The Ontario Ministry of Education recently implemented the Steps to English Proficiency (STEP) language assessment framework to build educator capacity for addressing the needs of English language learners (ELLs) in K-12 schools. The STEP framework is a set of descriptors-based language proficiency scales that specify observable linguistic…

This paper attempts to identify leadership practices and qualities of school teachers as they engaged in effecting change initiated by a curriculum reform in Hong Kong. Based on interview data of teachers from nine schools, this paper shows how teacher leadership manifested itself in schools. Three approaches to teacher leadership were identified,…

This article explores prospects for community-based water resources management in Tlokoeng Valley, in the northern district of Lesotho. A qualitative survey was conducted to establish the pre-knowledge of the valley community. This provided a basis for a community education programme on wetlands conservation. Fifteen focus group interviews (FGIs)…

This paper reports on the current experience of one higher education institution in Australia embarking on the path towards mainstreaming online learning opportunities by providing three complementary academic development initiatives that can inform strategies undertaken by other institutions internationally. First, an academic development program…

This article describes one school of social work's innovative online elective course to prepare Masters of Social Work (MSW) students for practice with the military, veterans and their families. Developed as part of a university-wide Veterans Initiative, this online course keeps the focus on the student veteran and uses the best practices of…

This study aims to explore the relationships between the extent and perceived quality of teachers' experience of training in behaviour management (BM), and their awareness of the nature and extent of behavioural problems among school students, and their confidence in their own competence to deal with such problems. Teachers (n = 183) from Hong…

Policy Matters Ohio periodically surveys schools about fiscal conditions and operational strategies. The Ohio Association of School Business Officials provided a link to such a survey in their newsletter of December 2014 through February 2015. Fifty-three respondents, representing 8.6 percent of districts and including representatives from all…

This paper reports findings from a multi-year study of the scale-up of Reading Apprenticeship (RA), an approach to improve academic literacy by helping teachers provide the support students need to be successful readers in the content areas. WestEd's Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI), began developing the program in 1995 and has since reached…

Helping people solve the practical problems of everyday life while maintaining contemporary relevance describes the mission of Cooperative Extension. To achieve that mission, Extension professionals have increasingly relied on information gathered from stakeholders to identify relevant problems and potential educational solutions. The methods,…

In 2008, the Ministry of Education in Manitoba, Canada approved a $1.8 million grant for a major three-year pilot project entitled the Student Success Initiative (SSI) designed to support schools facing barriers to success. Six schools with lower-than-average graduation rates in Manitoba from urban, rural, and northern communities were invited to…

Building a personal identity is a lifelong, thoughtful process that takes into account not only one's race and ethnicity, but also life experiences, relationships, and communities. The process of exploring and evolving one's identity deserves a place in the classroom. Educators can play a key role in supporting their students' in this process by…

Case studies provide numerous opportunities for professional development and can be particularly helpful in transdiciplinary training. This article offers suggestions for how to use the "Zero to Three" Journal's "Stories From the Field" series of articles across a variety of settings and roles such as clinical practice, program…

Organizational evaluation capacity building has been a topic of increasing interest in recent years. However, the actual dimensions of evaluation capacity have not been clearly articulated through empirical research. This study sought to address this gap by identifying the key dimensions of evaluation capacity in Canadian federal government…

Robin Moore and Nilda Cosco view the Montessori approach to the prepared environment as overlapping their understanding of the naturalization of school grounds. As they present the possibilities for a naturalized setting to overcome sedentary lifestyles and maximize learning in the outdoors, they establish necessary components for success:…

The purpose of this article is to provide an assessment and analysis of public sector performance contracting as a performance management tool in Kenya. It aims to demonstrate that performance contracting remains a viable and important tool for improving public sector performance as a key element of the on-going public sector transformation…