This study explored complicated personal narratives of school reform generated by participants in response to a particular small schools reform initiative. Narrative data was dialogically generated in interviews with nine past participants of an urban high school conversion project planned and implemented over a span of five years toward the goal…

With strong connection to schoolwide policy and vision and to the realities of the daily life of teachers and students, the department chair is uniquely positioned to play an important role in advancing instructional effectiveness (Printy, 2008; Weller, 2001). This article provides an in-depth look at the efforts of three urban comprehensive high…

The objectives of this study were to (1) explore the nature of caregiving for orphaned and non-orphaned adolescents; and (2), examine how changes in the caretaking roles, as a result of a parental loss, impact on an orphan's sexual behaviors. A total of 52 in-depth interviews and 11 focus group discussions (n = 83) were conducted among adolescent…

Public charter schools across the country are struggling to better serve a range of students with disabilities. Using the approach of a participatory evaluation, a K-8 college preparatory school community of teachers, administrators, parents, and students were better able to define those practices that impeded or supported a high-quality proactive…

Despite the historical mission of career academies to expand opportunities and engagement of minority students, particularly African American students, more recent curricular changes in the career academy model have increased the rigor of these types of programs. These new initiatives have undoubtedly resulted in a demographic shift with more…

In 2004, National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) developed a national Indigenous VET research strategy in partnership with the former Australian Indigenous Training Advisory Council. The research strategy provides a comprehensive program until 2006 to fill the major gaps in knowledge identified through a midterm review of…

Examines the career attitudes and experiences of women deputy headpersons in an English local educational authority (LEA). Through interviews with 38 women administrators, the study explores their conception of career and finds no match with that of "career ambitious" teachers, but rather a diversity of career tracks and perceptions. (AF)

A major but neglected area of gender inequality in education involves social relationships among teachers and teacher-teacher interactions. This article discusses ways in which gender relations in school influence the lives of women teachers, focusing on staff common-room milieu, staffroom humor, "women's work," and perceptions of…

The results of a qualitative study funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation indicate that a promising path to improving the lives of disadvantaged families is through more holistic, comprehensive approaches to family support. These approaches combine traditional family support activities with the development of human and economic capital. The…

The authors conducted a needs assessment among students and health-care providers of a southwestern university health center with the goal of developing health-care -provider training addressing substance-abuse screening and intervention. They collected data from focus groups of undergraduate students and structured interviews and questionnaires…

This international research report consists of five papers discussing five different topics in education. "Views on the Implementation of the Curriculum--Experiences of the Finnish Practice" (P. Kansanen) analyzes research results regarding the national curriculum for the Finnish comprehensive school system and compares them with a…

This report is a comprehensive study and evaluation of a child care program (five day care service programs funded to serve 230 children) developed by the San Jose Model Cities Health and Social Service Task Force. Part I describes the framework of the evaluation; Part II consists of evaluations of each of the five programs; and Part III is a…

The Comprehensive Early Childhood Education Network (CECEN), established in 1971, had three main components: (1) information dissemination at the district level, (2) district training plans for parents, teachers and administrators, and (3) monitoring reports from each district on the effectiveness of its activities. A fourth component, the…