The frequent turnover of school board members in the US represents a concern for many educational practitioners who worry about the discontinuity of leadership, leading to negative impacts on students and staff. School board member turnover is also a key variable in studies of democratic theories of public school governance. Using descriptive and…

The family--via communication (or lack thereof)--is a primary avenue for sexuality education. While most research on family sexuality communication has examined the content of parent-child communication (e.g. topics discussed), relatively few studies have assessed the process, the way in which communication occurs. This paper presents an analysis…

This qualitative study examines the perceptions of federally supported agricultural school teachers toward the attributes of two educational innovations brought by the educational reform currently undergoing in Brazil--the separation between academic and professional education and the emergence of the competency-based modular curriculum. The…

Six undergraduate students were interviewed in a qualitative study about their experiences as gay, lesbian or bisexual students studying Medicine. Informants, who were identified by snowball sampling, spoke about their experiences both freely and in response to a series of prompt questions derived from previous research. The transcribed interviews…

More children than ever before are surviving childhood cancer. While treatment protocols have improved, there is little consideration given to their ongoing educational needs, including their social needs for positive peer relationships and friendships. This qualitative study of 12 families included children from four to 15 years of age. Most of…

This paper explores the process of national identity development, and closely related themes among Palestinian student activists in the Israeli universities. Informed by the tradition of social identity theory, in-depth qualitative inquiry was conducted with an intensity sample of 35 Palestinian student activists attending the major five Israeli…

To address the lack of connection between theory and practice, a number of recent reforms in teacher education have included inquiry-based programs and/or new types of education courses, which encourage student teachers to be reflective problem solvers and change agents. Based on a pilot course for student teachers, the authors, also aspiring…

This article describes a project in which first-year administrators in Pinellas County, Fla., were members of a professional development cadre. The major purpose of the study was to determine the problems encountered by first-year assistant principals. During cadre meetings, participants were encouraged to record in journals and discuss with their…

This article reports the results of a study investigating the relationships between vocational education and the development of the local economy. The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine the degree of influence that vocational education has had on enterprise development in China and how vocational school education relates to work…

The purpose of this qualitative single case study is to explore one grandmother's experience with voluntary kinship care and child welfare services. Voluntary kinship care is pursued as a viable option when out-of-home placement is imminent. Research indicates that voluntary kinship care, as an alternative living arrangement, helps to maintain…

There has been a growing interest in issues pertaining to how a young person chooses to participate (or not) in youth programs, both school based (for example, sports, drama, yearbook) and community based (for example, Boys and Girls Clubs, Scouts, 4-H, sports, faith-based programs). Scholars, youth workers, policymakers, national organizations,…

This study explores the process one school district employed in its search for, and selection of, a new superintendent. The research design is a single site case study using qualitative methods. Data collection techniques include observation in the form of "shadowing" a search consultant, document analysis, and open-ended interviews of…

Advocates of school choice reform in education believe that when parents are granted the right to choose their child's school, they will act rationally, in a goal-oriented fashion, to maximize their educational utility by finding the "best" school for their children. The current qualitative study aims to examine these basic assumptions…

The purpose of this study is to explore silence as a means of communication through the perceptions of non-native-English-speaking graduate students studying at US academic institutions. Beyond issues related to culture and language, there may be other reasons to explain the silence of students.

The cycle of transmission pedagogy that begins in teacher preparation programs--and is supported by "old school" practices in the field--obstructs critical thinking in both arenas. By pedagogically structuring for critical thinking in teacher education courses, teacher educators can disrupt this pattern through exposure to and experience with…