This article reports the initial evaluation results of a new accelerated, job-embedded principal preparation program funded by a Race to the Top Grant (U.S. Department of Education, 2012a) in Florida. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and chi-square analyses were used to describe the characteristics of a group of potential applicants nominated to…

In response to the diverse requirements of 21st-century police work and the increasing emphasis on community-policing philosophy, the Los Angeles Police Department has implemented changes within its academy curricula and methods of instruction, including the use of adult-learning concepts, a community policing problem-solving model known as…

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of prior learning assessment (PLA) in postsecondary degree completion for adult community college students at Mountwest Community and Technical College (MCTC). The study group consisted of 339 MCTC graduates, who applied PLA credits toward degree completion between the academic year 2006 and 2011.…

This paper reports on a study that explored the use of cognitively challenging tasks with low-attaining mathematics students and in particular, their teachers' attempts at scaffolding. A major finding was that responding appropriately to scaffolding opportunities was challenging for the teachers. In this paper two main factors are discussed which…

Providing learners with control over their learning does not always result in improved learning. For instance, research on tool-use in computer-based learning environments has demonstrated that tool-use behavior of learners is often suboptimal and does not fully support learning. Advice, or guided instruction, has been recognized as an…

This article describes an attempt to bring disciplinary historical inquiry into the social studies classroom. This work emerges from a five-school 6-month intervention in San Francisco, "Reading like a Historian", which found main effects for student learning across four quantitative measures: historical thinking, factual knowledge,…

The paper examined expert literature teachers' coping with a novel textbook, integrating literature with visual arts, which is a particular interdisciplinary case of text-image relations in textbooks. Examination was performed within the framework of teachers' responses to curricular changes and of theory regarding strategies of interdisciplinary…

A key promise of narrative-centered learning environments is the ability to make learning engaging. However, there is concern that learning and engagement may be at odds in these game-based learning environments. This view suggests that, on the one hand, students interacting with a game-based learning environment may be engaged but unlikely to…

Shifting from an emphasis on teaching to learning is a complex task for both teachers and students. This paper reports on a qualitative study of teachers in a nurse specialist education programme meeting this shift in a distance education course. The study aimed to gain a better understanding of the teacher-student relationship by addressing…

A recent survey of undergraduates at five schools across the United States indicates that many undergraduates feel that they have learned more about volcanic systems from Hollywood films and the popular media than they learned in the course of their precollegiate formal education. Scores on the Volcanic Concept Survey, an instrument designed to…

Capstone courses in leadership provide students opportunities to synthesize prior knowledge about various aspects of leadership. This article describes the "Leadership for Dummies" project, which could be used as a capstone experience for leadership majors. Based on his experiences as a psychological researcher, Gardner (2008) identified five…

The purpose of this study was to examine how fourth-grade Spanish-English speaking bilingual students in the USA participated differently in English-as-a-second-language (ESL) literature groups when they were invited to use all of their linguistic resources vs. when they were restricted to communicate in English only. The theoretical underpinning…

The study explores the intersection between cyberinfrastructure and models of teacher education and professional development in Singapore. A case study explores how a pre-service and an in-service workshop in a virtual environment support efforts to understand and enlist constructivist pedagogies for classroom learning and to foster continuous…

For the past five summers, the authors have taught summer school to recent immigrants and refugees. Their experiences with these fourth-grade English language learners (ELL) have taught them the value of using models to build scientific and mathematical concepts. In this article, they describe the use of different forms of 2- and 3-D models to…

Long gone are the days when being an alumnus with great connections and leadership skills meant that one would get the job as the senior alumni relations professional at one's alma mater. Institutions are now seeking alumni relations leaders armed with operational and leadership experience and an understanding of advancement methodology and best…