Educational leaders and policymakers are reconsidering the role of competency-based education (CBE) to meet the needs of all students, address issues of equity and enduring achievement gaps, and demonstrate college and career readiness outcomes for PK-12 students. This study sought to understand the policy conditions where CBE policies were…

Teacher professional development (PD) is a complex, ongoing challenge as educational systems attempt to deliver excellent programming in pursuit of increased student achievement (Opfer and Pedder 2011). This article examines Idaho Total Instructional Alignment (TIA), a model for teacher PD that is currently being utilized in secondary schools…

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of mental models in Idaho's Engineering and Technology Education teachers' in decision making when faced with major curriculum changes. Senge (1990) defined mental models as, "deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures or images that influence how we understand the world…

Leadership has been designated a talent area in federal and state definitions of gifted students who require differentiated programs since the Marland Report came out in 1972, yet it remains the least discussed of the curricular areas for gifted students. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions and attitudes of administrators of…

Project-Based Learning (PBL) connects standards-based content to real-world scenarios through the use of projects to improve student achievement. By engaging students in authentic problems that do not have a predetermined solution, students learn both subject matter and critical 21st-century skills. This "Focus On" addresses what…

With the increasing emphasis in higher education to provide opportunities for students to work and collaborate in groups, enhancing problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, instructors are looking beyond traditional course management tools to emerging technologies. One technology that supports group collaboration is a wiki. However, many…

Distance education has become an expectation with students who have grown up with technology as well as nontraditional and working students. Most universities now offer a wide range of online courses and degree programs to meet these needs. Online delivery of technology courses, however, has been problematic when the course includes very complex…

This study was designed to measure instructional design competencies as a result of participation in a 9-month Web-based training program called "Roadmap to Effective Distance Education Instructional Design." The researchers used a self-assessment pre- and posttest to determine participant initial and final competence in 12 areas: adult…