Federal and state mandates have placed an added pressure on teachers to demonstrate "effective" instructional practices. These mandates also affect the role of a principal, as an evaluator of "effective" instructional strategies, and as an instructional leader who continuously needs to build teacher capacity to satisfy these…

As one of the national leaders in innovative public education strategies focused on future talent development, Indiana is positioned to create a sustainable, collaborative strategy for K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) instruction, curriculum, and career exploration and exposure. To provide a comprehensive, coordinated,…

This paper reports on a project aimed at developing a system of professional support for the improvement of the Geometry for Teachers course that mathematics departments teach to preservice secondary teachers. We share data from interviews with 20 instructors to report on how they perceive their position of geometry instructors and the work they…

Laboratory evidence of a positive effect of sleep on declarative memory consolidation suggests that naps can be used to boost school learning in a scalable, low-cost manner. The few direct investigations of this hypothesis have so far upheld it, but departed from the naturalistic setting by testing non-curricular contents presented by…

This essay brings to light new evidence about the relationship between revision and reflective writing in the first-year writing classroom. Based on a robust study of student work, we illuminate a variety of complex relationships between the writing knowledge that students articulate in their reflections--including how they narrate their course…

In 1924 Jabbar Baghcheban created a manual system that employed the phonetic characteristics of spoken Persian and Perso-Arabic orthography for use in the education of deaf students (Ibrahimi 2007). This article is a first exploration of variation and change in this system as it has evolved into the Iranian manual alphabet. Data on the…

Universities have a long history of collecting student feedback using surveys and other mechanisms. The last decade has witnessed a significant shift in how student feedback is systematically collected, analysed, reported, and used by governments and institutions. This shift is due to a number of factors, including changes in government policy…

Teachers and school administrators in Hong Kong have had to cope with more work and performance pressure as they strive to implement educational reforms aimed at deepening students' life-long learning skills. Management systems, which save time and transfer ideas, experiences, and knowledge more efficiently could help schools meet reform goals and…

Sitting for extended periods of time is detrimental to children's physical health and may cause off-task behavior in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a classroom physical activity (PA) program, TAKE 10!®, on children's PA and on-task behavior. Participants in the program included 137 children from six classes…

This commentary is derived from the five empirical articles that appeared in the April 2017 special issue on student engagement (Liem & Chong, 2017). Drawing on others' critiques of engagement theory and research, and with full appreciation for theoretical and disciplinary diversity, I provide a high altitude, inclusive perspective of each…

This article examines the English government's vision for how research is proposed to lead to improvements in the system in the context of a school-led, self-improving system and rapid and sweeping legislative reforms. The debate about the role of research in the teaching profession has been sharpened by a large consultation effort in the academic…

A survey was designed incorporating questions on 28 attributes (compiled through a literature review) and considered to be quality features in online academic courses in higher education. This study sought to investigate the ongoing practice of instructional designers and instructors in the United States with respect to their incorporation of…

In the fall of 2004, an early childhood education center in the Midwest experienced a period of transition resulting from a significant turnover in administration and staff. Seeking strategies to improve and sustain a positive school culture, a newly formed Leadership Team looked to the business community for improvement strategies. The Team…

We all know that we must improve the quality of teaching in science at all levels. Not only physicists but also many students from other areas of study take the introductory physics courses in college. Physics introductory laboratories (labs) can be one of the best tools to help these students understand applications of scientific principles that…

Research Findings: This article reports on family child care providers' views about their engagement with professional development programs, including providers who were and were not participating in Quality Rating and Improvement Systems in Los Angeles, California. Most providers participating in the study were taking active steps to improve…