Like anything else, there are good fundraising campaign Web sites and bad fundraising campaign Web sites. The author took a closer look at fundraising campaign sites to see if her intuitive judgments about these could be translated into a logical, research-supported set of best practices. She set up a study that gauged the ease of use and…

Chemical engineering faculty members are often asked to teach a core course that they have not taught before. The immediate thought is to come up with some new ideas to revolutionize that core course in ways that will engage students and maximize learning. This paper summarizes the authors' selection of the most effective, innovative approaches…

Increasing use of screencast and Flash authoring software within libraries is resulting in "homegrown" library collections of digital learning objects and multimedia presentations. The author explores the use of Google Analytics to track usage statistics for interactive Shockwave Flash (.swf) files, the common file output for screencast and Flash…

The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) is a federally funded national resource center designed to support early care and education providers address the social-emotional needs of children birth through age 5 years. Recent research has found that an extraordinarily high number of young children are being…

There is a significant strand of theory and research about turning around underperforming organizations; however, very little of it speaks to the unique mission and character of schools. This literature is unambiguous in its claim that leadership is the pivotal explanation for success, suggesting that efforts to better understand the nature of…

There is a general perception that as librarians, we know what constitutes and defines a rare book, that our heritage book collections are well-documented and their future survival is planned for and secure. This discussion paper asks whether our definitions of heritage material might be too narrow and whether they reflect the reality across all…

This article presents a sample of online learning programs serving very different populations: a small district spread over a vast area, a large inner school district, and a statewide program serving numerous districts. It describes how these districts successfully implemented e-learning programs in their schools and discusses the positive impact…

The authors recommend practical techniques and resources for teaching at-risk secondary students, who are often nontraditional learners. The article describes tactual and kinesthetic instructional resources that research has shown are effective for typically performing and at-risk students who do not learn conventionally. (Contains 2 figures.)

This paper examines how drama teachers' identities play a part in their teaching practices in schools. It highlights what can be learned from drama teachers' expressions of self for their classroom content and management. Much of the current research into teachers and teaching is concerned with "good practice" where students are placed at the…

This article has its origins in exit surveys of 1335 graduate students (283 PhD and 1052 Master's) conducted at a mid-sized Canadian university from 1996 to 2005. The article explores the relationship between the perceived effectiveness of graduate supervision and the disciplinary background of graduate students. Students are categorized into four…

The claim is made in this paper that the discourse of education offers a challenge to evidence-based practices because this latter approach is embedded in the discourse of management. Although claiming the status of being "scientific", this latter development is drawn upon problematically by policy makers to provide the warrant for stipulating…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the recent history of climate action planning at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), a public university with a long history of sustainability action and commitment. Items discussed include a partnership with Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP) to produce a greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory tool that…

The new "AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner" offer significant potential for helping library media specialists tailor instruction to student needs. These standards are precise and clear, and they align themselves to reading strategies as well as language arts and content area standards. The new standards will also help strengthen lesson…

The process of liberalization and globalization of Indian economy has brought new opportunities and challenges in all areas of human endeavor including education. Educational institutions have to adopt new strategies to make best use of the opportunities and counter the challenges. One of these challenges is how to assess the performance of…

Middle and high school students subjected to harsh school discipline policies and practices such as suspensions and expulsions are more likely to disengage from the classroom and course work, and increases their chances of dropping out, according to this new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education. The report recommends implementing…