Writing centers are places where writers work with each other in an effort to develop ideas, discover a thesis, overcome procrastination, create an outline, or revise a draft. Ultimately, writing centers help students become more effective writers. Visit any college or university in the United States and chances are there is a writing center available to students, staff, and community members. A Guide to Creating Student-Staffed Writing Centers, Grades 6-12 is a how-to and, ultimately, a why-to book for middle school and high school educators as well as for English/language arts teacher candidates and their methods instructors. Writing centers support students and their busy teachers while emphasizing and supporting writing across the curriculum.

By the mid-twentieth century, the public comprehensive high school was often regarded as the most democratic form of secondary education. Fifty years later it was under challenge. New educational markets emphasized school diversity and parental choice rather than social equity through common schooling. The comprehensives faced many criticisms, including the decline of their educational standards. This book traces the history of this decline, attending to the relationships between government education policies and their diverse regional manifestations.

Empowerment is the overarching idea used in this book. The term has a variety of meanings in different sociocultural and political contexts, including "self-strength, control, self-power, self-reliance, own choice, life of dignity in accordance with one's values, capable of fighting for one's rights, independence, own decision making, being free, awakening, and capability" (The World Bank, 2002, p. 10). However, the World Bank report observed that most definitions focus on issues of "gaining power and control over decisions and resources that determine the quality of one's life" (p. 10). This interpretation of empowerment provides a useful starting point for the development of the series of interconnected arguments explored here. Establishment of the basis for understanding, identifying and developing strategies through education necessary for individuals to be able to make choices that inf- ence the quality of their lives is the main aim of this book. There are a number of assumptions and boundaries that frame this analysis. First, the book focuses on "agents"; however, empowerment is often conceptualised in terms of relationships between agency and structure (e. g. , Alsop, Bertelsen, & H- land, 2006). Agency could be defined as "an actor's or group's ability to make purposeful choices - that is, the actor is able to envisage and purposively choose options" (p. 11).

New Labour and Secondary Education, 1994-2010 assesses New Labour's policy towards secondary education in Britain. Placing New Labour's policy in the historical and political context of British education policies since 1944, Clyde Chitty shows that, in numerous respects, New Labour education policy was a continuation of the policies pursued by the education ministers of Margaret Thatcher and John Major.

No matter what you teach, there is a 100 Ideas title for you! The 100 Ideas series offers teachers practical, easy-to-implement strategies and activities for the classroom. Each author is an expert in their field and is passionate about sharing best practice with their peers. Each title includes at least ten additional extra-creative Bonus Ideas that won't fail to inspire and engage all learners. _______________ 'An absolute gift to the RE community' - Mary Myatt With an emphasis on all faiths and beliefs, 100 Ideas for Secondary Teachers: Outstanding RE Lessons presents tried-and-tested ideas that can be used in any lesson about religion. Andy Lewis uses his experience as Director of Religious Education to share ideas and advice on how to construct a successful RE lesson, engage students in the subject, provide effective feedback and exam techniques, and bring RE to life in the secondary curriculum. RE can be a very difficult subject to teach as many of the topics that come up can be challenging to discuss with young people, especially with the complexities in legal status, curriculum content and public perceptions. God, ethics, death - just a few topics that could cause controversy in your classroom! Covering a range of different faiths, beliefs and worldviews, this book is suitable for all RE teachers regardless of the syllabus they are teaching. 100 Ideas for Secondary Teachers: Outstanding RE Lessons is the essential resource for helping students to develop an understanding between communities and eradicate religious prejudices and stereotypes, with cross-curricular strategies that reach out to members of local faith communities and use technology to 'visit' sacred sites.

To better identify and assist struggling students and avoid unnecessary placement into special education services, the service delivery model response to intervention (RTI) is used with the general education population. Even though RTI has been studied in elementary schools for many years, further research on its use at the secondary academic level is scarce. Advanced Strategies and Models for Integrating RTI in Secondary Schools provides emerging research exploring the advanced theoretical and practical aspects of the use of RTI to assist teachers in providing research-based instructional strategies to students who are failing their academic subjects. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as behavioral response, progress monitoring, and career readiness, this book is ideally designed for educators, researchers, and academic professionals seeking current research on the most effective models in place to promote positive student academic achievement.

In Writing Rhetorically, Jennifer Fletcher provides teachers with strategies and frameworks for writing instruction that cultivate student expertise and autonomy. By teaching writing rhetorically, we support students in becoming independent problem solvers. They learn how to discover their own questions, design their own inquiry process, develop their own positions and purposes, make their own choices about content and form, and contribute to conversations that matter to them. Inside this book, Jennifer examines the rhetorical writing skills and practices that help students effectively communicate across contexts while providing successful ways to foster: Inquiry, invention, and rhetorical thinking. Writing for transfer. Paraphrasing, summary, synthesis, and citation skills. Research skills and processes. Evidence-based reasoning. Rhetorical decision making. Rhetorical decision making helps students develop the skills, knowledge, and mindsets needed for transfer of learning: the ability to adapt and apply learning in new settings. The more choices students make as writers, the better prepared they are to analyze and respond to diverse rhetorical situations.

Although STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) has been diversely defined by various researchers (e.g. Buck Institute, 2003; Capraro & Slough, 2009; Scott, 2009; Wolf, 2008), during the last decade, STEM education has gained an increasing presence on the national agenda through initiatives from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Institute for Educational Sciences (IES). The rate of technological innovation and change has been tremendous over the past ten years, and this rapid increase will only continue. STEM literacy is the power to "identify, apply, and integrate concepts from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to understand complex problems and to innovate to solve them" (Washington State STEM, 2011, Internet). In order for U.S. students to be on the forefront of this revolution, ALL of our schools need to be part of the STEM vision and guide students in acquiring STEM literacy. Understanding and addressing the challenge of achieving STEM literacy for ALL students begins with an understanding of its element and the connections between them. In order to remain competitive, the Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy has recommended that the US optimize "its knowledge-based resources, particularly in science and technology" (National Academies, 2007, p. 4). Optimizing knowledge-based resources needs to be the goal but is also a challenge for ALL educators (Scheurich & Huggins, 2009). Regardless, there is little disagreement that contemporary society is increasingly dependent on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and thus comprehensive understandings are essential for those pursuing STEM careers. It is also generally agreed that PK-12 students do not do well in STEM areas, both in terms of national standards and in terms of international comparisons (Kuenzi, Matthews, & Mangan, 2006; Capraro, Capraro, Yetkiner, Corlu, Ozel, Ye, & Kim, 2011). The question then becomes what might PK-12 schools do to improve teachers' and students' STEM knowledge and skills? This book will look at equity and access issues in STEM education from PK-12, university, and administrative and policy lenses.

These cutting-edge international essays challenge dominant narratives of queer youth predicated on oppression and victimization. As school systems address the emergence of Gay-Straight Alliances and calls to provide equal educational access, researchers, educators and youth workers are paying increasing attention to sexuality, gender and schooling. Yet present discourses are limited to liberal understandings of tolerance, safety, and equity that are defined by a separation of "queer" and "normal." This text documents and offers radical interpretations of the creativity of queer youth in challenging existing practices. Interdisciplinary analyses offer multiple vantage points for reconceptualizing adolescent sexual subjectivities and institutional and cultural practices.

Thinking is an innate ability that most people take for granted. But like writing well or speaking effectively before the public, thinking well is a skill that can be learned and improved with practice. In this unique introduction to critical thinking, Robert Bartholomew and Benjamin Radford first lay out the principles of critical thinking and then invite readers to put these principles to the test by examining a series of unusual and challenging case studies. Assembling a wide range of bizarre but actual incidents from many cultures and various time periods, they demonstrate how the tools of critical thinking can help to unravel alleged paranormal events and seemingly mysterious behavior. What factors led to the "Martian panic" of 1938? Why did many people conclude that an alien spaceship crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947? How do we explain the panic expressed by otherwise normal Southeast Asian men who came to believe that a contagious disease was causing their genitals to shrink, or the frenzied dance manias that captivated thousands of Europeans during the Middle Ages? Bartholomew and Radford show that reality is very much a social construction, that cultural assumptions play a large part in our judgments about what is normal and what is deviant, and that the use of critical reasoning is our best means of ensuring an objective perspective.

"The perfect prescription! It's both an assessment tool and an overall educational strategy for developing healthy attitudes toward learning and life." Klaus Issler, Professor, Biola University, La Mirada, California "Gives teachers a sound method of getting the best from all their students." Leo Zuber, High School Superintendent, Ripon Unified School District, California "A solid, reseach-based approach to moral development. Deserves wide exposure." Frederic R. Wilson, Educational Consultant, Wheaton, Illinois "Well written and extremely comprehensive. A great resource." Robert B. Gonzalez, Teacher, Liberty High School, Brentwood, Califonia This book is tailor-made for teachers who are tired of spending all their time on the "bad apple" in their class. It shows how to challenge and then change student attitudes for the better. The key is the Virtue Assessment Questionnaire, which lets you measure - simply and easily - your students' virtue. Just follow the step-by-step instructions on scoring and interpreting results. The author defines virtue in this context as wanting to do what you have to do - good conduct growing out of good character, an expression of being and doing. Now you can unlock the mysteries of classroom problems and restore virtue to students whose lives are broken. Help students assess negative feelings, change perspectives, figure out what's right, develop a desire for virtue, and become people of good character. Loehrer teaches you how your interactions with students and coworkers can help instill virtue and build character in your students. Be their moral leader, and you give them the foundation they need to move toward becoming people of good character. Loehrer offers you these powerful principles you can practice to teach your students virtue: * Do more than is required * Give generously * Forgive freely, without being asked * Offer encouragement when faced with opposition * Help others in secret, without acknowledgment * Handle discipline problems with justice * Suffer in silence - no complaints * Persist, and be patient Make your personal ethics system a regular part of your daily classroom activities and see a marked improvement in your students' attitudes about learning and about life. Includes scoring forms and guidelines.

No matter what you teach, there is a 100 Ideas title for you! The 100 Ideas series offers teachers practical, easy-to-implement strategies and activities for the classroom. Each author is an expert in their field and is passionate about sharing best practice with their peers. Each title includes at least ten additional extra-creative Bonus Ideas that won't fail to inspire and engage all learners. _______________ Split into sections on grammar, vocabulary, speaking, listening, reading, writing, translation and revision, 100 Ideas for Secondary Teachers: Outstanding MFL Lessons presents tried-and-tested ideas that cover all aspects of the modern foreign languages (MFL) curriculum. Experienced MFL teacher Dannielle Warren shares interactive games and activities to support and challenge all students learning a modern foreign language. This accessible resource presents suggestions for helping students revise effectively and strategies for marking and feedback to enable their progress. It is suitable for all MFL teachers, regardless of the language they teach, and includes examples in French, Spanish and German. With online resources and ideas ranging from pass the parcel to drawing dictation, 100 Ideas for Secondary Teachers: Outstanding MFL Lessons is ideal for all teachers in need of some inspiration and fresh ideas.

In this comparative study of young people's educational careers in England and Germany, individual factors, social class, school and country characteristics are shown jointly to shape these careers through mutually reinforcing processes. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is combined with interview analysis to explore generative mechanisms.

A practical guide for subject leaders in secondary schools to help them run their departments effectively and efficiently. It is increasingly being acknowledged that subject leaders hold the key to school improvement and professional development. However, there is little information available for subject leaders to help them with the day-to-day practicalities of running a department on top of existing teaching commitments. This uniquely practical book deals specifically with current issues faced by subject heads of department (HoDs). Engagingly and entertainingly written, this book covers the major areas of concern to subject leaders, including leadership styles, managing staff, managing pupil performance, strategic planning, curriculum development and coping with problems.

The only book designed and written specifically for African American junior high and high school students, this step-by-step guide provides much needed strategies, tactics, and tools to help them create successful educational careers in school. From the editor and publisher of the highly acclaimed Black Student's Guide to College Success (1993, revised ed. 1995), this guide contains contributed essays by fifteen educators (many from historically black colleges), supplemented by success stories of contemporary black high school students. It will help students to make informed choices, to deal with the challenges and obstacles to high school success both in and out of the classroom, and to complete their high school education. Each essay deals with a specific topic of concern to black high school students and is designed to motivate them to make intelligent choices about their education and their future and to develop pride and self-esteem. Following a Foreword by L. Douglas Wilder, former Governor of Virginia, and a Preface by Richard Arrington Jr., Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, the guide features fifteen informative essays, geared to the needs of the black student entering high school, written in a conversational manner to which students can relate. Each essay is written by a successful professional or educator in that field and is followed by a short essay by a black high school student on his or her personal experience in overcoming obstacles to succeed in high school. Essays address these topics: selecting a high school; planning for the future; the politics of high schools; opportunities for success in the classroom; study habits and hints; athletics; extracurricular activities;leadership in and out of the classroom; making the smart choice--saying no to drugs, alcohol, crime, and pregnancy; choosing your friends; black pride and self-esteem; getting involved in the black community and churches; networking in an integrated society; the benefits of part-time work; and the career hunt--further education or the work force. This informative and motivational guide, designed specifically for African American students, will help them, their parents, teachers, and guidance counselors to address issues facing black students in order for the students to successfully complete their high school education.

For decades, researchers and policymakers have grappled with the issue of the underachievement of African American students. An age-old problem has been that these students on average lag behind their peers of other racial/ethnic groups in math, science, and reading. Recently, California, like some other states, has implemented a high-stakes standardized testing program that has revealed that when test scores are disaggregated along racial/ethnic lines, the scores of African American students continue to trail those of their peers.

The study described in this book was undertaken in an effort to uncover schooling practices that are advantageous or detrimental to the achievement of African American students. The study was based on interviews and questionnaire results from nearly 300 African American high school seniors. Most of these students resided in a region that had a low college attendance rate and a high child poverty rate. The students were given an opportunity to discuss numerous issues pertaining to their schooling experiences, including teacher attitudes and expectations, the curriculum, homework practices, the quality of services provided by their high school counselors, racism at school, school safety, parental involvement, and their early reading habits and attitudes about reading. In addition to quantitative results, most chapters include detailed narratives describing the elementary and secondary schooling experiences of the interviewees.

With the introduction of a new curriculum in 2000, citizenship education is a key issue for all schools. This practical guide and resource has been written to provide whole school approaches to developing citizenship. It is based around a detailed range of core activities, including the development of a school council, school elections and community links. It identifies the management and practical issues to be resolved and details step-by-step routes that schools, staff and management need to take to either implement or further develop their citizenship education on a whole schools basis.

Considers whether the question of the high school's seeming demise is exaggerated and why it is experiencing the many problems that it does. This volume contains essays which focus on the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

Across much of the world there is now a standard secondary school curriculum based, with variations, on a traditional array of academic subjects. This book's originality lies in its being the first work to tell the story of its invention, tracing this from the sixteenth century until the present day and highlighting its links, until recent times, with radical protestantism. The central focus is on British history, but international, not least American, perspectives also appear throughout. There are two more original features of the book. Its historical account is supplemented by a critical commentary on the shifting arguments given across the centuries for favouring such a curriculum. And the book concludes with a philosophically-rooted sketch of a more acceptable alternative: a curriculum based on a well-argued set of fundamental aims rather than one taking traditional school subjects as its starting point.

Written by experts in the field, this book explains the principles of effective vocabulary instruction for the modern language classroom. While many language classrooms rely on practices which can be outdated, idiosyncratic or ill-advised, this book overviews the research and background necessary to successfully integrate vocabulary instruction into the curriculum in a systematic way. Starting with the common gaps in vocabulary instruction, Milton and Hopwood demonstrate how students' development of a large, communicative lexicon, with an understanding of word structure and collocations, is an essential component of language instruction. The book addresses goal setting, curriculum design, word selection, how words are learned, learning in and outside of the classroom and more. It also addresses common myths about teaching vocabulary in the United Kingdom and around the world. This comprehensive text fills an important gap in the literature and is ideal for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in world language/foreign language methods and language methods courses.

Focusing on ideas of equity and opportunity, this book reveal how students', teachers', and administrators' conceptions of educational opportunity often actually undermine the education that students, especially in urban areas, actually receive.

How can teachers deal with the growing pastoral needs of pupils aged 11-16 in schools? This critical guide explores the pastoral role which teachers play in schools, and argues that today's schools continue to offer children an invaluable source of support. This guide explores a number of serious pastoral issues, drawing on contemporary research to outline the impact which these issues can have on children aged 11-16 and offering practical strategies for providing support on a whole-school and individual classroom level. Consideration is also given to how schools can use the curriculum proactively to help pupils be more prepared to deal with serious pastoral issues. Topics dealt with include: - supporting children who are experiencing separation or divorce - helping to prevent and deal with bullying, including cyber-bullying - identifying and responding to possible child abuse - understanding the impact of domestic violence - supporting children through bereavement - responding to self-harm and suicide This is the essential guide for those training to teach in the secondary sector and for practicing teachers who have recently taken on pastoral responsibilities.

The Pocket Diary of a SENCO spans a typical school year and includes hopeful and often humorous diary entries that share the authentic aspirations, joys and frustrations of championing inclusion and working in the role of a SENCO. Grounded in real-life experiences and day-to-day practice, Pippa McLean describes the experiences of a SENCO and the reality of SEND provision in school, drawing out the personal characteristics and values that schools can foster to support inclusive practice and nurture positive relationships between children, parents and colleagues. Diary extracts across the months range from 'Be ready to hit the road', 'Be gentle on yourself', to 'Be a culture builder' and 'Be an advocate'. Each entry is followed by reflective questions and space for the reader to jot down their own thoughts, as well as 'monthly musings' to support their own professional development. Written in a truly conversational style, this essential pocket diary captures the reality of SEND provision in schools and will be relatable to many. It is valuable reading for SENCOs, teachers, support staff and trainees who wish to enrich their learning around inclusive practice and engage reflectively within their busy lives.

Education is a universal priority. Currently, it is at a crossroad. In every society it is valued as a major road to produce more productive, more harmonious and healthier citizens. Yet, in every setting there is deep dissatisfaction with the overall performance of education and there are major moves towards reform, sometimes superficial but more often fundamental. These reform processes have had only moderate and very uneven success. Too often they are episodic, reflecting a short-term approach which is frequently changed for the latest enthusiasm or the most recent administration. In Asia and the Pacific countries many systems are in the process of construction or reconstruction. Can we learn from the experiences of others? Given the multiplicity of efforts at reform, and the variety of situations for reform, there may well be lessons we can learn from each other's efforts and each others failures and successes.