Pennsylvania Extension youth and family educators (n=62) participated in an inservice program on enhancing community youth development programming. Participant evaluations showed significant gain in knowledge and understanding of community youth development concepts and support for the importance of developing a common framework and language for…

Purpose: This study describes the preliminary experiences of 10 states in providing support services to family or informal caregivers of elderly adults and adults with disabilities; it focuses on the newly created National Family Caregiver Support Program, state general funds, Medicaid-waiver programs, and other state-funding streams. Design and…

In well-defined domains such as Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry, solutions to a posed problem can objectively be classified as correct or incorrect. In ill-defined domains such as medicine, the classification of solutions to a patient problem as correct or incorrect is much more complex. Typical tutoring systems accept only a small set of…

This research focuses on change processes. It considers how components of a change framework--namely, the concerns-based adoption model--can be used as diagnostic evaluation tools to examine how participants' attitudes and levels of participation affect the implementation of the professional development school model. This article demonstrates how…

It is essential for teacher training institutions to reflect continually on changes in education policy with the view of ensuring that teacher training programmes that take the present needs and policies into account are in place. This article describes a four-year process through which a particular faculty of education went in search of an…

Frames theory has been widely used to explain the dynamics of group processes and decision-making. Some researchers have applied frames theory to policy adoption and implementation. Following from this, my research applies frames analysis to a regulatory program in coastal Louisiana. The data derive from a pre-Hurricane Katrina study of the…

Early childhood education has developed greatly in rural areas in China since the 1980s. Recognising the status of early childhood education as "the foundation of basic education", the authorities in China have set up challenging objectives for rural areas. However, the development of early childhood education in these areas has been…

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) that employ a model-tracing methodology have consistently shown their effectiveness. However, what evidently makes these tutors effective, the cognitive model embedded within them, has traditionally been difficult to create, requiring great expertise and time, both of which come at a cost. Furthermore, an…

This article focuses on the outcomes in one of the three Greek schools participating in the "Carpe Vitam: Leadership for Learning" project based at Cambridge University. It focuses on the data obtained from teacher and student interviews and uses a framework of analysis based on two qualitative methodological approaches for analysing…

During the developmental stage of adolescence young people face many stressful challenges (Dacey & Kenny, 1997). Some adolescents manage these challenges adaptively but others do not and are therefore at the risk of adopting maladaptive responses to stress (Frydenberg & Lewis, 2002; Patton & Noller, 1990). Because adolescents are…

Teachers' role within the ICT-mediated learning environment is a pivotal one. They have to take on the more demanding role of mediator and knowledge broker: to provide guidance, strategic support, and assistance to help students to assume increasing responsibilities for their own learning. In order for them to take on such a role, teachers have to…

This article summarizes the results of a recent role and function study completed in 2004 to determine the prevailing domains of disability management practice. The study also sought to establish an empirical basis for a certification exam for disability management specialists consistent with evolving standards of practice. Based on the expert…

This article charts the development of a networked learning community (NLC). NLCs were established by the National College for School Leadership in 2002 connecting groups of schools to further both pupil and teacher learning. This study examines one sub-network in a London borough, focused on developing Assessment for Learning practices. The…

This paper addresses some issues concerning the use of written instruments for measuring health behavior change. A description is given of the Health Behavior Risk Factor Prevalence Survey which was developed to identify group members' risk-taking behaviors. This instrument was used to measure the health behaviors of a group of employees in the…

Texas' eighth annual evaluation of state-approved gifted/talented programs consists of four components: (1) an evaluation of operational programs; (2) a case study of high school gifted/talented programs; (3) an evaluation of developmental programs; and (4) a survey of districts without state-approved gifted/talented programs. The evaluation of…