The Department of Environmental Science at the University of Southern Maine implemented a problem-based, cohort-learning curriculum for undergraduate environmental science majors. The curriculum was based on a five-course sequence patterned after the outline of a scientific paper. Under faculty guidance, students select local environmental…

Group-randomized trials (GRTs)--studies that evaluate the efficacy or effectiveness of interventions occurring at the group level--are increasingly used to assess the effects of school-based prevention programs on behavioral outcomes of children and adolescents. These designs pose many implementation and design challenges for school…

When a one-class-at-a-time approach can't address a pervasive discipline problem, you need this book to implement a schoolwide solution. In this follow-up to "The Educator's Guide to Preventing and Solving Discipline Problems", the authors provide you with a research-based model to help your school: (1) Build positive relationships with students;…

Learning materials serve as major learning resources for distance learners, and quality learning materials help students learn effectively at a distance. This paper addresses comprehensive aspects of design, development, production, and quality assurance of multi-media learning materials, based on the experience of Indonesia's Universitas Terbuka…

This publication is part of a series of tools and resources on financing and sustaining youth programming. These tools and resources are intended to help policymakers, program developers, and community leaders develop innovative strategies for implementing, financing, and sustaining effective programs and policies. This strategy brief presents a…

Scholars and practitioners have long criticized teacher evaluation as ineffective. Peer assistance and review (PAR) alters traditional teacher evaluation, as master teachers conduct summative as well as formative assessment of beginning teachers and veteran teachers in need of intervention. Relying on data from a longitudinal case study of one…

This article describes the implementation of an extensive reading (ER) program with 43 first language (L1) and second language (L2) adult literacy students. Among them, 16% were nonnative speakers of English. The main principles considered in the design of the program were (a) purpose of reading, (b) reading tactics, (c) material used, and (d) …

This paper presents a positivist quantitative case study of four rural Queensland schools implementing the Queensland Studies Authority's outcomes based education curriculum. Queensland's school-based management system means that these schools are operating at distinctly different points along their implementation phase. This research shows how…

The experiences of middle school science teachers at two schools in the southeastern US who participated in collaborative, sustained, whole-school professional development and their implementation of standards-based instructional practices are the focus of this study. Participants were involved in their second year of the professional development…

Academic leaders and governing boards are increasingly aware of the importance and difficulty in managing physical plants as finite resources. In addition, the finances needed to renovate or build facilities have become severely constrained. The National Science Foundation (2000), in its survey of research facilities, suggests that research space…

The goal of the United National Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Competency Standards for Teachers (ICT-CST) project is to improve teachers' practice in all areas of a their work. By combining ICT skills with emergent views in pedagogy, curriculum, and school organization,…

This monograph describes Supplemental Instruction, a student assistance program designed to improve the academic success of college freshmen based on the idea that if students are not being successful in courses then perhaps colleges should change the way courses are taught. Supplemental Instruction (SI) utilizes regularly scheduled, out-of-class,…

This report summarizes the 2007-2008 program evaluation of professional development opportunities for teachers of English as a second language (ESL) in Austin Independent School District's Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) program.

The mission of the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) is to increase educational opportunities and enhance learning by providing collegial expertise and leadership in K-12 online teaching and learning. "National Standards for Online Course Quality" is designed to provide states, districts, online programs, and other organizations…

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are among the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa which have recently implemented policies for free primary education, motivated in part by renewed democratic accountability following the re-emergence of multi-party politics in the 1990s. However, it is not the first time that the goal of expanding primary education has been…