This report details a study combining qualitative and quantitative research tools to compare the functioning of schools in China, Guinea, India, and Mexico and in different development contexts within each country. The focus of the analysis was on the critical factors determining the quality of the interactive process taking place in schools, how…

A study investigated the experiences of a purposive sample of 12 women who have taken technological career paths and who have excelled in their respective fields. The study began with one question: "What internal and/or external factors influenced, supported, and/or encouraged these women to become competent at a very high level in…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the process used by learners to direct, locate, and integrate information resources for use in a project-based environment. Four cases (n=9, including three group projects and one individual project) were analyzed from an introductory educational technology course for preservice teachers during a unit…

This paper is a mid-project report of a study being conducted of a block of education methods courses (i.e., courses on classroom management, content area reading, secondary methods, and the professional educator) for students seeking emergency certification. This block is being taught 80% asynchronously through the Internet and 20% synchronously…

This paper is a report on the findings of a study conducted during an undergraduate computer science class for preservice teacher educators which was restructured using constructivist principles. Qualitative analysis techniques were applied to field notes, transcripts of computer-mediated discourse, project evaluations, an interview with the…

Open-ended questions and semistructured interviews were used to investigate the psychosocial learning environment among (n=35) grade-nine mathematics students in Hong Kong. The Mathematics Classroom Environment Scale has eight dimensions: enjoyability; order; involvement; achievement orientation; teacher led; teacher support; teacher involvement;…

The author examines the evolution of the current Australian demographic and its implications for the delivery of public library services. The "baby boomers", the generation born between 1946 and 1961, are the next cohort to be seriously in need of housebound services, and the characteristics and likely needs of this group are considered…

This article examines the outcomes of participation in mental health Consumer/Survivor Initiatives (CSIs) and identifies helpful qualities of CSIs through a longitudinal, qualitative study that involved in-depth interviews of people who experienced severe mental health challenges in Ontario, Canada. We used a nonequivalent control group design in…

The role of participating stakeholders was considered as part of an 18-month research project evaluating the influences of class size (student-teacher ratio) and class mix (mixing disabilities) on special education students' educational outcomes. Stakeholders (N=81) participating in the project represented superintendents, principals, directors of…

The relationship between literacy and "people's power" within the context of Mozambique's project of socialist reconstruction was explored through an ethnographic analysis of literacy education practices at the Matola Industrial Company, which is considered one of many embodiments of Mozambique's colonial past. First, the role of the…

This pilot study, involving a mother and her 3-year-old child with developmental delays, developed, implemented, and evaluated a model of early intervention that incorporates family-centered assessment and intervention practices. The CARE (Caregiver Assistance, Resources, and Education) project model was both school-based and home-based. The…

The development of oral language and literacy skills and the development of portfolio management strategies to assess these skills is reported. Data are from a longitudinal study involving sixth and seventh grade students in an English as a Second Language (ESL) urban middle school classroom. Portfolios were originally introduced to 13 sixth…

This study examined the social and political climate surrounding the opening of a controversial gay/lesbian/bisexual support office at an anonymous midwestern public research university. In addition to analyses of university mission statements, plans, and policies, other "diversity" literature, and campus and local newspapers, fieldwork…

This paper reports qualitative and quantitative data obtained about relationships between 27 students with special language needs or learning disabilities and their nondisabled peers (N=99) in four integrated eighth grade classes of an urban middle school in Massachusetts. The study involved approximately 120 hours of in-school observation over a…

Representing a work in progress, this paper presents the theoretical framework for a longitudinal case study involving the implementation of cooperative learning strategies in an ethnically diverse urban middle school. The effects that cooperative learning has on the curriculum as perceived by teachers are also to be examined during the 3-year…