The German and Swiss economies value skilled work highly and initial vocational education and training (IVET) has been the predominant traditional pathway into such work. However, concerns about a more "knowledge-based society" and the "academic shift in the labour market" are starting to undermine the status associated with…

Shared story reading is a practice that has been used successfully to promote literacy skills for all students. The benefits of shared story reading are not exclusive to literacy instruction and should carry into other disciplines such as mathematics. Using shared story reading to teach mathematics concepts can play an important role in…

The foundation year and specialization year of study are the accepted framework for graduate social work education. A common belief among educators is that accreditation standards are prescriptive by design, resulting in a rigidity that neither encourages nor supports curricular innovation. This article outlines a newly developed curriculum model…

Fitness development in physical education is most often attained via implementation of fitness training principles into school based settings. It is seldom attained via adherence to developmentally appropriate principles. The program presented in this article provides the physical educator with a method and the tools to attain both. This program…

Standards-based reform has traditionally focused on K-12 educational systems, but there is growing evidence that it is now affecting early childhood programs. While it is increasingly apparent that standards-based reform has arrived in early childhood, there is a significant gap in our understanding of how these policies are being implemented in…

This is the 10th annual "Keeping Pace" report. "Keeping Pace" has several goals: (1) add to the body of knowledge about online education policy and practice, and make recommendations for advances; (2) serve as a reference source for information about programs and policies across the country, both for policymakers and…

In both developed and developing countries, population aging has attained unprecedented levels. Public health strategies to deliver services in community-based settings are key to enhancing the utilization of preventive care and reducing costs for this segment of the population. Motivated by concerns of inadequate access to oral health care by…

This study was conducted to examine the effect of a healthy nails program on nail-biting in Turkish schoolchildren. This quasi-experimental study was of pretest-posttest control group design. A total of 50 students of a primary school formed the intervention group, while 53 students from the same school formed the control group. Data were…

This article presents lessons learned about successful professional development for promoting technology integration from eight exemplary schools. Through a qualitative investigation into school leaders' and teachers' intentional goals of improving student engagement and achievement, formal, informal, and individual opportunities are described…

This article describes an innovative model for teaching gerontological social work that has been introduced into the social work methods curriculum in the Department of Social Work at a college in northern Israel. The basic concept of the model is to create an alternative learning environment by including older persons as full participants in the…

The country of Tunisia experienced intense uprisings and massive civil resistance that were termed the Arab Spring of 2010. The riots stemmed from a desire to topple government rulers who were blamed for the high unemployment, poverty, regional inequalities, and general political unrest within the country. In a quest for relief and prosperity,…

In the human services professions, cultural immersion experiences help satisfy multicultural training standards established by national accreditation bodies. Immersion in a culturally sensitive manner is necessary as we prepare professionals to work with and serve citizens of the globe. The authors describe an international cultural immersion…

The Midwest Expansion of the Child-Parent Center Education Program (MCPC) is a pre-K to 3rd grade intervention program aimed at improving economically disadvantaged children's school success by enhancing continuity in instruction and increasing parental involvement. Opened in Chicago in the 1960s, this school reform model has undergone significant…

This paper analyses the experience of pre-service teachers enrolled in a course at a Brazilian university that was guided by three Cyberculture Laws formulated by Lemos (2004)--which entail "transmitting connecting and reconfigurating" information and practices--and by Connectivism's concept of "relevance" (Siemens, 2004). They…

Teacher shortages are a pervasive global issue that is expected to continue, especially in low-performing, high-needs schools [O'Connor, E. A., Malow, M. S., & Bisland, B. M. (2011). Mentorship and instruction received during training: Views of alternatively certified teachers. "Educational Review," 63(2), 219-232]. In an effort to…