Researchers recognize adaptive teaching as a component of effective instruction. Educators adjust their teaching according to the social, linguistic, cultural, and instructional needs of their students. While there is consensus that effective teachers are adaptive, there is no consensus on the language to describe this phenomenon. Diverse terminology surrounding the same phenomenon impedes effective communication and comprehensive understanding of this important aspect of classroom instruction. Moreover, researchers have studied this phenomenon using a variety of methods, in various disciplines, with different results. Therefore, our research team completed a comprehensive literature review of the empirical research studying adaptability across academic disciplines. In this article, we describe how adaptive teaching is defined and conceptualized in the education research literature from 1975 to 2014, the methods used to study instructional adaptations, and the results of these studies.

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Teachers would prefer a classroom of students who are engaged-actively and thoughtfully participating in literacy instruction. But what is itabout instructional tasks that make them engaging or disengaging?

Teachers can increase all-important student engagement by being aware of its affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions. By Seth A. Parsons, Leila Richey Nuland, and Allison Ward Parsons T he principal of a large, urban middle school enters Ms. Cecil's 7th-grade classroom during a social studies lesson. One by one, students read a paragraph aloud from the textbook. Between readers, Ms. Cecil asks literal recall questions to random students. If students don't answer accurately, Ms. Cecil reprimands them for not paying attention. At the end of the chapter, students dutifully get out a piece of paper, each writing her/his name and the date neatly in the right-hand corner of the page. One student asks his neighbor for a piece of paper, and Ms. Cecil quickly calls him to her desk where she scolds him for not being prepared and for talking without permission. Ms. Cecil directs students to follow their routine and complete the comprehension questions at the end of the chapter. She encourages them to cover their answers. The principal leaves the class wondering how Ms. Cecil is able to keep all her students on-task almost all the time. Most teachers in the school have diffi culty with management and keeping students engaged.

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