This paper presents staff perceptions of higher education science and engineering learning communities derived from a cross-case analysis of four case studies across the New Zealand university and polytechnic sectors. First we report staff expectations and experiences in terms of infrastructure and resources, and their own careers. Staff…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the environmental teaching efficacy and outcome-expectancy beliefs of elementary preservice teachers. The study also evaluated the importance of ethnicity as a construct in influencing teachers' beliefs toward environmental education. Among groups, participants involved in the Global Learning and…

The 2008 presidential election stands as a "change" election. The public's anxiety over the challenges globalization poses to the future of the American Dream is driving a desire for the country to change direction. The American people understand that what will give the nation a competitive advantage in a global marketplace are the…

This article discusses a professional development text by Ruby Payne that claims to inform teachers about the lives and minds of children from poor households. We use Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 1995; Gee, 2005; Rogers, Malancharuvil-Berkes, & Mosley, 2005) to examine how the author enlists readers' participation in deficit…

In New Zealand there is an increasing trend for people with prior occupational experiences to enter secondary teaching. At a time when the media is continually questioning the status and capability of the teaching profession, we explore what or who motivates people to change their occupational paths and enter the teaching profession. Our sample of…

This study explores cultural differences between European American (n = 26) and Asian American (n = 17) parents' attributional ratings of children with Down syndrome. Links were examined among parents' attributions, reactions, and behaviors regarding their child's jigsaw-puzzle performance. Although the children's puzzle abilities did not differ,…

The case study of a 5-year-old Taiwanese child, newly arrived in the United States with no English skills, focuses on the effect that parent and teacher expectations have on the child's acquisition of English literacy skills. Data were gathered in home and classroom visits, in formal and semi-structured interviews, and from samples of the child's…

The purpose of the case study is to describe how one large school district in the United States has expanded their expectations for students based on the perceived need for graduates to compete in an increasingly global job market. The study "summarizes" the processes for establishing districtwide systems to support these expectations. The case…

This study reveals the challenges confronting small, rural "frontier" schools in Montana and the practices that contribute to their sustainability. A Montana frontier school is defined as a school district with 200 or fewer students and its attendant community in a county with five or fewer people per square mile. The researcher…

While there are theories about how to close the achievement gap between black students and their white peers, what you need is the real low-down from frontline educators who know what works. Here's a book that gives you that plus a whole-school plan for raising the achievement of these chronically underserved students. Drawing from her work with…

Each year, Austin Independent School District (AISD) measures students' perceptions of their school environment. This district report examines longitudinal trends in school climate from 2007-2008 through 2009-2010.

This study highlights the factors that contribute to excellence in urban science teaching as pinpointed by five urban African-American science teachers who have taught successfully in the urban system for over 10 years. These teachers shared their experiences and reflections on the qualities that contributed to their success and persistence as…

Humans draw on their stereotypic beliefs to make assumptions about others. Even though prior research has shown that individuals respond socially to media, there is little evidence with regards to learners stereotyping and categorizing pedagogical agents. This study investigated whether learners stereotype a pedagogical agent as being…

The goal of this study was to develop a method for examining children's expectations about the short-term consequences of defensive interpersonal behaviour. We employed the theory of interpersonal defence (Dahmen & Westerman, in press; Westerman, 1998, 2005; Westerman & Prieto, 2006), an interpersonal reconceptualization of defence processes, as…

The present study was designed to examine the reflections of college music performance majors (N = 12) who were teaching private music lessons. Students were instructed to keep a journal during one private lesson of their choice per week. Results indicated initial expectations of lessons that were consistently lower than lesson evaluations after…