Students in New England take increasingly varied pathways to a degree. They are highly mobile and move among two-year colleges and four-year public and private higher education institutions (HEIs), among four-year and two-year colleges and back, and transfer in-state and out-of state. Four in 10 students who begin college at a New England…

In this webinar, Ellen Moir, CEO and founder of the New Teacher Center, shared research that shows evidence of the effectiveness of the NTC induction model in raising student achievement and its potential for reducing teacher attrition (Moir, 2009). This Q&A addressed the questions participants had for Ellen Moir following the webinar. The…

Learning is a lifelong process. It is therefore worthwhile looking at instances where learning takes place outside educational institutions and see how educational principles can be applied there. In a market economy companies have to quest for profit to ensure their long-term survival. In the end, their educational goals have to serve themselves.…

Larry Johnson has been the CEO of the New Media Consortium (NMC) for nearly a decade, and he has worked in higher education for more than twenty-five years. Before joining NMC, he served in roles that include faculty member, dean, provost, and president. In this interview, he talks about the position of NMC in distance education and the challenges…

This commentary looks at the contributions and future research implications of the four articles in this Special Issue of "Thinking Skills and Creativity" to the fields of creativity and creativity education, both in culture-specific and culture-general terms. The articles included in this Special Issue draw attention to issues of…

Over the past decade, the Gurian Institute has trained more than forty thousand teachers in more than two thousand schools and districts, both coed and single-sex. The institute's trainers have worked with public and private schools, Montessori schools, and a variety of charter and independent schools in fifteen countries; it has therefore been…

The evolution of several interrelated myths reflects a combination of misinterpretation of statistics, the commendable intention of ensuring that bias and prejudice do not play roles in the provision of services to underrepresented populations of gifted students, and misapplication of programming options for gifted students. Separately, these…

Despite variable interpretations of the meaning and nature of specific effective practice methods and research-supported strategies, such approaches are generally considered essential for children and youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Indeed, there is general consensus that only by qualified professionals using effective methods in an…

Reviews the question of program impacts and their measurement. Illustrates the hierarchical levels of program development to clarify which levels are most concerned with differing areas of evaluation and impact study. (JOW)

Discusses the six cycles of training: (1) identification of training as a solution, (2) allocation of resources, (3) building expertise, (4) demonstration of success, (5) withdrawal of support, and (6) groping for survival. (JOW)

Discusses elements essential to designing an effective conference--developing a theme, topics, objectives, and determining presentation formats. (JOW)

Presents simple methods for calculating the costs and benefits of training, consulting, and other human resource development interventions in a variety of settings. (JOW)

Discusses an approach to planning that is necessary if management development is to be successful. (JOW)

This article serves as a concluding statement to the preceding articles on ways to improve conferences. The author pulls together themes of successful conference planning and participation and reviews the literature base for readers who wish to inquire further. (CT)

Incorporating community education into a district's strategic plan avoids add-on or piecemeal approaches and makes community education an integral part of the education program. (SK)