The present qualitative study was conducted in response to federal initiatives aimed at increasing the number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) schools in the United States; and to better understand STEM high school administrators', teachers', and students' perceptions of the characteristics of the curricular and instructional strategies and practices representative of their schools. Six STEM high schools with diverse organizational models were purposively selected to represent varied geographical regions, socioeconomic and ethnic groups, and levels of entrance criteria. During 2-day site visits at each school, administrators, teachers, and students were interviewed. Three themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) a common vision of a challenging and engaging learning environment, (b) a focus on applying curricular and instructional strategies and practices to real-world problems, and (c) an appreciation for academic and affective support in the challenging learning environment. Interested stakeholders might discover strategies and practices to support their respective missions.

The purpose of this longitudinal case study was to investigate the relationship between participation in professional development in Renzulli’s Enrichment Triad Model and one gifted education teacher’s knowledge and practice, with particular attention to differentiated instruction. Findings indicated that professional development increased the participating teacher’s knowledge of gifted education, her attitude toward change, and her repertoire of instructional strategies; however, it did not alter her underlying beliefs or subsequent approach to gifted education. Time span and provider support were noted as promoters of effective professional development. Conceptual blocks, teacher characteristics, and lack of time were identified as barriers that inhibited professional development–related change with regard to differentiated instruction for learners who have high academic ability.

Modern classrooms are often comprised of a heterogeneous student population with varying abilities. To address this variance, third-grade teachers implemented researcher-designed, pre-differentiated, and enriched math curricula in algebra, geometry and measurement, and graphing and data analysis. The goal of the curricula was to provide academic rigor for all students, including students with high abilities. These units prompted educators to recognize learning differences in their classrooms and provide appropriate lessons for each group. Qualitative analyses revealed the treatment teachers’ successful use of preassessments and grouping practices to accommodate students in their academically diverse classrooms. This study demonstrated the value of pre-differentiated and enriched curricula and professional development. Treatment teachers discussed how important it was that the curricula provided preassessments for each unit, and most lessons provided tiered activities directly connected to students’ preassessment performance. Providing teachers with more meaningful and cohesive tiered activities will support teachers’ efforts in academically challenging students of all levels.

Asking questions to promote higher-level thinking is often promoted as a way to challenge students, especially talented readers, to think more deeply about text and share their thinking. Recent research in a variety of educational fields has indicated that follow-up questions may be used to move all students forward in their abilities to understand and respond to such questions accessing higher-level thinking. The purpose of this qualitative investigation was to identify the types of follow-up questions frequently asked by three teachers at a small, urban elementary school in the Northeastern region of the United States and whether those types varied by students' reading readiness levels. Results indicated that the teachers asked a variety of follow-up questions accessing both higher-and lower-level thinking during reading conferences with students whose reading levels varied; the results also indicated that each teacher tended to ask a greater percentage of higher-level questions of his or her higher-level students than of other students. The identified follow-up question types may be helpful in supporting other elementary reading teachers to expand their repertoire of questions to ask students during discourse around text.

Asking questions that invite students to access advanced thinking skills during classroom discourse is a key strategy for challenging and supporting high-ability middle school readers. This critical teaching practice requires careful teacher listening. However, empirical research around teachers’ listening orientations, or how teachers listen, is sparse. We investigated five middle school reading teachers’ listening orientations as they conducted differentiated reading conferences as part of their first year implementing the Schoolwide Enrichment Model–Reading Framework (SEM-R). Our qualitative analysis of multiple data sources revealed evidence of differing teacher listening orientations, including evaluative, interpretive, student oriented, teacher oriented, undetermined, and combinations of these. This exploratory study has important implications for understanding how teachers’ listening orientations contribute to classroom discourse. Specific implications pertaining to high-ability readers are highlighted in the article.