This dissertation is an empirical investigation of educational policies, practices and organizational settings that shape the schooling experiences of Chicago Public School (CPS) students. The first chapter, "Educational Choice and Student Participation: The Case of the Supplemental Educational Services Provision in Chicago Public…

Included here are two appendixes to "Adult Education Literacy Instruction: A Review of the Research." Appendix A, "Adult Studies," contains: (1) Assessment Profiles; (2) Alphabetics; (3) Fluency; (4) Vocabulary; and (5) Comprehension. Appendix B, "Adolescent Studies," contains: (1) Alphabetics; (2) Fluency; (3) Vocabulary; and (4) Comprehension.…

Popular education is a mode of teaching and learning which seeks to bring about more equitable social conditions by creating settings in which people can identify and solve their own problems. While the public health literature offers evidence to suggest that popular education is an effective strategy for increasing empowerment and improving…

Background/Context: Results of the few studies that have investigated moral reasoning in education students suggest that such reasoning may be less advanced for them than for college students with non-education majors and that education students do not appear to advance in moral reasoning from freshman to senior year. Purpose: The purpose of the…

This study addressed a need for comprehensive quantitative empirical studies to determine the effectiveness of using popular culture media as a teaching technique. A quasi-experimental design was implemented to examine whether a group of community college students taking a first-semester introduction to business course who were exposed to a…

Although the benefits of blended learning have been well documented in educational research, relatively few studies have examined blended learning in language teacher education. This study discusses a blended learning approach for a teacher training program designed for in-service English language teachers, and investigates its effectiveness by…

Background: Protective factors associated with positive youth development predict health and education outcomes. This study explored trends in these protective factors and in physical activity among low-income students, and determined the impact of a school-based youth development program on these trends. Methods: This study used a…

Presently, research is questioning the value of homework, especially at the elementary level. One reason homework is considered important is that it allows for the opportunity to practice and reinforce skills. Currently, elementary students in the United States are assigned homework in mathematics three or more times a week. Since homework…

Objective: Smokers with mental illness and addictive disorders account for nearly one in two cigarettes sold in the United States and are at high risk for smoking-related deaths and disability. Psychiatry residency programs provide a unique arena for disseminating tobacco treatment guidelines, influencing professional norms, and increasing access…

Central examinations--that is, centrally set and marked exams--have often been discussed as an instrument for improving educational outcomes. The aim of our study was to determine whether central exams have an impact not only on educational but also on labour market outcomes. We explain school quality choice through the incentives created by…

In this article, the authors argue the case for scientific evidenced-based practice in education. They consider what differentiates science from pseudoscience and what sources of information teachers typically regard as reliable. The What Works Clearinghouse is discussed with reference to certain limitations of its current operation. Given the…

The quantitative method and quasi-experimental design examined the effects of multimodal-multisensory instructional strategies (MMIS) on vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension among students at-risk and students with disabilities in an inclusive environment. To discover the efficacy of multimodal-multisensory instructional strategies,…

This study sought to determine if participation in a home education learning program would impact the perceived levels of parental self-efficacy of parents/caregivers who participate in the completion of home-learning assignments and increase their levels of home-learning involvement practices. Also, the study examined the relationship between the…

A comparative evaluation framework of instructional interventions for implementation of online training for public library staff would enable a better understanding of how to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and efficacy of training in certain training environments. This dissertation describes a quasi-experimental study of a two-week,…

This paper synthesized studies of professional development for middle school content area teachers and the teachers' subsequent implementation of literacy strategies. Four studies were identified as having a majority of participants teaching English/reading, mathematics, science, and social studies in grades 6 through 8. Articles meeting the…