This issue of ETS Policy Notes (Vol. 20, No. 4) provides highlights from the symposium, "Middle School Matters: Improving the Life Course of Black Boys" held on July 23-24, 2012. The second in a series of four symposia co-sponsored by ETS and the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), the seminar examined the education and status of…

For the better part of the past 100 years, John Dewey, Ernest Boyer, and other higher education reform advocates have challenged universities to hold true to their civic roots and responsibilities by promoting teaching and scholarship in the context of the real world. In response, service-learning has evolved into a viable pedagogy to encourage…

Sorting students into different tracks within a school correlates strongly with student race and economic status and predicts and contributes to student outcomes. Students in higher-level classes typically experience better teachers, curriculum, and achievement levels than peers in lower-level classes. Creating classrooms that support equity of…

Though we do our best to protect children from life's underbelly, bad things happen. Hurricanes, school shootings, divorce, exploding crime rates, economic downturns, child abuse, and acts of terror have become reality for many. Sadly, students are not immune from the chaos that often results. If a child worries that he is not safe or thinks…

This article focuses on one piece from the complex puzzle of internationalization, namely the intercultural learning during education abroad. It departs from a critical reflection on American student applications for the Fulbright program and uses the application process for Fulbright scholarship as a lynchpin for other study abroad scholarships…

In the traditional public school system, the varied pace of student learning is often lost, and replaced with a "one size fits all" expectation for grade-level cohorts of students using normed, standards-based assessments. This reliance on cohort-based test scores continues through high school. Traditional measures are designed primarily…

An artificial, and generally unhelpful, divide between lecturers and students frequently occurs in higher education, especially among recent school-leavers. Bridging that divide allows lecturers and students to develop collaboratively to the benefit of both parties. Residential field courses provide an important forum to develop more mature…

This article discusses the development of a scale informed by the construct of emotional intelligence designed to measure student development outcomes identified as co-curricular goals. Supervisors, staff, and coaches provided firsthand accounts of student development outcomes at a small, private, liberal arts work college, generating data on…

Effective leadership begins with the individual. Until a person is self-actualized, external relationships and communications are often unpredictable and potentially flawed. The paradox is that young people need exposure to situations that require them to lead, in order to develop individual skills that will enable them to be successful group and…

Twenty-first century students are fully engaged in technology, with abundant information flowing from various sources. Educators need to develop thinking dispositions in their students that will serve them "around the corner," beyond what we can see today. An essential skill is information literacy. Students who are information literate develop…

Day in and day out the author invests her energy in keeping students safe by reducing alcohol consumption on campus, developing innovative alcohol and drug educational programming, collecting and analyzing data to better understand the drinking culture of the campus, and scouring the literature for best practices and evidence-based success. Day in…

The purpose of this paper is to provide educators and counselors with a framework for understanding the academic self-concepts of gifted students. As academic self-concept is theoretically linked with other constructs, including academic achievement and aspirations, it is vital that educators and counselors are aware of the experiences gifted…

Dream what a school would be like in which the purpose is to meet the needs of children and the larger community so that all can lead a good life. Using the Circle of Courage[TM]--a model grounded in values of deep respect for the dignity of all--the authors of this article outline overarching goals and indicators that can turn this dream into…

This report examines the Texas state student academic assessment (TAKS) growth for teachers who established and met individual and/or team Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) in 2010-2011. Results are inconsistent regarding the overall influence of SLOs on student growth.

A successful program needs a team approach which encourages teachers to undertake professional initiatives to enhance student growth. Such initiatives include: Type III's; workshops; Lunch with an Expert; an Expert in the Classroom; field trips; before, during and after school enrichment clusters; mentorships; assembly programs; speakers; starting…