Discusses a program in which the Iowa High School Press Association, along with a partner newspaper, awards an internship to a high school journalism advisor every summer. Recounts the experiences of an adviser working at West Liberty High School who made it her goal to better relations between the weekly town newspaper and the school newspaper.…

Project YES, a West Virginia summer intervention for at-risk youth, focuses on academic enrichment, fitness and health, self-concept, empowerment, reflective learning, nutrition, and multiculturalism. It is a multidisciplinary and collaborative effort of several different agencies. (SK)

At McMaster University, an increasingly older and well-qualified pool of nursing applicants can complete Year-One requirements in an eight-week summer program. Students are highly enthusiastic and appreciative of the cost savings. Faculty perceive student benefits, but their summer teaching load is heavy. (SK)

Describes a course combining theory and clinical experience in which nursing students complete placements in youth summer camps while participating in intensive theory classes. Explains the value of such placements in developing community relationships and exposing students to public health practice. (SK)

Integration of technique and imagination is an essential but rarely explicitly discussed topic in music education literature or in the performing arts classroom. Exploring how master teacher Phyllis Curtin puts the two together and how students describe their integrative experiences in her class, the author tackles the paradoxes and complexity of…

Researchers have found that training in phonemic awareness (PA), a fundamental element for reading acquisition, is effective in varying degrees, depending on characteristics of the audience. In this study, the authors explored the relative effectiveness of 3 programs--Fast ForWord, Earobics, and LiPS. The authors randomly assigned 60 students with…

Increased use of high-stakes testing has been accompanied by an expansion of summer school programming. Few investigations focus on student experience within these programs. Using multiple methods, we examined how low-performing students attending the Chicago Public Schools' Summer Bridge program perceived their summer learning environments.…

Children's daily physical activity patterns are influenced by many factors outside of their immediate control (e.g., school, parents' availability, time allowed outdoors). Because all children do not have an equal opportunity to participate in physical activity, investigating the relationship of psychosocial variables and actual voluntary activity…

This paper examines the summer component of a year-long professional development program. The program was developed based on recent models of effective professional development that indicate that teachers should guide the direction and focus of the professional development program. Specific activities in the summer program were adapted from a…

An experiential science program, such as a summer course at a field station, requires unique assessment tools. Traditional assessment via a pencil-and-paper exam cannot capture the essential skills and concepts learned at a summer field station. Therefore, the authors developed a pre- and postcourse image-based analysis to evaluate student…

A summer academy is held for grade 9-12 high school students at the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, every year. The academy, dubbed the Da Vinci Engineering Enrichment Program (DEEP), is a diverse program that aims to attract domestic and international high school students to engineering and sciences (and possibly recruit them). DEEP…

Many universities rely on graduate students for teaching and/or research activities. Among the teaching assistants are international students who lack the pedagogical background and cultural exposure to succeed as teaching assistants. This study evaluated a graduate teaching assistants training program for international students. Data were…

There is perhaps no more pressing issue in school policy today than the achievement gap across social lines. Achievement differences between well-to-do children and poor children and between disadvantaged racial and ethnic minorities and majority whites are large when children first begin school, and they increase over time. Despite years of study…

Every time music educators gather, whether at a national conference or at a local coffee shop, professional development can occur. The common denominator is always communication of ideas and experiences that result in some sort of learning--generally among all parties involved. As such, all school districts should invest in high-quality and…

This Research Report summarizes various strategies that have been found to help struggling students succeed without having to repeat a grade. They include aligning instruction with standards, providing "early warning" assessments, multiage grouping, accelerated learning, increased professional development for teachers working with low-performing…