Soon after AskALibrarian, Florida's Statewide Virtual Reference Desk, began to offer Chat Reference to the public in 2003, a Quality Assurance Workgroup was established to ensure that the service patrons received would be friendly, accurate, and adequate. To make certain that best practices were used in answering the real time questions, two…

Successful models of statewide library consortia are evident in many locations. Academic libraries in independent institutions of higher education in Mississippi must seek alternate affiliations since they do not participate in the MAGNOLIA consortium for public institutions. What does the future hold, especially for database licensing for…

This paper is developed from a recently HEA-funded study that seeks to identify key aspects of learning partnerships (LPs) and produce guidelines on best practice for educational providers working with under-represented adult learning groups. The theory and practice of social capital is highlighted as central to this task. In particular, the work…

Teacher shortages have been steadily increasing across the nation, particularly in the field of special education. According to analyses conducted by the Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education (COPSSE), reasons for this include the fact that veteran special education teachers are retiring at a faster rate than new teachers are being…

Research indicates that academic achievement from middle school to high school decreases while behavior problems, suspensions and expulsions increase early in ninth grade. Hertzog and Morgan found in their research in Georgia and Florida, that those high schools that just did building tours and meetings with school counselors for strictly…

Researchers are grappling with the challenges of implementing evidence-based practice in community organizations. This article reviews factors that facilitate the use of evidence-based practice in community settings along with future steps necessary for successful translation of knowledge into community agencies. Social workers are uniquely…

The ultimate goal of teaching is to produce enlightened students. It is believed that this is possible provided that teachers approach teaching in a holistic manner that exercises the best practices. They however need to have some form of guidance to teach in this manner. The paper describes the development of a teachers guide to teaching-learning…

The purpose of this research is to illustrate how Fordham University, the Jesuit University of New York, repositioned its Executive MBA Program and reinvented its brand, over a ten year period. More specifically, this research will analyze the current state of the Executive MBA market and will discuss the best practices and frameworks implemented…

The Early Childhood Technology Integrated Instructional System 3 (EC-TIIS 3), housed in the Center for Best Practices in Early Childhood (the Center) within the College of Education and Human Services at Western Illinois University (WIU), was funded in 2004 by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) as a…

This article systematically reviews research on the achievement outcomes of four types of approaches to improving the beginning reading success of children in kindergarten and first grade: Reading curricula, instructional technology, instructional process programs, and combinations of curricula and instructional process. Study inclusion criteria…

Significant attention and resources have been focused on reforming high schools to enhance graduation rates. The research literature supports the following practices: (1) For struggling students, accurate identification and intensive instructional, monitoring, and counseling support; (2) For 9th graders, transition activities, personalization, and…

In 2004 UNAIDS and its development partners first introduced the Three-Ones Principles. Since then, many governments have developed national strategic frameworks and guiding policy documents to help coordinate more effective national responses in the battle to overcome AIDS. In this article, I outline how essential it is for government agencies,…

The Delphi Method of group communication was used with experienced distance education stakeholders in the United States from the areas of research, policy, and practice to identify priorities in K-12 distance education over the next five years. Data from the three rounds of this study were organized and compared using descriptive statistics. The…

One of the greatest challenges that community colleges face in their efforts to increase graduation rates is improving the success of students in their developmental, or remedial, education programs--the courses that students without adequate academic preparation must take before they can enroll in courses for college credit. Emphasizing results…

Instructional design (ID) in its short life has been dominated by behaviourist approaches despite critique focusing on issues of practice as well as theory. Nonetheless, little research has addressed two fundamental questions: "What constitutes good instructional design?" and "How do instructional designers create good design?"…