Data-based decision-making (DBDM) is an important, evidence-based framework that schools and teachers can utilize to elicit positive student outcomes. However, much of the research on DBDM has occurred at the elementary level. Crone and colleagues wrote a compelling article on how 25 middle school teams were functioning in terms of DBDM essentials…

Traditional research examining the communicational choices made by families with deaf children tends to emanate from the premise that families engage with either of the two grand discourses on deafness (i.e., the medical or cultural-linguistic perspective). This study investigated hearing mother's engagement with the educational options for their…

The Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill) is a critical part of the economic safety net for U.S. crop and dairy producers through 2018. Passage of the Farm Bill marked a change in philosophy regarding producer and landowner decisions about program choices. The shift was away from nearly 20 years of fixed annual payments based on historical…

Teachers, both mainstream and English as a New Language (ENL), are cognizant of the many languages and learning ability levels of ELLs. They struggle to address the challenges presented by this population of students. Districts with large or small ELL populations face similar challenges: how can mainstream content be made comprehensible to ELLs to…

Although many may be surprised at the growth of homeschooling during the past few decades, the real surprise is probably how that growth happened and that it continues. Home school advocates and practitioners have succeeded despite a lack of funding, recruiting efforts, publicity, and grant money from philanthropic billionaires. They have faced…

This report is produced by the North Dakota Healthy Return to Learning team, a diverse team of subject matter experts collaborating with state agencies and communities to provide resources, processes, and strategies that schools, local public health and the state need to keep schools operating in their dual mission of high quality education for…

Bringing effective practices to scale across large systems requires attending to how information and belief systems come together in decisions to adopt, implement, and sustain those practices. Statewide scaling of the Pyramid Model, a framework for positive behavior intervention and support, across different types of early childhood programs…

The authors contend that the term "evidence-based treatment" (EBT) is often used synonymously with the term "evidence-based practice" (EBP) without making an important distinction. If a practitioner is applying an EBT, it should not be assumed that one is "practicing" the evidence. Within the infant-family and early childhood field, this confusion…

Evidence-based practices (EBPs) are instructional techniques that meet prescribed criteria related to the research design, quality, quantity, and effect size of supporting research, which have the potential to help bridge the research-to-practice gap and improve student outcomes. In this article, the authors (a) discuss the importance of clear…

Higher education, and more specifically, distance education, is in the midst of a rapidly changing environment. Higher education institutions increasingly rely on the harvesting and analyses of student data to inform key strategic decisions across a wide range of issues, including marketing, enrolment, curriculum development, the appointment of…

Due to the numerous interventions available for children with autism, parents are faced with challenging decisions regarding treatments from the time of diagnosis and throughout their child's life. This exploratory qualitative study investigated the reasons behind parents' decisions about interventions for their child with autism. In-depth…

The policy environment for universities in England has changed significantly over the past few years. This can be seen most obviously in relation to the funding of undergraduate education, but other changes will come to be seen as equally influential in the long term. One example is the change to the policy on controlling student numbers, which is…

This article reports that while home schooling may have particular appeal to celebrities, over the last decade families of all kinds have embraced the practice for widely varying reasons: no longer is home schooling exclusive to Christian fundamentalism and the countercultural Left. Along with growing acceptance of home schooling nationally has…

This digest describes types of education programs for gifted and talented children and considers educational acceleration for this population. It reviews such acceleration alternatives as having a child skip a grade, having a child take advanced courses with older students in particular subjects, and having the child tutored and advanced in given…

The author states that a common factor in comparing one extension method to another is the interaction involving a subject concept and a member of the target audience. He outlines approaches that extension personnel may use to compare effectiveness of meetings, publications, mass media, etc., in reading their audience. (MF)