This article explores the results of a project aimed at supporting community college students in their academic pursuit of an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in Cybersecurity through mentorship, collaboration, skill preparation, and other activities and touch points to increase students' sense of belonging and connectedness in the…

Professional learning continues to be one of the most widely used methods for raising student achievement and teacher development, yet school districts continue to use antiquated models that often dismiss the core features needed to be effective (Desimone, 2009). These core features include being content focused, active learning opportunities,…

The social psychology theory of fixed and growth mindsets offers one reason for observed underachievement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), particularly for students who have previously excelled in these disciplines. Fixed mindset beliefs are linked to behaviours that can lead to avoiding challenges and reduced learning,…

Research shows that family involvement in learning activities at school improves students' academic performance and social cohesion. This study analyses the impact of involving families through interactive groups, dialogic literary gatherings and tutored library in a Mexican primary school in a highly underprivileged urban area, within the…

This article outlines a systematic and manageable method for learning community program assessment based on collecting empirical direct measures of student learning. Developed at Texas A&M University--Corpus Christi where all full-time, first-year students are in learning communities, the approach ties integrative assignment design to a rubric…

Educators working to achieve changes in classroom teaching practices that lead to improvement in student learning need to gain clarity in where they are going--what they want to accomplish. Teachers in a professional learning community need a road map as they begin learning and applying a new practice to ensure they reach their intended goal…

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify and describe the strategies that California public high school principals utilized to develop a growth mindset in classroom teachers. Methodology: This qualitative case study used interviews from 12 high school principals to gain an understanding for how they supported a growth…

We describe progress on a comprehensive, programmatic change initiative whose goal is to create an inclusive culture that fosters diversity and a shift towards more meaningful, consequential work. While this initiative has several elements that target different aspects of unit practices and culture, we focus here on pedagogical change. Our…

While data for the 2020 edition of America After 3PM were collected pre-pandemic, to accompany the data and determine how the pandemic has affected families' needs during the hours after school, the Afterschool Alliance commissioned a nationally representative follow-up survey of parents in October 2020. The follow-up survey found that afterschool…

Several components of a campus culture affect learning, yet assessments regularly neglect some of them. Academic librarians should evaluate how they impact courses and student learning through their support of these neglected components. Assessment goals to address some of the components include measuring the level of support for courses with…

This present study reports the impact of a research-practice partnership among nine collaborating schools and researchers in Auckland, New Zealand. The goals of the partnership were to refine digital instruction in ways that would result in improved learning processes and achievement. The partners employed a design-based research approach to…

STEM disciplinary language is a necessary component for STEM success. It can be developed through experiences and attention to the development of STEM activities that are rich in language and can be acquired through practical experiences and systematic practice. Secondary students participated in an informal STEM summer camp where they learned to…

College students' implicit theories (or mindsets) about intelligence can affect not only their motivations toward learning, but also their cognitive habits and behaviors while learning thus impacting academic achievement. In this paper we describe learning experiences we used with our learning community to 1) introduce students to the concept of…

This case study examines the leadership practices and actions of an urban high school principal who faced many challenges, but worked diligently to improve student achievement and school climate over a 3-year period. Significant improvements were made by using elements of Distributed Leadership, Professional Learning Communities, and Social…

Drawing from a nationally representative sample of parents with elementary school-aged children, this study used Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to examine profiles of parent involvement in school as well as home-community settings. Four profiles of school involvement and five profiles of home-community involvement were yielded from the LCA approach.…