When Ernest Boyer wrote his seminal thesis about how scholarship needed to be reconsidered (1990), he initiated a flood of inquiry regarding the role of higher education in society. Since Boyer's opening salvo, the value of having a community engaged campus began to earn more credibility (Driscoll, 2009; Furco, 2010). In particular, the vital role…

The number of school districts needing to focus their attention on ensuring that their students are receiving a 21st Century education has grown considerably with the creation of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and the looming deadline of the 2014-2015 school year when the new assessments will be given. The assessment dates,…

This paper explores the effectiveness of a technology education professional development (TEPD) program and factors impeding the implementation of such a program within the context of the Republic of Benin (West Africa). Professional development (PD) programs do not always take into account the specific disciplinary content knowledge and…

This paper investigates quality assurance in Chinese higher education by looking at the Evaluation of the University Baccalaureate Programmes Project (EUBPP) conducted in China. It analyses factors that bring about tensions between policy and practice in this area through a study of two contrasting tertiary institutions. The results show that the…

This case study explored teachers' concerns, use, and actual practices in their adoption of the Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) initiative. Participants were 12 secondary teachers in a private school setting. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model tools provided data: Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ), Levels of Use interview, and the Innovation…

On September 17, 2013 (Constitution Day), the C3 Framework was released under the title "The College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History." The C3 Project Director and lead writer was NCSS member Kathy Swan, who is…

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study based on Danielson's (2002) assertion that when teachers learn, student achievement improves was to examine how teachers created a collaborative learning experience through Professional Learning Community (PLC) concepts to implement Response to Intervention (RtI) with at-risk students. The…

The following profiles address how the state departments of education are helping educators prepare for and implement the Common Core and aligned assessments through professional learning. The major professional development efforts around the Common Core were examined in order to understand the overall efforts of each state. An exhaustive list of…

Research on social and emotional learning (SEL) has largely focused on classroom interventions and student-­ and classroom­-level outcomes. Few studies have examined whole­-school and district-­level SEL implementations, or how to ensure that SEL programs are implemented effectively and sustained over time. This study examines both process…

Policymakers are increasingly turning to expanded learning time (ELT) as a strategy for improving student achievement. This trend is impacting community-based organizations' (CBOs) work in schools, pushing them to focus more on academics and engage with schools in new ways. Most notably, grantees of the federal 21st Century Community Learning…

The Response to Intervention (RTI) Essential Components Integrity Rubric and the RTI Essential Components Integrity Worksheet are for use by individuals responsible for monitoring the school-level fidelity of Response to Intervention (RTI) implementation. They may also be used by schools for self-appraisal; however, they were not designed for…

Children today are born into a world with endless amounts of information at their fingertips, the ability to instantly connect with others, and smartphones with an app for virtually everything. It is a world that is vastly different than that of their parents or grandparents. As these students sit in classrooms all over the world, their teachers…

With changing academic standards, more rigorous state assessments, growing diversity among student populations, decreased school funding, and high achievement expectations from the state and federal government, teachers have a very challenging and demanding job. Fully aware of these high expectations from the education community, school leaders…

In education today there is a heightened emphasis on teacher accountability for improving student outcomes. The law requires that in order for a student to qualify as a student with a disability, the child's IEP team must ensure that the child's problem is not due to poor instructional programming. Therefore, the general education teacher is…

Extensive research has shown that children in the United States present with a myriad of mental health concerns, and that those concerns can develop into mental illness if not treated. The consequences of mental illness on students' life both in an out of school is well documented. The need to provide effective treatment to children is also…