Reading underachievement among adolescent students, particularly in urban areas, has been well documented in the literature. This reality points to two problems: Schools possess neither the capacity needed to prepare students for higher education and the workforce, nor the ability to help students view literacy as a tool for critical thinking,…

This paper examines how teachers engaged in equity-oriented reforms learn through interactions in teacher groups. Analysis of teachers' framing of a freshman mathematics student failure problem showed that over time teachers' frames shifted from invariable framings based on student characteristics and systemic issues to actionable framings based…

John Dewey's notion of the school as a "social laboratory" influenced educational policy a century ago when the United States underwent a "great transformation" in its educational history toward mass schooling, resulting partly from the "high school movement", where the focus was on "schooling for life". Project-based learning, which builds on…

Using occupational socialization theory, this investigation describes the socialization of Janet, an induction phase physical education (PE) teacher. Special attention was given to the forms of induction assistance Janet was exposed to during her first two years at Liberty Middle School. Data were collected through seven interviews with Janet and…

eXtension was publicly launched in 2008 as an online resource; however, adoption rates have been disappointing. The research reported here measured adoption of eXtension, willingness to participate in a Community of Practice, and adoption barriers among Oklahoma Extension employees. The adoption rate was 49%, and 43% of employees were willing to…

The globalized nature of modern society has generated a number of pressures that impact internationally on countries' policies and practices of science education. Among these pressures are key issues of health and environment confronting global science, global economic control through multi-national capitalism, comparative and competitive…

The inclusion of self-directed projects as an element within a New Zealand principal development programme was designed to reflect increasing support internationally for such a context-specific "inquiry" approach. The results reported in this article suggest that considerable clarity is required for such projects if they are to realize…

Teachers are leaders when they function in professional learning communities to affect student learning, contribute to school improvement, inspire excellence in practice, and empower stakeholders to participate in educational improvement. From an equity perspective, teachers also lead when they serve as change agents who collaborate to use…

The idea that communities need to be inclusive is almost axiomatic. The process, whereby, community members engage in inclusive practices is far less understood. Similarly, UK universities are being encouraged to include the wider community and extent campus boundaries. Here, I suggest a particular theoretical lens which sheds light on engagement…

This paper investigates how an EFL teacher negotiates her identity to adapt to the "new work order" in an English education department at a university in China. From a narrative inquiry perspective, it aims to illuminate the complexity of teacher identity in the context of a reform where teachers must reconcile conflicting selves in…

In recent years international trends towards teacher empowerment and leadership have gained increased attraction in East Asia's education policy and practice. Yet, as scholars have noted, the values underlying these practices often conflict with traditional cultural norms of East Asian societies which stress hierarchical and status differences.…

Engineering, the "E" in STEM, is seldom taught as a distinct curriculum subject in English and Welsh schools to pupils under the age of 14 years. This contrasts with design and technology (D&T), taken in this paper to represent the largest contributor to the "T" in STEM (the remainder being taken to be the computing and…

Utilizing a qualitative case-study design, this study explored how a mid-sized urban high school professional learning community was used as a reform effort to increase student achievement in mathematics on standards-based assessments. From a year-long interaction with the math professional learning community, which consisted of 3 school leaders…

A community of practice provides a forum for professionals to exchange ideas and discuss concerns related to the profession. Within this forum, technology can eliminate many of the constraints face-to-face communities of practice encounter by providing a convenient and highly interactive environment. A description of how to set up an online…

The chapters in this volume set a rich context for understanding the challenges that environmental evaluators face in their everyday work. In particular, the authors highlight the need for responsive, contextual, flexible, adaptive, multidisciplinary, and mixed-methods evaluation approaches. In this chapter, I reinforce their call and further…