This paper reports on an investigation into the quality of the learning experiences for 4-5-year-old children in Northern Ireland schools in the context of the debate about play-based and formal approaches to learning and teaching. Detailed observations were carried out in 70 Year 1 classes: 38 in traditional Year 1 classes where the Northern…

From a comparative perspective, this paper analyses Chinese learners' intercultural experiences in Chinese and British educational contexts. In the Chinese context, interview and questionnaire research was carried out in 24 universities that hosted the British Council's English teaching development programmes. The research uncovered perspectives…

Peer support interventions are emerging as an effective alternative to traditional paraprofessional models for assisting students with moderate to severe disabilities to access the general curriculum. To contribute to the refinement of peer support interventions, we evaluated the impact of altering the number of participating peers on the social…

This article reports the results of a retrospective survey of participants in an exemplary transition program for college-bound youth with disabilities. The study compared how male and female participants perceived changes in themselves in the areas of academic skills, social skills, Internet skills, levels of preparation for college and…

Introduction: The Internet has radically changed the global availability of scholarly publications. Today, a substantial part of the resources accessible for researchers and university students are offered through electronic site licenses, making the supply of easily obtainable information larger than ever. This brings forth an important question:…

The "Science: It's Elementary" (SIE) program is overseen by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and managed by ASSET Inc. SIE is an initiative aimed at improving elementary science instruction across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The program is focused on helping schools and districts implement an inquiry-based, hands-on…

This report describes how the education system in the United States compares with education systems in the other Group of Eight (G-8) countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom. The report draws on the most current information about education from three primary sources: the Indicators of…

This report describes how the education system in the United States compares with education systems in the other Group of Eight (G-8) countries. The G-8 countries--Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States--are among the world's most economically developed countries. Comparative…

Primary school learners' first encounters with mathematics in a traditional learning environment often create lifelong "math phobia."(Papert 1980) The situation in a country emerging from an oppressive education system designed to educationally disempower the majority of the population is much worse. The typical scenario in a previously…

Using cluster analysis, 789 predominately Latino and African American high school youth were classified into varying academic at-risk profiles using self-reported levels of academic confidence, motivation to attend school, perceived family support, connections with teachers and peers, and exposure to violence. Six clusters emerged, 5 of which were…

Nearly one-quarter of students in community colleges leave school during the first year of enrollment for reasons other than transfer or credential completion. Generally, nontraditional community college students drop out within their first year at higher rates than do traditional students. Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges…

For the thirty-sixth year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Anaheim, California. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

The 2009 edition of the "Digest of Education Statistics" is the 45th in a series of publications initiated in 1962. The "Digest" has been issued annually except for combined editions for the years 1977-78, 1983-84, and 1985-86. Its primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field…

Using a comparative-cultural perspective, this collection of essays examines the co-constructivist nature of human development in culturally organized environments. The contributions also cover a large age span--infancy to adulthood. Chapters in part 1 cover two different directions in the study of early adult-infant interaction from a comparative…

Efforts to link schools and workplaces in Australia, Sweden, and elsewhere were examined to identify preconditions and effective strategies for linking school to work in Australia. An Australian program that combines applied, contextualized learning structured according to industry standards with students' general education was shown to produce…