The authors prepared this report after exploring programs using a 90-day cycle process borrowed from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The IHI 90-day cycle scans activity in the field as a "quick way to research innovative ideas and assess their potential for advancing quality improvement". The goal was to "get under…

Past participants of the Associated Colleges of the South Summer Teaching and Learning Workshop were surveyed to determine long-term impact of this type of professional development experience. Results indicate a large majority of participants across rank and academic discipline continued to view the workshop as effective and valued feedback from…

The focus of this Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) project was on RNA secondary structure prediction by using a lattice walk approach. The lattice walk approach is a combinatorial and computational biology method used to enumerate possible secondary structures and predict RNA secondary structure from RNA sequences. The method uses…

How do responsive evaluators provide input to program planners when competing ethical principles point to different choices of effective feedback? A team of three evaluators used participant observation, individual and focus group interviews, and analysis of documents to provide input on the development and outcome of a summer program for high…

Special schools focused on the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines are one of the best options for gifted students with talent and interest in these areas. Such schools offer benefits, such as unique opportunities for research and mentoring, that other options cannot. In this article, I compare the advantages and…

During the past 6 years, the authors have worked and interacted with twice-exceptional middle school students as well as with their parents at an annual residential summer camp. Through surveys and interviews with the parents and their children, the difficulties that twice-exceptional students encounter at school emerged. Furthermore, parents'…

Utilizing "teachable moments" within daily situations to impart knowledge and transmit values is a type of informal education. In a structured camp environment, such teachable moments may be integrated into the educational curriculum. "Jewish teachable moments" may be used to address Judaism and Jewish Peoplehood holistically,…

To provide greater support for students as they transition to ninth grade, the Texas Legislature funded the Texas Ninth Grade Transition and Intervention (TNGTI) grant program. TNGTI grantees implemented a variety of supports to at-risk students transitioning to ninth grade, including a summer transition program, an early warning data system, and…

High-achieving kids from low-income families too often fall into the achievement trap; as they progress up the grades, their academic performance falls, and they are far less likely to remain star students than are middle-class or wealthy high-achievers. So says the first U.S.-wide analysis of high-achieving students from poor families (published…

This report describes the final evaluation of a condensed work schedule, the Summer 2009 4-Day Work Week (S4-DWW), adopted by The School Board of Broward County, Florida. The goal for the program was to close the entire district for 1 day each week to reduce utility costs. Except for a few cases, district schools and offices were closed on Fridays…

Despite the potential contributions of adolescent employment to postschool success, many youth who experience emotional and behavioral difficulties (EBD) do not access these opportunities. This intervention study examined the effects of a package of strategies designed to increase access to summer work experiences. Fifty-seven youth with EBD from…

Although summer offers a natural context for adolescents to gain community-based work experience, little is known about the extent to which youth with disabilities are accessing these transition-related opportunities. We examined the summer employment experiences of 220 youth with high-incidence disabilities at two time points. Although more than…

After initial instruction in written and spoken Tiwa, young adult participants in the summer language program at San Antonio Pueblo began authoring their own pedagogical materials as a learning activity. Charged with writing pedagogical dialogues to aid in language learning, the students created "the first Native soap opera," as the…

The Canisius College Summer Science Camp is a successful and effective annual outreach program that specifically targets middle school students in an effort to increase their interest in science. Five broadly defined science topics are explored in a camp-like atmosphere filled with hands-on activities. A 2010 module focused on chemistry topics of…

To broaden participation in computing we need to look beyond traditional domains of inquiry and expertise. We present results from a demonstration project in which interactive journalism was used to infuse computational thinking into the standard curriculum and regular classroom experience at a middle school with a diverse population. Outcomes…