This book explores the experiences of young people as they move through the Irish secondary educational system. Drawing on a rich study which combines survey data with in-depth interviews with students, it addresses the key facets of schooling which influence young people's experiences. With chapters organised thematically, including ability grouping, school climate and the impact of high stakes examinations, the central dimensions of school structure and process is explored. Placing young people's voices centre stage, it explores how they respond to the school context and make decisions that will profoundly affect their future. This book contrasts different types of school settings and examines how gender and social class play out at the school level.

Who am I?" This is the question that many adolescents ask during the turbulent middle and high school years. In Worth Writing About: Exploring Memoir with Adolescents, Jake Wizner addresses how searching for the answer to this question leads his students to reflection, to reading, and ultimately to deeper, more meaningful writing. Based on his experience teaching eighth-grade English for nearly two decades, Jake believes that a well-designed memoir unit not only aligns with the Common Core State Standards but also forges community in the classroom, encourages kids to read nonfiction, and works wonders with students who struggle with their writing -- or with their lives. Worth Writing About addresses the most common challenges teachers face when teaching memoir writing: How do you help students who say that nothing interesting has happened in their lives? How do you help students balance what is meaningful with what is too personal to share? How do you help students overcome the "I don't remember" syndrome? Jake -- who has published a young-adult novel and often shares his own writing with his students -- also delves into the craft of writing, from using mentor texts to crafting leads and memorable endings. He uses student models from his own classroom to show the deep, important work his students produce during the memoir unit. The memoir unit gets kids to write about real stuff -- the things that matter to them. In the process, Jake believes, they learn more about themselves, their relationships, the way they view the world, and how they want to move forward into the future.

The Young Adolescent and the Middle School, will focus on issues related to the nature of young adolescence and the intersection of young adolescence with middle level schooling. Examples of topics related to young adolescence include: (a) the developmental characteristics (i.e., physical, emotional, cognitive, social, ethical/moral, psychological), (b) self esteem, (c) identity formation, (d) issues related to gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation, (e) peer pressure (e.g., bullying, suicide, and at-risk behaviors). Possible chapters that focus on the intersection of the nature of young adolescence with middle level schools include: (a) appropriate structures, organizational arrangements, interventions, and practices that are developmentally appropriate; (b) curricular, instructional, and assessment issues as they relate to this developmental period; (c) the characteristics/qualities of teachers and administrators that are essential for effectively working with young adolescents; and (d) issues related to special education; and (e) the involvement of family in middle level schooling. Of particular interest to the editor are manuscripts that present the perspectives of students on various issues related to young adolescence and schooling. Please check with the editor if you have any questions regarding the appropriateness of a topic.

This is a unique textbook that offers an integrated text-focused approach to teaching English texts across the 11-18 age and ability range. "Teaching Texts 11-18" is a book for trainee English teachers, PGCE and GTTP trainees, and those who have recently qualified. This textbook offers an integrated text-focused approach to teaching the subject of English across the 11-18 age and ability range. The term 'text' embraces a variety of texts that are at the heart of the English curriculum and debates about literacy, including scripts and spoken texts, poetry, prose fiction, literary non-fiction, media and multimodal texts."Teaching Texts 11-18" explores practical and inclusive ways into teaching many different types of texts. The use of ICT and considerations for working with lower ability and/or gifted and talented students features throughout the book.The book draws on both creative practices and current research in the fields of literacy, English teaching pedagogy and ICT. It includes interviews and some examples of textual production from professionals working in different textual fields. It engages with debates about the current and future construction of the English curriculum both in the UK and in other Anglophone countries. It supports its readers in their professional development as reflective readers and teachers of texts.

An Adventure with Autism and Social Communication Difficulties is an exciting storybook and guidebook pair, designed to help readers understand the impact of social communication challenges on everyday life for children and young people. The Man-Eating Sofa: People often say that 'school is the best time of your life', but for Lara, school is loud and confusing. She much prefers watching James Bond films or building furniture in her dad's workshop. When the teachers in Lara's new school realise that she is autistic, they are able to help with strategies to make school more tolerable for her. An exciting and engaging story for children aged 8-12. This book explores some of the challenges faced by students who find social communication, sensory processing and regulation difficult. Supporting Autism and Social Communication Difficulties in Mainstream Schools: Created to help parents, teachers and practitioners support young people who find social communication challenging, this guidebook explores the educational, social and psychological impact of autism and social communication and interaction difficulties, as well as offering strategies to help educators recognise and support these issues in the school environment.

This book explores pedagogy appropriate for the secondary school technology education classroom. It covers the dimensions of pedagogy for technology with scholarly research, including information strongly related to practice. The book discusses the nature of technology courses in secondary schools across various jurisdictions and considers how they might be viewed with regard to different epistemological frameworks. The writing is informed by, but not limited to, research and strongly related to practice with acknowledged experts in the field of technology education contributing chapters supported by evidence from technology education research or other fields. The authors speculate on pedagogical possibilities in their areas of expertise in order to consider pedagogical possibilities and develop a view of where pedagogy for technology education should move and how teachers might respond in the way they develop their practice.

This handbook covers such research issues in middle level education as advisory programmes, teaming, effective teachers, staffing, and teacher preparation programmes.

Science education at the upper secondary level presents an extremely diverse image. In some education systems, it is possible for students to abandon the discipline altogether; in others, program specialization may involve students' being enrolled in science-intensive tracks. In the latter case, the links between secondary and higher science education tend to be strong, especially for competitive-entry, science-based programs in subjects such as engineering and biomedical sciences. In this capacity, upper secondary science may be said to have created a new academic elitism.
This edited volume adopts a comparative approach to upper secondary science as it occurs in sixteen countries, focusing on such key topics as links with basic science education, issues in assessment, and the secondary/tertiary education interface. With contributions from a wide cross-section of countries, including Australia, Malaysia, Brazil, Nigeria, and Pakistan, Issues in Upper Secondary Science Education provides an unparalleled resource for understanding upper secondary science education systems around the world.

The current global marketplace demands more workers who are scientifically literate, yet few are being adequately prepared to meet that demand. Particularly underrepresented are women and minorities, who often lack the social and academic support that stimulate and sustain interest in science, math, and engineering. The authors of this book demonstrate that early intervention, especially during grades 4 through 8, can help overcome some of these obstacles. They show how increased career awareness and exposure to mentors and role models can help students see science and math-related careers as desirable and viable options. And they explain how test preparation, activity-based instruction, cooperative learning, and tutoring can help to improve academic outcomes. The authors also provide critical information on ten successful intervention programs, including MESA, Project SEED, and Operation SMART - and they offer practitioners specific guidance for developing, funding, and implementing similar programs in their own schools.

How can you effectively motivate young people to engage with foreign language learning? How can young people engage with new ideas and cultural experiences within and outside the classroom? The new edition of A Practical Guide to Teaching Foreign Languages in the Secondary School offers straightforward advice and inspiration for training teachers, NQTs and teachers in their early professional development. Written by a team of expert professionals, it offers a wide range of strategies for successful teaching in the languages classroom. Key topics covered include: Helping pupils develop better listening skills Effective speaking activities Choosing the best texts and technology for reading skills Teaching grammar Internet tools and services for teaching and learning Integrating formative assessment The intercultural dimension of language teaching Collaborating with primary schools and successful transition Teaching Arabic and Mandarin Working with TAs and FLAs Classroom research and reflective practice This fully revised and updated second edition includes new chapters on homework, motivation and less widely taught languages, while the core sections on reading and writing, planning, and culture and diversity have been significantly updated to reflect important changes in research, practice and policy. A Practical Guide to Teaching Foreign Languages in the Secondary School extends the popular Learning to Teach Foreign Languages in the Secondary School by providing detailed examples of theory in practice, based on the most up-to-date research and practice, as well as links to relevant sources supporting evidence-informed practice. It is an essential compendium of support and ideas for all those embarking upon their first steps in a successful career in teaching foreign languages.

Adopting a life story approach, this book explores the memories of those who attended Irish secondary schools prior to 1967. It serves to initiate and enhance the practice of remembering secondary school education amongst those who attended secondary schools not just in Ireland, but around the world.

Skill Builders are great tools for keeping children current during the school year or preparing them for the next grade level. A variety of fun and challenging activities provides students with practice and helps introduce basic skills to new learners. This full-color workbook contains appropriate passages and exercises based on national standards for third grade to help ensure that children master reading comprehension skills before progressing. Skill Builders combines entertaining and interactive activities with eye-catching graphics to make learning and reviewing fun and effective. The compact 6" x 9" size makes this book perfect for school, at home, or on the go. It features 80 perforated, reproducible pages and an answer key.

Literacy and popular culture are intrinsically linked as forms of communication, entertainment, and education. Students are motivated to engage with popular culture through a myriad of mediums for a variety of purposes. Utilizing popular culture to bridge literacy concepts across content areas in K-12 settings offers a level playing field across student groups and grade levels. As concepts around traditional literacy education evolve and become more culturally responsive, the connections between popular culture and disciplinary literacy must be explored. Disciplinary Literacy Connections to Popular Culture in K-12 Settings is an essential publication that explores a conceptual framework around pedagogical connections to popular culture. While highlighting a broad range of topics including academic creativity, interdisciplinary storytelling, and skill development, this book is ideally designed for educators, curriculum developers, instructional designers, administrative officials, policymakers, researchers, academicians, and students.

Debates in Music Teaching encourages student and practising teachers to engage with contemporary issues and developments in music education. It aims to introduce a critical approach to the central concepts and practices that have influenced major interventions and initiatives in music teaching, and supports the development of new ways of looking at ideas around teaching and learning in music.

Accessible and comprehensive chapters will stimulate thinking and creativity in relation to theory and practice, and will facilitate readers in reaching their own informed judgements and rationalising their position with deep theoretical knowledge and understanding. Throughout the book, international experts in the field consider key issues including:

• the justification for music in the school curriculum
• partnerships in music education and the identity of the music teacher
• technology and conceptions of musicianship
• social justice and music education
• the place of diverse musical genres and traditions in the music curriculum
• critical thinking and music education
• autonomy and integrity for music in cross-curricular work
• the politics, sociology and philosophy of music education.

Debates in Music Teaching is for all student and practising teachers interested in furthering their understanding of the subject. Including carefully annotated further reading and reflective questions to help shape research and writing, this collection stimulates critical and creative thinking in relation to contemporary debates within music education.

Gender is a hotly debated topic in the field of education. The role that language plays in educational contexts especially in the classroom has long been acknowledged. Innovatively combining approaches in the analysis of classroom discourse, this book offers rich empirical findings as well as being theoretically interesting and valuable.

A volume in Research on Religion and Education Series Editors Stephen J. Denig, Niagara University and Lyndon G. Furst, Andrews University This book is a study of the contributions of Catholic K-12 schools in the United States to the public interest from the 1800's to the present. It presents seven strategies that have the possibility of leading Catholic schools in positive, new directions. Outsiders often misunderstand the mission, purpose, and inclusivity of Catholic schools. This book brings a new focus on Catholic schools from the perspective of their service to this country through the education of Catholics and non-Catholics. In 16 chapters, a variety of scholars examine these schools across three periods: echoes of the past, realities of the present, and future directions. The intention of the editor and authors of this volume is that Catholic schools and those interested in conducting Catholic school research will find guidance, especially in examining newer types of partnerships flourishing in different types of Catholic schools in different regions of the country and types of schools from rural, suburban to city and inner-city schools. By increasing the data we have, such studies could help stem the tide of Catholic school demise. In addition, Catholic school leaders, and parents who chose them or are thinking about choosing them, will find here a balanced description of what constitutes a Catholic school and how they are different from public schools. In understanding better the role and function of Catholic schools in serving the public interest, new ideas, innovations, and improvements can help these schools survive and grow.

At a time when lowering the dropout rate is said to be a national priority, America's longest running and largest dropout prevention program has gone strangely unnoticed. This highly readable book explores the hidden world of the continuation high school, the most common form of alternative high school. Deirdre M. Kelly analyzes the factors that limit its success and focuses especially on gender issues in these schools: how girls and boys slip in and out of the system in different ways, for different reasons, and with different consequences. Kelly finds that mainstream high schools attempt to mask their own dropout and pushout rates by sending marginalized students to continuation schools. These schools, therefore, become as much safety valves for the system as safety nets for the students, and the resulting contradictions and stigma hamper success. In the two continuation schools that she examined closely, completion rates were low. Kelly discusses the history of the continuation school and the ethnic and class composition of the student body: in cities, African-Americans and Latinos predominate, and in the suburbs, mostly middle-class whites attend. She examines for the first time how formal and hidden curricula and peer influences affect girls and boys differently and lead them to drop out of school. Drawing on a year's on-site observations, interviews with students and teachers, school records, and theories of gender, class, and ethnicity, Kelly both analyzes and brings to life what more than one student describes as the emotional "soap opera" of high school.

Science fairs, clubs, and talent searches are familiar fixtures in American education, yet little is known about why they began and grew in popularity. In Science Education and Citizenship, Sevan G. Terzian traces the civic purposes of these extracurricular programs for youth over four decades in the early to mid-twentieth century. He argues that Americans' mobilization for World War Two reoriented these educational activities from scientific literacy to national defense -- a shift that persisted in the ensuing atomic age and has left a lasting legacy in American science education.

The Second Edition of Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs offers updated accounts of music educators' experiences, featured as vignettes throughout the book. An accompanying Practical Resource includes lesson plans, worksheets, and games for classroom use. As a practical guide and reference manual, Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs, Second Edition addresses special needs in the broadest possible sense to equip teachers with proven, research-based curricular strategies that are grounded in both best practice and current special education law. Chapters address the full range of topics and issues music educators face, including parental involvement, student anxiety, field trips and performances, and assessment strategies. The book concludes with an updated list of resources, building upon the First Edition's recommendations.

Using their tried-and-tested English Method training, the authors unpack the core learning issues, such as differentiation and the development of thinking skills, essential to all initial teacher training programmes. Linking theory and practice, with direct links to key theorists and ideas about learning, each chapter includes: a modelled analysis of a pupil's writing or talk on a particular theme; an exploration of the learning challenges within a specific age range or modality of English; focussed, practical activities centered upon a specific text, including oral, written, visual, multi-modal, print-bound and electronic material; and follow-up activities, including immediate questions for reflection, guided reading and ideas for use in the classroom. This is the complete guide that every trainee English teacher planning for learning in the secondary classroom needs.

'Brimming with useful ideas from start to finish... As usual, Jon's knowledge, wisdom and passion for all things education shine through. A brilliant read.' - Pete Jackson, Assistant Headteacher, @PeteJackson32 Looking to develop your skills so you can be successful as a head of year? Striving to get into pastoral leadership as a middle leader? Then Succeeding as a Head of Year is the ultimate guide for you! Adopting an easy-to-follow, chronological approach, Jon Tait takes you through everything you need to know to be an outstanding head of year: * Applying for your first post * Navigating interviews * Leading a team of form tutors * Managing student behaviour * Working with parents * Supporting specific year groups With tips on finding the right post and sailing through the interview process and advice on day-to-day practice and challenges, this is the ideal compendium for navigating this role. Written by an experienced pastoral leader and including case studies with aspiring, current and former middle leaders, this book is filled with practical, honest and open guidance to help you succeed as a head of year.

Written specifically for candidates in Secondary Schools. Covers all the mandatory and an excellent range of the most popular optional units, ensuring learners have what they need to succeed. Fully updated for the new specification and packed with exciting features to help bring learning to life. Assessment requirements and portfolio-building opportunities are given greater focus through tailored activities and examples. New 'School Life' feature enables learners to relate knowledge and understanding from each unit to their own experiences in the workplace.

Foreword, Tim Urdan and Frank Pajares. Risk Factors Related To Academic Achievement In Adolescence, Daniel J. Flannery and Kelly L. Wester. A Self-Regulation Approach to Understanding Adolescent Depression, Karen D. Rudolph. Abusive, Wanted, and Illegal Sexual Experiences in Adolescence, Nancy D. Kellogg.

Fred Gann, founder of four alternative education programs, believes that all true alternative education programs exist for one fundamental purpose: to make a positive difference in a student's life. In "Groundwork, " Gann delivers a roadmap to re-engage disenfranchised students through an effective alternative education program.This step-by-step guide demystifies the principles of alternative education and outlines how to create a program in which each student assumes personal responsibility for his or her learning and experiences a framework for developing success. With personal examples and anecdotes, Gann provides a clear, accessible plan for the implementation of alternative programs in support of a district's traditional school setting. "Groundwork" examines the following: The four questions that must be asked when founding a new program The components of a true alternative educational program Five techniques for implementation Positive-based disciplinary practices Program longevity and the art of survivalIn "Groundwork, " Gann presents a blunt and uncompromising demand for educators to invest in kids and calls for public education to provide programs which reconnect at-risk youth with their educational environments.