The authors conducted a study of effective teaching using structured interviews of 29 university professors who had won teaching awards. They found that effective teaching is more than a bundle of techniques used in a masterful manner. Indeed, it embodies an elusive quality that the authors call caring. Caring, they found, reveals itself in two…

Against a formidable national discourse that emphasizes academic standardization, accountability, and high-stakes testing in educational policy, "Character and Moral Education: A Reader" seeks to re-introduce and revive the moral mission of education in public conversation and practices in America's schools. With contributions from a…

The purpose of this descriptive, post hoc single case study was to understand how the five components of Teddlie and Stringfield's (1993) school effectiveness model manifested themselves in school improvements efforts. This study used Teddlie and Stringfield (1993) five component school effectiveness conceptual model (focus on academics, orderly…

Across the political spectrum, high-quality early care and education (ECE) is viewed as essential to educational reform. No ECE program can succeed without teachers who can establish warm and caring relationships with children, light the fires of children's curiosity and love of learning, and foster their development and readiness for school.…

The issue of HIV and AIDS is a serious global issue that affects girls and boys, women and men, from all communities. Girls and women are particularly vulnerable to contracting HIV which can develop into AIDS. This guide for mentoring contains important information about HIV and AIDS related to young women and girls. The guide also provides ideas…

Nationally, educational disparities have resulted in a significant achievement gap among African American and Latino students compared to European American students. Cognitive theorists including Piaget, Bruner, and Vygotsky believe that one's environment has an effect on learning. This qualitative case study examined teacher, student, and parent…

All college students face new challenges and transitions, but for first-generation adult community college students, those challenges are more pervasive than those of their second-generation peers. The problem addressed is that first-generation adult community college students are at greater risk than their second-generation peers of dropping out…

The purpose of this study was to promote an ethic of care and justice through the examination of the manifestations of whiteness within student affairs on a Jesuit Catholic university campus. To achieve this purpose a qualitative, exploratory case study was used to examine a student affairs division at Western Jesuit University (pseudonym), an…

This article provides a model for developing and sustaining relationships that can lead to ongoing school academic success. Leaders can successfully engender positive relationships and develop healthy organizational cultures that advance powerful teaching and learning by focusing on the six relationship connectors described in this article. As…

This article considers some of the key processes and methods needed to reenvision and transform comprehensive school counseling programs (CSCPs) as strengths-based, prevention-focused learning communities. Specifically, following a discussion of evidence-based "school as community" models found in the literature and how they relate, in part, to…

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence African American parents' involvement in their children's middle school experiences. Two focus group interviews were conducted with African American parents. While the participants viewed parent involvement as important, they reported that family structure and socioeconomic…

Inclusion of students with special education needs into regular classrooms, and prevention of violence in schools are two important social or public policies with which school administrators and teachers are faced in today's public education system. If school staffs are to be effective at implementing these two public policies, it seems reasonable…

There is no single script for effective character education, but there are some important basic principles. This document presents eleven principles that schools and other groups can use to plan a character education effort and to evaluate available character education programs: (1) Promotes core ethical values and supportive performance values as…

The purpose of this report is to listen to families about "what" mattered most to them and "how" family support has impacted their lives. The findings of this report represent a synthesis of families' voices from 8 focus groups and 35 individual interviews, conducted at centers, office meetings, and homes--with over 100 family…

The purpose of this study was to assess early childhood preservice teachers' caring dispositions. In this pilot project, 35 preservice teachers were involved. They spent 30 hours in the field. The tool for assessment--Caring Teachers' Components and Characteristics--was developed on the basis of the theory of caring per Noddings (1992) and…