component provides practical experience toward developing a portfolio of work. Membership is encouraged in the student organization, Technology Student Association (TSA), which promotes technological literacy, leadership, and problem solving, resulting in personal growth and opportunity. Appended are: (1) International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Standards; (2) 21st Century Skills Standards; (3) ACT College Readiness Standards; and (4) National Educational Technology Standards for Students. A list of references is provided for each unit.

The Comparing Options in Secondary Mathematics: Investigating Curriculum (COSMIC) project is a longitudinal study of student learning from two types of mathematics curricula: integrated and subject-specific. Previous large-scale research studies such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) indicate that numerous variables are associated with mathematics performance; however, consideration of too many variables can result in biased models that inflate the amount of variation explained. This paper addresses key issues in the design of studies of curricular effectiveness including data collection, data reduction, and coherence in modeling student achievement in Year 1. At the student-level, demographic and prior achievement data was collected for 2621 secondary school students in five states. These scores were transformed onto NAEP scales to yield a COSMIC Prior Achievement (CPA) score that provided a control for prior achievement across the entire sample. At the teacher-level, data related to teaching experience, professional development, teacher beliefs, and curriculum implementation was collected. Student learning was measured using the Iowa Test of Educational Development: Mathematics (Level 15) and two project-developed assessments (Test A and Test B) that embodied curricular validity (National Research Council, 2004). Item Response Theory (IRT) scaled student scores were adjusted for CPA and subsequently aggregated by teacher. Seven factors were extracted from 24 teacher-level variables through principle components analysis, four related to curriculum implementation and three to teacher characteristics. Curriculum Type, Percent Free/Reduced Lunch (%FRL), and Lesson Development variables were examined in relation to student outcomes. Full and partial correlations procedures were used to identify key variables associated with student mathematics learning. Significant correlations included Curriculum Type with student scores on Test A and Test B; %FRL correlated (negatively) with scores on Test A and ITED-15; Technology & Collaboration with scores on Test B and ITED-15; Opportunity-to-Learn (OTL) with performance on all three outcome measures; and Knowledge of Standards with scores on Test A and Test B. When controlling for %FRL, Curriculum Type was significantly correlated with all three dependent measures. A similar pattern emerged when controlling for OTL, suggesting a relationship between OTL and %FRL. In contrast, controlling for Technology & Collaboration weakened the correlations between Curriculum Type and all three assessments. Recommendations related to key issues in data collection, data reduction, and coherence that are prerequisite to the productive modeling of student achievement data in comparative curriculum studies are provided. (Contains 13 tables, 5 figures, and 4 footnotes.) [This paper is based on research conducted as part of the Comparing Options in Secondary Mathematics: Investigating Curriculum (COSMIC) project, a research study supported by the National Science Foundation.]

In Texas, undergraduate teacher preparation programs graduate 9,300 new elementary, secondary and special education teachers, nearly half (43 percent) of the total number produced each year in the state. This report examines 67 of those programs on a range of standards. The standards bear directly on their programs' capacity to attract the most talented individuals into the teaching profession and then prepare them to teach effectively. The sections of this report are organized to provide the rationales, methodologies and findings for each of NCTQ's (National Council on Teacher Quality) 25 standards. The standards are presented in the same order in which they appear on the rating sheet for each individual institution. Elementary teacher preparation is addressed in Standards 2-8; secondary teacher preparation is addressed in Standards 9-13; special education preparation is addressed in Standards 14-16. The table of contents on page 1 provides a full listing of the standards. Appendices include: (1) Findings from "NCTQ's State Teacher Policy Yearbook 2009"; (2) Study chronology and communications; (3) NCTQ'S response to comments from the deans of Texas education schools; (4) Evaluating overall design for special rating designations; (5) Glossary of terms used to describe teacher preparation coursework and programs; (6) Evaluation of elementary content coursework; (7) Ratings for required reading textbooks and information on reading textbook reviewers; (8) Ratings for required mathematics textbooks and information on mathematics textbook reviewers; (9) Texas A&M University-Commerce: Elementary teacher candidate professional preparation coursework; (10) Evaluation of professional preparation coursework; and (11) Sam Houston State University: Elementary teacher candidate professional. (Contains 12 figures and 129 footnotes.)

This article examines the impact of the Cross thematic approach on Greek and Greek Cypriot secondary education. The major argument put forward is that the Cross thematic approach (CTA) affects not only pedagogy and educational knowledge but teacher professionalism as well. In justifying this argument, the Cross thematic approach is considered as a Bernsteian "pedagogic device". The insights of Basil Bernstein are used to develop research questions about the changing nature of teaching and curricula in Cyprus and Greece currently, with its implications for teacher professionalism--all set within global, European and national contexts. Particular reference is made on the Flexible Zone programme as the author of the present article reckons this to be an extreme form of (CTA). As a final attempt this paper seeks to demonstrate that CTA can be empowering for education as it can open up the horizons for an "intelligent accountability" while this may challenge existing professional identities.

Using a case study format, the authors' objective was to collect data related to the following research questions: (1) What criteria do teachers and districts use when selecting engineering design experiences for infusion into high school classes and which of these criteria are most effective?; and (2) What issues, opportunities, and constraints do teachers confront as they infuse engineering concepts into technology education? Findings include: (1) It is imperative that the teacher have a passion for technology beyond mere subject expertise and be willing to include contemporary techniques, tools, processes, and issues in the course; (2) Teachers need to ensure their administrators understand the need to have a contemporary technology education program focused on engineering; (3) Teachers need to be aware of contemporary technology and engineering education issues, trends, processes, techniques, standards, and tools; and (4) There will be obstacles when making the transition to (or adopting a new) technology and engineering program, however, they are limited to issues of facilities, administrative concerns, teacher training, and pedagogical issues.

Recently engineering has emerged on the K-12 scene as a potentially important content area. However, K-12 teachers typically lack sufficient backgrounds to effectively integrate engineering into their classrooms. Thus teacher professional development is of critical importance. Although there have been several initiatives emerge to assist teachers in teaching engineering-related curriculum, there has been little empirical research generated. For example, little is known about best practices, engineering pedagogical content knowledge, or effective design principles for engineering professional development. Although there is a general consensus in the literature concerning a set of principles that differentiate effective teacher professional development, little is known about how these translate to an engineering context. In addition, several complex issues have emerged that impact the implementation of engineering at the K-12 level, directly affecting teacher professional development. This paper reports on the landscape study funded by the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) to examine engineering teacher professional development. This study evolved to include a synthesis of several activities and their outcomes with the intent to help inform future research and practice within NCETE. This report summarizes three major activities: (1) the "Professional Development for Engineering and Technology: A National Symposium" conducted February 2007, in Dallas, Texas; (2) a multiple case study of engineering professional development projects; and (3) the "Symposium on Professional Development for Engineering and Technology Education: An Action Agenda" conducted June 2009, in Atlanta, Georgia. This report consists of two main sections: (1) a summary of the three major activities; and (2) a synthesis and discussion of the landscape of engineering-oriented professional development at the secondary level. (Contains 2 footnotes.)