This paper discusses the contrasting views of what constitutes the "best interests" of students and the implications of such perceptions for leadership practices in secondary schools in Kenya. The paper is based on a study conducted to establish the students', teachers' and principals' perceptions of democratic school leadership--in line…

Education influences individual health and social care professionals and the systems in which they work. We describe a postgraduate educational program that did this through involving service users and carers in designing and facilitating teaching programs. A module of teaching was designed and delivered in partnership with users and carers from…

In this article, I investigated the problems that educators are addressing with dual credit initiatives and consider tensions that have limited the seamless implementation of dual credit programming. Stakeholder representatives clearly identified common resources and support required to sustain their dual credit programs. Study participants noted…

Oral interviews in focus groups and written surveys were conducted with 877 men and women, including administrators, faculty members, postdoctoral associates, and graduate students, during one-day site visits to chemistry and chemical engineering departments at 28 Ph.D.-granting institutions. This report is a preliminary review of the perceptions…

Introduction: Since the development of inclusion and integration, parents have increasingly become the major, and sometimes the only, carers of their children with disabilities. Many families speak of stress and frustration with service and community support, and some have turned to residential and specialised day care services to overcome…

This study compared higher education dental undergraduate student performance in online assessments with performance in traditional paper-based tests and investigated students' perceptions of the fairness and acceptability of online tests, and showed performance to be comparable. The project design involved two parallel cross-over trials, one in…

This paper will highlight the successful evaluation approaches deployed for long-term exploration of the impact of a national policy initiative as well as some of the results and outcomes. An interactive feedback process informed decision-making at the national and local level thereby enhancing both the initiative and its implementation in…

This multiple case study explored classified staff interactions with students as a possible strategy for increasing student success. Individual interviews, observations, and a focus group with support staff were used to investigate their interactions with students, their view of these interactions, and their expectations of students. Findings…

Objective: To develop and test nutrition messages and supporting content with low-income mothers for use with theory-based interventions addressing fruit and vegetable consumption and child-feeding practices. Design: Six formative and 6 evaluative focus groups explored message concepts and tested messages, respectively. Setting: Research…

Teachers play a vital role in the implementation of new programs. This article discusses how best to support teachers in the face of such change. Specifically, we describe the perspectives of teachers who participated in a pilot project of the responsiveness to intervention model. Through focus group data, the researchers explored the barriers…

The Community Outreach Centre (COC) is part of the Community Development portfolio in the Division of Student Affairs at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It opened in fall 2007 as a resource and support centre for students who live off campus. The overarching goal of the centre is to cultivate community among off-campus students…

Objective: Focus group (FG) interviews with students and adults were used to obtain a rich understanding of the "Cooking with Kids" classroom experience from the child and adult participant perspectives. Methods: FG topics included students' cooking experiences at school and home and perceptions of "Cooking with Kids". Verified transcripts of…

Primary-secondary transition can be a period of extreme anxiety for some children, with lowering of self-esteem and confidence. Creative drama has been reported to enhance self-esteem and confidence. This paper explores the possibility of using drama to facilitate successful transition. It focuses on secondary datasets from six primary schools in…

This paper reflects on the challenges and benefits of multidimensional collaboration in an action research study to evaluate and improve preoperative education for patients awaiting colorectal surgery. Three cycles of planning, acting, observing and reflecting were designed to evaluate practice and implement change in this interactive setting,…

The purpose of this study was to explore Iranian women's perceptions, behaviors, and beliefs related to breast cancer screening, breast cancer, and follow up care. A qualitative descriptive inquiry with both individual and focus group interviews was conducted in Tehran with 31 Farsi-speaking women, age 35 to 65 years of age. A constant comparison…