Students coping with the escalating complexities of available electronic resources often demonstrate undesirable behaviors including the inability to identify information needs, uncertainty about selecting information resources, poor evaluation of information sources, and inappropriate use of information for problem solving. To eliminate these…

Students making the transition into middle or high school face challenges that may derail their school careers. Schools can do a better job of preparing students for the challenges ahead. In this article, the authors review the developmental needs and challenges of young adolescents and the concerns that they and their parents have about moving…

Background: Fostering the innate need to lead, teach and care for others is fundamental to creating a just and moral society. The nurturing begins early in life and becomes especially vital during the adolescent years, when peer pressure and the need to belong are heightened. Unfortunately, many youths believe leadership is associated with being…

Aviation concepts, including forces acting on an airplane, navigation, correct aircraft terminology, and general aviation vocabulary, are often part of a comprehensive fifth-grade aviation curriculum. But in one school district, students also learned about flying planes and even trained in a flight simulator. This article describes how industry…

This article presents the findings from a qualitative study that sought to learn about students' perceptions of a Cross-Cultural Learning Community (CCLC) at a large Midwestern University. The article focuses on three major areas that emerged as a result of focus groups: 1) students' reasons for joining the CCLC, 2) the role of the CCLC in the…

Implementation of IT "solutions" in the context of changes to business processes and efficiency is a common trigger for using formalised project management techniques. The trigger may include topical activities such as job evaluation schemes or quality assurance accreditation. This has led to a blurring of the boundary between projects and…

This paper discusses the findings of an evaluative and interpretive study into the potential of in-service education to improve science education in Swaziland. Short-term and long-term effects of an in-service intervention are evaluated in terms of changes in classroom processes. The teaching approach of participating teachers has been monitored…

Children with complex disabilities such as autism spectrum disorders and Landau Kleffner syndrome often lack means to participate in everyday family routines. Serious problem behaviors may result from their challenges in responding to and initiating communicative interactions. These behaviors can change routine family activities such that the…

Many schools have increased their use of paraprofessionals as a primary mechanism to include more students with various disabilities in general education classes. Although intended to be supportive, service delivery that relies extensively on paraprofessionals has resulted in a host of challenges for public schools and questionable services for…

Educators have continually sought to achieve a balance between a phonics-based, code-emphasis program and a more holistic, meaning-based approach to emergent literacy instruction. This article describes an integrated phonics and literature-based approach to developing children's emergent literacy skills. These skills included alphabet knowledge,…

In order to address the federal "No Child Left Behind Act", the state of Oklahoma required that all public schools address the problem of bullying. Although numerous anti-bullying programs exist, few have been evaluated to determine their effectiveness. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of one such program,…

The aim of this study is to explore the possibility of creating positive washback by focusing on factors in the background of the test development process and anticipating the conditions most likely to lead to positive wash-back. The article reports on a multiphase empirical study investigating the washback effects of a needs-based test of spoken…

In the wake of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation, standardized tests have become increasingly high-stakes. Yet English language learners (ELLs) typically score far below native English speakers, creating pressure to "teach to the test." This article shares findings from an intensive year long study in 10 New York City high…

This paper assembles innovative ideas from several disciplines and offers an integrated discussion for improving TESL/TEFL curriculum design, specifically for individuals from peripheral social contexts and to address the global demand for ESL/EFL teachers. Overall, the suggested innovations serve to: 1) increase program accessibility to…

This action research presents data about an online Master of Arts in Education (MAE) in Learning and Behavior Disorders (LBD), P-12 at Western Kentucky University. During extensive program revisions, the program developed a collaborative assessment model while preparing more than 300 special education personnel for work in rural schools.