The influence of media richness, media attentional load, social influence and users' prior experience with media on selection of media to transmit different messages to peers within an educational organization was tested. Media were discriminated by all potential variables. Support was found for the role of prior experience and social influence in…

Prospective graduate students select a graduate program as a result of a multifaceted decision-making process. This study examines the selection criteria that part-time MBA students used in selecting a program at a private university. Further, it analyzes the methods by which the students first learned of the MBA program. The authors posed the…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore business students' views about using ePortfolios at Victoria University (VU) in Melbourne. It also examines the extent to which students present ePortfolios to prospective employers in applying for jobs. Design/methodology/approach: This paper draws on the literature on ePortfolio use and the role…

Orally and later in written form, stories have been used to identify and reinforce the values of a culture. The parables of the Bible and the vocalization of articulate animals in Aesop fables continue to be used to teach morals to children. While the majority of existing research investigates the effective use of animals as a tool in character…

Recently, educational researchers and practitioners have turned to value-added models to evaluate teacher performance. Although value-added estimates depend on the assessment used to measure student achievement, the importance of outcome selection has received scant attention in the literature. Using data from a large, urban school district, I…

Early childhood and special educators are under growing demands to develop children's language and literacy skills through evidence-based practices. One promising research-based strategy for vocabulary and language development is dialogic reading (DR), which is an interactive picture book reading technique developed in the late 1980's by…

This study examined the effects of instructional intensity on the acquisition of storybook vocabulary in first graders who were at risk of early reading failure. It also measured whether the intervention was effective for closing the vocabulary knowledge gap between students who were at risk and their average-achieving peers. A total of 66…

Institution wide comparisons of students who leave university before completing their degree and students who complete their studies, have identified "wrong course selection" and a lack of vocational focus as common reasons for non-completion. It is not fully understood, though, whether these trends are constant across different…

In Botswana, it is common to hear the lament that there is no culture of reading. We aim to contribute to the development of more specific understanding of a culture of reading by reporting on information gathered from teachers who attended workshops we offered titled "Teachers as Readers AND Readers as Teachers: Creating Young Readers and…

The purpose of this study was to have a better understanding of what rural superintendents are looking for in new first-year teachers, and to provide that information to future teaching candidates and colleges of education that are preparing teachers for the 21st Century classroom. Over the past twenty years, superintendents have not changed in…

One of the most important things school systems can do to promote student achievement is to ensure that all students have effective teachers. Effective teachers may be particularly important for the most disadvantaged students. The U.S. Department of Education commissioned the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to create this report as a…

This dissertation follows an oral language assessment tool from initial design and implementation to validity analysis. The specialized variables of this study are the population: international teaching assistants and the purpose: spoken assessment as a hiring prerequisite. However, the process can easily be applied to other populations and…

It is estimated that 50% of beginning teachers leave the profession within the first five years on the job (Murnane, Singer, Willett, Kemple, & Olsen, 1991; Colbert & Wolff, 1992; Ingersoll, 2003b; Schlechty & Vance, 1981). When teachers depart, they take with them their knowledge of instructional techniques, students' learning styles, and…

Leadership transitions provide opportunities for organizational growth and development. In the field of education, choosing an effective school principal is one of the most significant decisions that a superintendent or school board can make, as new leadership can propel a district forward in meeting its goals. Principals are responsible for…

Community colleges across the United States are experiencing an extraordinarily high demand for new instructors. Hiring exemplary instructors is at once an educational and an economic imperative, for the typical community college spends over $3 million on the career of one faculty member. Institutions must make sound, long-term decisions by…