This dissertation develops and evaluates the validity and reliability of the Skills Self-Efficacy Scale for Adolescents (SSES-A), a measure designed to assess adolescents' self-efficacy in critical future skills: problem-solving, communication, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. Anchored in Social Cognitive Theory and Psychometric…

Nursing faculty with expertise in community health are well poised to introduce nursing students to the rewarding experience of caring for vulnerable populations. Multiple partnerships have been established over the years within the central Connecticut region that have benefited both the university's nursing students and the affiliated agency, as…

Using the Teach to Lead process and drawing on their own study of how teachers can lift their social-emotional skills, three elementary teachers in Connecticut created a plan to work with fellow teachers to increase everyone's camaraderie and regularly problem solve together. When their school closed to in-place learning, they pivoted to find ways…

Summer camp can be a setting for positive youth development, yet more understanding is needed about how camps measure youth development outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp--a medical specialty camp-- using the American Camp Association's Youth Outcomes Battery (YOB) over six years.…

State policy plays a critical role in determining whether and how well local education improvement strategies can be implemented. As states rework their education policies under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), state and local leaders need a way to assess their current policy environment and identify the changes needed to encourage local…

For over two decades, Giselle O. Martin-Kniep and her colleagues have worked for Learner-Centered Initiatives, a consulting organization based in New York, promoting best practices in curriculum, development, assessment, and leadership. A significant portion of their work is directed toward helping educators attend to and assess students' ability…

The goal of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and impact of brief school-nurse-administered interventions for reducing anxiety. Thirty school nurses in Connecticut and Maryland were randomly assigned to deliver the Child Anxiety Learning Modules (CALM; n= 14) or CALM--Relaxation only (CALM-R; n= 16). Students (N= 54) were ages 5-12 (M age…

Student attitudes play an important role in shaping learning experiences. However, few validated instruments exist for measuring student attitude development in a discipline-specific way. In this paper, we present the design, development, and validation of the computing attitudes survey (CAS). The CAS is an extension of the Colorado Learning…

"Math Expressions" is a curriculum for students in prekindergarten through sixth grade that aims to build students' conceptual understanding of mathematics and to develop fluency in mathematical problem solving and computation. The curriculum encourages student learning of mathematics through real-world situations, visual supports such…

In an economy driven by technological innovation and a complex social landscape, schools can no longer count on traditional academic preparation to set children up for success later in life. The types of skills that will enable students to succeed in the 21st century--such as the ability to solve complex problems, transfer knowledge to new…

With the adoption of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM), many teachers are changing their classroom structure from teacher-directed to student-centered. When the author began designing and using problem-based tasks she saw a drastic improvement in student engagement and problem-solving skills. The author describes the Cake…

It has been projected that by 2020 one out of three children will be from a culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) background. Rapid changes in school demographics and student needs are already presenting new challenges to school-based service-delivery methods and there have been calls for increased professional development efforts to better…

Ideal for faculty and administrators looking to blend business education and the liberal arts, this toolkit combines exemplary syllabi from 26 leading institutions with step-by-step strategies to advocate successfully for curricular innovation. Conceived with comprehensiveness in mind, these resources cover both inspiration and implementation for…

Together, a school district and a local union are working to ensure that educators are trained in restorative practices in order to improve school climates and keep students in school and learning. This article describes how, in recent years, administrators and teachers have shifted from traditional school punishments, such as suspension, to…

Today, far too many students see mathematics as a subject that must be endured, not a source of inspiration or a way of thinking that can enrich their understanding of the world. Advocates of student-centered instruction argue that good teachers have the ability to transform mathematics classrooms into lively, engaging learning environments in…