Background: STEM achievement gaps affect marginalized students nation-wide. Environmental education (EE) does not currently nor historically represent a wide range of demographic backgrounds, and increasing concerns demonstrate the effects this can have on pedagogy of the field and the success of its students. Purpose: This research focuses on…

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to discuss some of the mysteries around the much-touted recent success of school education in China and to explore some of the key conditions that may underpin the success. Design/Approach/Methods: It is a conceptual paper. A wide range of available data and literature has been consulted and analyzed to…

A growing body of research on character education offers the opportunity to derive lessons on effective practice. While there is little focused research on the effectiveness of specific practices, reviews of effective programs have been mined for well over a decade to reach conclusions about "what works in character education." More…

Educators, policymakers, and citizens face questions of how to allocate scarce resources in the pursuit of competing goals for children and youth. Our goal in this article is to provide decision-makers with a framework for considering allocative problems in education, explicitly highlighting the implications of relevant feasibility constraints. We…

The phenomenon of school leadership in Puerto Rico is explored in this study, which was an examination of the perceptions and practices of 12 elementary school principals. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory that functions within a unique political structure yet is held to the same standards as all U.S. districts. The primary method of data collection…

This report highlights some of the major findings from the 2018 NSSME+. Six major topical areas are addressed: (1) Teacher Background and Beliefs; (2) Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science Professional Development; (3) Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science Courses; (4) Instructional Decision Making, Objectives, and Activities; (5)…

A clear vision is the essential foundation for making decisions about precious resources for implementing professional learning: (1) people; (2) time; and (3) money. The Auburn School District in Washington state learned firsthand how a clear vision drives resource allocation to support strategic actions and how effective partnerships can be the…

Multigrade teaching is used widely in primary schools throughout the Majority World. This study reports the findings of a narrative inquiry undertaken to answer the question: what are the perceptions of stakeholders in rural Zambian multigrade contexts about multigrade teaching as an education strategy? We were interested in exploring the reality…

The importance of leadership in organizations has increased and leadership training and development has advanced and peoples' performance. Institutions in higher education are investing heavily in advancement of leadership programs aimed at improving learners' leadership skills and scholars. To this day, many scholars in higher institutions…

We take an innovative approach to estimating student mathematics learning in the sixth grade of three African countries. The study reinforces the notion that beyond the quality of the teaching process in classrooms, national contextual factors are important in understanding the contribution that schooling makes to student performance. Our approach…

The school district involved with this study has been successful in reaching Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as required by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Since the target scores on the state's school assessment program are increasing to 100% proficiency in reading and mathematics by 2014, the school leadership must implement strategies to…

This article discusses a qualitative case study examining one middle school's response to intervention (RtI) efforts. Study participants included the principal, assistant principal, and members of the school's leadership team. A description of the RtI consensus and infrastructure-building processes, consideration of the RtI facilitators, and a…

This study was based on convergence of two educational theories: 1) that professional development improves teacher quality and instructional practices and therefore positively affects student achievement and 2) allocation of school resources positively affects student achievement. It is a common educational belief that professional development…

Using the Evidence-Based Model developed by Odden and Picus (2008) as a conceptual framework in correlation with the Ten Strategies for Doubling Student Performance (Odden, 2009) for comparison, this study examines the school-level resource allocation strategies used to improve learning for struggling readers in high-minority, high-poverty, urban…

Service learning is a promising practice, but like other instructional practices, it must be done well to produce positive outcomes. This author has found that following five "rules" of service learning will likely result in improved academic engagement and positive academic, civic, and social outcomes among students. Energy and collaboration…