This study examined a five-year project initiated by the Women's Global Connection (WGC) to train pre-primary teachers in schools serving HIV/AIDS orphans in Zambia. The researchers evaluated the contextual factors of the training initiative to clarify why some teachers possess high self-efficacy, while others do not. The article analyses the…

Complex and adaptive challenges threaten human well-being and sustainability. However, our leadership graduates often lack the capacity and or commitment to address these challenges in a meaningful way. This paper details a five-year study exploring the impact of an interdisciplinary undergraduate course on the development of global capacities,…

In school systems around the world, there is an increasing focus on students' academic achievement. The challenge of how to improve schools is an important issue for all levels in the school system. However, a central question of both practical and theoretical relevance is how it is possible to understand why (or why not) school-development…

Background: Given the persistent gap among majority and minority students in international measures of student outcomes, there is growing attention and research focused on teacher knowledge, learning and professional development. Culturally responsive practice has been posited as one way to ameliorate disparities in outcomes. Proponents of…

As part of a 3-year longitudinal study, 136 sixth-grade students completed an engineering-based problem on earthquakes involving integrated STEM learning. Students employed engineering design processes and STEM disciplinary knowledge to plan, sketch, then construct a building designed to withstand earthquake damage, taking into account a number of…

The Measuring Early Learning Quality and Outcomes (MELQO) initiative began in 2014 in anticipation of a new global emphasis on early childhood development (ECD). Led by UNESCO, the World Bank, the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, and UNICEF, the initiative aims to promote feasible, accurate and useful measurement of…

This report documents the second year of implementing Cycle-based Budgeting at Jefferson County Public Schools (Louisville, KY). In addition to aligning another $24.3 million new spending with the district's strategic plan, $20.3 million of existing spending was rolled into the process. Next, the challenges faced by the district to review 105…

This publication, part of the new Building and Infrastructure Protection Series (BIPS) published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) Infrastructure Protection and Disaster Management Division (IDD), serves to advance high performance and integrated design for buildings and infrastructure. This…

Educational interventions typically are complex combinations of human actions, organizational supports, and instructional resources that play out differently in different contexts and with different kinds of students. The complexity and variability of outcomes undermines the notion that interventions either "work" or "don't…

As universities in the North and South become increasingly dependent on donor patronage for research and sustainable development initiatives, systematic assessments of transnational-partnership-award decisions and outcomes are of rising interest in academic and policy circles. After presenting a conceptual framework that facilitates comparative…

Why do so many traditionally aged college students engage in inappropriate behaviors, even when they are smart enough to know better? To answer this question, Gregory S. Blimling looks at some of the latest neuroscience research and, in doing so, introduces a new dimension to understanding psychosocial development in college…

Prevalent new paradigms are emphasizing the need for more powerful learning opportunities that meet the needs of 21st century learners. One way to change education to better meet the needs of the 21st century is to reimagine school architecture. The purpose of this research was to study the ways practitioner inquiry can serve as a mechanism for…

Research about education organizing has proliferated during the past decade, generating an increasingly rich collection of case studies, national surveys, and other analyses. Research for Action (RFA) has been among those engaged in this work and has drawn on its previous efforts - as well as the knowledge built by community organizing groups and…

In transforming education, well-designed leadership coaching and mentoring can make a critical difference in effectively building capacity for systemic change. Both internal and external coaches and mentors play key roles. Over time, the aim is to prepare a cadre of internal leaders so they become the primary system change agents and capacity…

This report summarizes the outcomes of a discussion among a group of State and district officials, teachers and principals, and external experts in educator evaluations and strategic communications who gathered in the District of Columbia to examine early results from evaluation systems in two States.