This excerpt from "Designing Challenging Vocational Courses: A Guide to Preparing a Syllabus" presents a step-by-step process for designing challenging vocational courses and preparing a syllabus to communicate course expectations to students. (Author)

Describes a successful program that introduced Japanese language and culture to children in Kansas. End of program survey results revealed that students, parents, and facilitators were overwhelmingly positive about the program. (Author/VWL)

Examines the evolution of a parenting class that combines concepts and interventions associated with solution focused and strategic family therapy. The class is targeted for all types of families and parenting situations. Parents reported that the class was very helpful and gave them access to information that had not received from other parenting…

Case studies and questionnaire responses from 59 recent registered nurse (RN) graduates identified differences in six role socialization processes (individual-collective, formal-informal, sequential-random, fixed-variable, serial-disjunctive, investiture-divestiture) in three types of programs: generic, RN-track, and second-step. In second-step…

Focus groups with 59 North Carolina parenting educators addressed professional needs. They identified concerns about the scope of the field and collective vision, keeping professional knowledge current, partnerships, networking, and community collaboration. A model of the interrelated components of professional development systems was developed.…

The Citizens Changing Communities program trained advisory boards in time and meeting management, conflict management, problem solving, goal setting, action planning, and decision making. Although evaluations revealed high interest in program content and delivery methods, actual participation did not match responses. A holistic approach focused on…

This study used focus groups to create building blocks for the creation of a collaborative program consisting of a university and a school district for the preparation of principals. The focus groups of practitioners considered recommendations from researchers and applied it to the context of their experiences to develop the essentials of a…

Peer teaching has been recognized as a valuable and effective approach for learning and has been incorporated into medical, dental, and healthcare courses using a variety of approaches. The success of peer teaching is thought to be related to the ability of peer tutors and tutees to communicate more effectively, thereby improving the learning…

This report focuses on the initial design, implementation and baseline results of the five-year Longitudinal Educational Growth Study (LEGS) of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) being conducted by the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP). The LEGS will be the first evaluation of the participant effects of the MPCP using…

One of the central challenges of designing and implementing a performance pay program is developing an approach for determining which schools, teachers, and administrators have performed well enough to have earned a bonus. The U.S. Department of Education's Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) program provides grantees substantial latitude to create…

In 2006 and 2007, two workshops on teaching work-family courses were held at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association. This article examines the current challenges and strategies of teaching work-family, as identified by workshop participants, and the resources that are available through the Sloan Work and Family Research…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to show that the "Back on Track" program is designed to support students with a chronic illness (usually cancer) to maintain contact with their school and peers whilst undergoing treatment, to promote socio-emotional wellbeing and to facilitate the ease of return to school when they are well. An…

In this companion to "Opening Doors", Friedman and Webb provide more helpful, hand-on tips for bringing SEM to life in your school. Readers learn, step-by-step, how to create a schedule that includes a weekly E-Slot for enrichment learning experiences as well as ideas for injecting interest-based experiences into the E-Slot, regular curriculum,…

This paper provides an overview on alternative teacher education programs (ATEP). This review covers the formation, development and design of these non-traditional certification approaches over the past 2 decades. The major reasons for the viability of these programs are presented. Moreover, research studies on critical issues such as teacher…

Pedagogues and practitioners alike accept the vital importance of an effective professional induction for new teachers. This paper examines the evolution of such a policy in Ontario, from a mandatory pencil-and-paper qualifying test for graduating teacher candidates, to a modest province-wide induction program for newly-hired teachers. It assesses…