It is believed that the possibilities of integrating environmental issues into the formal and nonformal education programs depend on the capacity of teachers who put such programs into effect. A pilot project, aimed at building the capacity of schools in Ethiopia to address key environmental issues, was initiated in 2004. Among the major…

Study abroad programs on American college and university campuses are booming, with a national goal of sending abroad one million students within ten years. In this timely and thought-provoking look at the benefits of studying abroad, Joshua S. McKeown moves beyond the acknowledged cultural and linguistic benefits to focus on how it promotes…

The purpose of this pilot project was to develop a tool and a process for providing performance feedback on evidence-based classroom management strategies to teachers of students in emotional support classrooms. The project was carried out with nine classroom teachers and descriptive results are discussed. Initial results found increases in…

This article analyzes the findings of a pilot project conducted in 2008-2009 as a partnership between University Studies, Portland State University's interdisciplinary general education program, and the University's Russian Flagship Language Partner Program. The project proposes a new approach of integrating non-English speakers' language skills,…

High teacher turnover was a problem at the preschool for students with autism where this study took place. The primary purpose of this project was to create and implement a mentor program that would effectively decrease turnover rates of newly hired teachers. The secondary purpose was to determine whether newly hired teachers changed their…

Health screenings conducted during Special Olympics competitions and games have consistently shown that a significant number of athletes with intellectual disabilities (IDs) were overweight or obese, and surveys have indicated that athletes need more fitness training than they receive from their sport practices. In 2002, Special Olympics initiated…

This report summarizes key activities and contributions and offers recommendations for project operations. The pilot project was very successful in building a solid foundation for the Early Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) Consultation Program. Practitioners and other regional stakeholders clearly indicated that the project is providing a much…

In 1998, the California legislature passed Senate Bill SB 2042 which replaced the previous teacher certification legislation. The new law required that all elementary and secondary teacher certification programs in the State of California align their programs with new teaching standards. These standards included Teacher Performance Expectations…

Teaching has long been considered an isolated profession with little opportunity for collaboration. A major task for school leaders is to create improvement from within the school. Teachers are a valuable resource and each one possesses expertise in strategies and methodologies that can be a benefit to others. This action research explored the…

In spring 2010, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) began planning a pilot of an application for the Apple iPad, "HMH Fuse: Algebra 1," which was then in development. The application was to be piloted in four California school districts during the 2010-2011 school year. HMH contracted with Empirical Education Inc. to conduct a one-year…

This study reports findings from a year-long pilot study during which 991 students in 9 core courses in the Virginia State University School of Business replaced traditional textbooks with openly licensed books and other digital content. The university made a deliberate decision to use open textbooks that were copyrighted under the Creative…

We report on the incorporation of e-book readers into the delivery of two distance-taught master's programmes in Occupational Psychology (OP) and one in Education at the University of Leicester, UK. The programmes attract work-based practitioners in OP and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, respectively. Challenges in curriculum…

Collaboration with religious institutions is recommended as a frontier for prevention science. Little is known about the effectiveness of programs currently disseminated by churches. This pilot program investigated potential advantages and disadvantages of university collaborations in faith settings, by implementing the Staying Connected with Your…

This study details the development and results of a campus-based writing assessment plan that was mandated by a state-wide university system in order to explore the ''value-added'' from a writing program curriculum to undergraduate students' competence with written expression. Four writing samples (two timed essays and two conventional essays)…

Children of color are overrepresented in child welfare in Iowa at a rate double their percentage of the population. In 2005 the Iowa Department of Human Services implemented two pilot demonstration projects to address overrepresentation of Native American and African American children in the child welfare system. The projects, called the Minority…