This phenomenological investigation explores the experiences of administrative interns throughout their administrative internship to discover how they perceive and make meaning of their internship experiences--their thoughts, feelings, concerns, and aspirations. All thirteen participants were students in one university administrator preparation…

Professional development training raises many concerns in today's U.S. education system. Each year, education systems change. Understanding these change efforts provides school districts the opportunity to be successful in their efforts. Today's students no longer seem to benefit from one instructional approach and need an enhancement in their…

The E[superscript 2]Coach project from the Department of Physics at the University of Michigan (UM) addresses the challenge of providing individual student support in high-enrollment introductory science courses. This web application employs tailored communications technology, course experiences, student data, and analytics to deliver customized…

This report examines teacher pension plans in Missouri, with a particular focus on the Kansas City and Saint Louis school districts. Missouri is unusual in that public educators are divided among three pension systems: the Kansas City Public School Retirement System (KC), which covers 3 percent of Missouri teachers; the Public School Retirement…

In "Missouri Charter Schools and Teacher Pension Plans: How Well Do Existing Pension Plans Serve Charter and Urban Teachers?" the authors stated that there is no reciprocity between the three Missouri teacher pension plans, based on their understanding that employer contributions could not transfer between plans. That statement is…

This study explored the use of scaffolded lesson study to develop professional teaching knowledge for problem-based historical inquiry (PBHI). Using mixed methods including extensive classroom observations, the study examined six 4th grade social studies teachers' adoption of problem-based historical inquiry in their classroom teaching following…

Purpose: This AERI-NEPC eBrief, the fourth in a series titled "Understanding validity issues around the world", looks closely at issues surrounding the validity of test-based actions in educational accountability and school improvement contexts. The specific discussions here focus testing issues in the US. However, the general principles…

Two recent studies by Biancarosa et al. and by Saunders et al. have finally demonstrated that "job-embedded, sustained professional development" can significantly improve student achievement. But there's a catch. In both studies, effective professional development (PD) strategies were successful only under certain circumstances or only in some…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss how technological tools, such as Web 2.0 and online learning management systems, can be utilized to improve Millennials' educational performance. Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory survey of Millennial business students was conducted to measure their self-reported use and perceived…

This paper considers an alternative teacher certification pathway known as Teach for Australia (TFA) that is currently operating in the Australian state of Victoria. A discursive approach informed by critical theory is used in the paper to critically examine the specific case of TFA as an alternative teacher certification pathway charged with…

The Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program and Special Bilateral Projects provides short-term study and travel seminars abroad for U.S. educators in the social sciences and humanities for the purpose of improving their understanding and knowledge of the people and culture of other countries. There are approximately 10 seminars with 16 participants…

For several historical and cultural reasons, the United States has long pursued a strategy of improving teaching by improving teachers. The rarely questioned logic underlying this choice says that by improving the right characteristics of teachers, they will teach more effectively. The authors expose the assumptions on which this logic is built,…

School District 54 in Schaumburg, Illinois, always viewed itself as a great school district. Unfortunately, many parents and community members in the district, located on the outskirts of Chicago, thought of it as less than stellar. Student achievement had remained stagnant for several years. Staff members were becoming increasingly frustrated and…

In China the global challenges of fast-evolving technology and multidisciplinary studies are complicated by the newness of the market. Only 40 years ago, professors were condemned to manual labor if suspected of capitalist sympathies, and most universities were shut down during the decade-long Cultural Revolution. The government is preoccupied…

Miller (1956) identified his famous limit of 7 plus or minus 2 items based in part on absolute identification--the ability to identify stimuli that differ on a single physical dimension, such as lines of different length. An important aspect of this limit is its independence from perceptual effects and its application across all stimulus types.…