School-based violence is serious, and on the rise in South African schools. The violence affects learners, teachers, communities and the management of schools. Towards finding possible ways to manage school violence, this article presents social networking as a strategic tool in the management of school-based violence in high schools, based on the…

Louisiana has received recent attention for some of its new education policies and promising early results. In this report, RAND researchers provide an in-depth description of Louisiana's approach to improving student outcomes since 2012. The authors examine how the state has used various policy levers -- including mandates, resource alignment,…

The Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) conducted a multiyear, multimethod effort to learn how school districts, charter schools, and regional partners can support the successful implementation, expansion, and sustainability of personalized learning (PL) in schools. The vision for PL is to tailor instruction to individual students'…

London schools continue to constitute an extraordinary "success story." By common consent, the government school system in London achieves extremely good results compared to the rest of England, and students from disadvantaged backgrounds do particularly well. In 2014, the authors sought to document and provisionally explain the London…

The research design of a study involves continual refinement through experiential processes. This case study demonstrates the importance to novice researchers of conducting a pilot study to test the feasibility of the study's research design and practice data collection (in this instance, interviewing skills). The case study is based on an…

Effective classroom assessment techniques are directly linked to course objectives and proposed outcomes. Results within formative and summative assessments have been studied in the online learning environment as educators seek to meet objectives with respect to student success in the non-traditional setting. Online classroom assessment techniques…

This chapter reports on a major college-wide effort to smooth students' paths as they enter the college, choose a program, and progress to a credential. Leadership, inclusiveness, and communication have been central to the success of the effort.

Within the realm of K-12 education, instability is an inherent feature that school leaders must successfully manage. "Turbulence," in the form of micro-level issues (day-to-day, in-house happenings) and macro-level concerns (externally imposed organizational disturbances/changes), develops indiscriminately and may escalate quickly…

This paper discusses plagiarism origins, and the ethical solutions to prevent it. It also reviews some unethical approaches, which may be used to decrease the plagiarism rate in academic writings. We propose eight ethical techniques to avoid unconscious and accidental plagiarism in manuscripts without using online systems such as Turnitin and/or…

In the future, what role will the academic research library play in achieving the mission of higher education? This essay describes seven strategies that academic research libraries can adopt to become future-present libraries--libraries that foster what Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown have called "a new culture of learning." Written…

In an age of globalization, the need exists to understand international affairs, to recognize cultural values other than our own, and to understand world events from a variety of perspectives. Community colleges can play an important role in this context in preparing students to meet the new demands of the 21st century knowledge-based economy. We…

Not all community college presidents begin their careers with the goal of becoming president, yet something causes them to alter their initial career paths to seek a presidency. Understanding how community college leaders make the decision to seek and subsequently prepare for a presidency can help identify candidates with the potential to fill…

This article summarizes major points about the transformation of educational assessment that emerged from the work of Gordon Commission and it presents recommendations to different stakeholders as to needed changes in policy, practice, and research and development.

The introduction of standards-based instruction ushered in a movement to clearly articulate the academic outcomes for students across the curriculum. State departments of education and local school districts across the nation have invested tremendous resources to define what students "need to know and be able to do" in English Language…

Young scholars readily encounter creative characters in both literature and in life who stimulate questioning, problem solving, communicating, and pursuing interests and personal growth. By fueling students' creativity, school librarians demonstrate respect for the unique individuals they are now and honor them for the people they are…