For 15 years the millennium development goals (MDGs) were a guiding force for many issues affecting the lives of children and young people around the world. Agreed by UN member states in 2001, the eight MDGs were designed as a framework around which states were expected to develop policy priorities and shape their overseas aid spending plans. The…

When they arrive at community colleges or open-enrollment universities, most students take placement exams in English and mathematics to determine whether they are ready for college-level courses. Students with low scores are referred to developmental--remedial--courses. Forty percent of all entering college students and over half of entering…

Career and Technical Education (CTE) balances the pull between the practical and theoretical by applying academic knowledge to real-world problems, preparing students for a wide array of careers. Unfortunately, confusion and stereotypes still reign when it comes to what career and technical education is and is not, even as public sentiment shifts…

In academic courses, students frequently take advantage of someone else's work to improve their own evaluations or grades. This unethical behavior seriously threatens the integrity of the academic system, and teachers invest substantial effort in preventing and recognizing plagiarism. When students take examinations requiring the production of…

The partnership between science and the environment in service-learning projects helps students to make greater connections to the world around them. Service learning provides many benefits to students, faculty, and communities within the context of a college course. However, to prevent frustration, it is important for faculty members to make a…

Video tutorials are a common form of library instruction used with distance learners. This paper combines professional experience and literature reviews from multiple disciplines to provide a contextual overview of recommendations and findings for effective and engaging videos. The tools for tutorials appear in five main categories: screencasts,…

Decades of research have identified dozens of programs that are effective in helping young people reduce their risk for pregnancy, HIV, and STDs. These evidence-based programs utilize strategies that include the provision of accurate, honest information about abstinence as well as contraception and can serve as the foundation for comprehensive sex…

Every college struggles to create processes of quality assurance and continuous improvement to demonstrate and ensure its service to students and community. Accreditation is one avenue that ensures some uniformity across many institutions in the eyes of the public. While this paper focuses on accreditation processes and meeting the needs of…

During the 2013-14 school year, I became involved in the National Center for Scaling Up Effective Schools (NCSU) project, a partnership of the Broward County Public School District with Vanderbilt University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Florida State University, and Education Development Center. The purpose of NCSU is to help…

We have witnessed, over the past century, an evolution in the manner in which students with disabilities are educated. Indeed, the quality of education students with special needs receive, in many ways, may be more aptly termed a revolution -- from a legal and pedagogical perspective. The tremendous strides special education has made during this…

On December 2-3, 2014, the Space Studies Board and the Board on Science Education of the National Research Council held a workshop on the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) education program--"Sharing the Adventure with the Student." The workshop brought together representatives of the space science and science education communities…

School refusal behavior is a psychosocial problem for students characterized by severe emotional distress and anxiety at the prospect of going to school, leading to difficulties in attending school and, in some cases, significant absences from school (Kahn, Nursten, & Carroll, 1981). In addition to severe emotional upset, researchers have…

Artificial insemination (AI) of cattle is a critical career skill for veterinarians interested in food animal practice. Consequently, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine Student Chapter of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, Select Sires, and University of Idaho Extension have partnered to offer an intensive 2-day course to…

A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of a teacher education program, or any program, can be the driving force for implementing change. A SWOT analysis is used to assist faculty in initiating meaningful change in a program and to use the data for program improvement. This tool is useful in any undergraduate or degree…

This report summarizes results from a survey given to rising 5th grade students who attended AISD's science summer camp in 2013 at two elementary campuses: Pleasant Hill and Campbell. Students were surveyed about their attitudes toward science at the beginning of the summer camp and again at the end of the camp to learn whether students'…