The focus on measuring student growth based on teacher effectiveness has presented new challenges for an urban school in Massachusetts. The purpose of this general interpretive qualitative study was to examine the instructional practices of a group of middle school teachers, the practices they perceived to be effective for ensuring student…

This research uses a qualitative research approach, specifically a single-case study method, to explore the journey to school improvement of one struggling school district that is involved in year 2 of a 3-year turnaround plan. The single-case study method allows the researcher to use several data collection methods to build a picture of the…

Federal policymakers have interest in three specific areas of postsecondary career and technical education (CTE): associate degrees and certificates awarded in CTE, skills and training obtained through noncredit courses, and industry-recognized certifications. Research and data are readily available on students earning degrees and certificates in…

In various research areas, the availability of open datasets is considered as key for research and application purposes. These datasets are used as benchmarks to develop new algorithms and to compare them to other algorithms in given settings. Finding such available datasets for experimentation can be a challenging task in technology enhanced…

The practice of documentation is discussed as a means of making learning visible in the LC classroom. A documentation heuristic consisting of a four-stage cycle was used to capture, analyze and report what Bass and Eynon (2009) refer to as the "visible evidence of invisible learning" (p. 5). A variety of documentation samples are…

This three-volume report describes the "SAM (School Administration Manager) process," an approach that about 700 schools around the nation are using to direct more of principals' time and effort to improve teaching and learning in classrooms. Research has shown that a principal's instructional leadership is second only to teaching among…

Despite the fact that universities and their various communities have much to offer and much to gain from partnering, the number of submissions for the Carnegie elective Community Engagement Classification suggests that partnerships are not ubiquitous in higher education. This is not surprising. Creating a productive, healthy, and sustainable…

In this set of four supplemental tables, the authors compare the baseline test scores of the treatment and matched control group samples observed in each year after KIPP entry (outcome years 1 to 4). As discussed in Chapter III, the authors used an iterative propensity score estimation procedure to calculate each student's probability of entering…

This study of the needs and possibilities of the industrial training of girls and women by the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, was made in the spring and summer of 1911. Three cities, Worcester, Cambridge, and Somerville, through their respective school committees, expressed a willingness to establish trade schools for girls and asked the State…

The methodology of compiling an academic genealogy using the Internet and computer technology is described. Details on the use of the Internet both to gather information and to make the results available are provided.

Batterers with access to firearms present a serious lethal threat to their partners. The purpose of this exploratory study is to estimate the prevalence of and risk markers for gun possession among Massachusetts men enrolled in batterer intervention programs. The authors found that 1.8% of the men reported having a gun in or around their home.…

This paper provides an overview of the entire process necessary to developing a university-wide web survey, from the community-building process for creating support for the survey and determining the questions, to the specific tasks necessary for designing and administering an efficient web product. (Contains 17 tables.)

A survey instrument developed in 1991 by the Massachusetts Job Council to ascertain basic information regarding funds spent on job training and to provide state policymakers with information about those being served and what services are being provided was used as a model to develop a program assessment instrument. The program assessment…

VARIOUS SOCIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES RELATING TO MOTIVATION ARE POTENTIALLY USEFUL TOOLS FOR PREDICTING AND INFLUENCING ADULT EDUCATION PARTICIPATION. MASLOW'S NEED HIERARCHY IS BASED ON FUNDAMENTAL NEEDS (SURVIVAL, SAFETY, AND BELONGING), WHICH ARE NORMALLY FOLLOWED BY EGO NEEDS (RECOGNITION OR STATUS, ACHIEVEMENT, AND…