Julie Coiro is an assistant professor in the Reading Department at the University of Rhode Island. Her research focuses on adolescents' online reading comprehension development. She has served as co-editor of the "Handbook of Research in New Literacies" (Coiro, Knobel, Lankshear, & Leu, 2008), among many publications. In this interview, Coiro…

In the focus article of this issue, von Davier, Naemi, and Roberts essentially coupled: (1) a short methodological review of structural similarities of latent variable models with discrete and continuous latent variables; and (2) 2 short empirical case studies that show how these models can be applied to real, rather than simulated, large-scale…

Schools, districts, and state-level educational organizations are experiencing a great shift in the way they do the business of education. This shift focuses on accountability, specifically through the expectation of the effective utilization of evaluative-focused efforts to guide and support decisions about educational program implementation. In…

This article details the findings from a qualitative study that explored the ways individuals who work with early childhood education (ECE) practitioners in professional development settings influenced those practitioners' understandings of early childhood policy and early childhood systems. Defined as individuals who work in the professional…

When it comes to changing one's behavior, what makes a person ready to change? In this study, mentors participated in interviews and focus groups about early childhood educators' readiness to change their practices with children. One third of the educators were rated by their mentors as "not ready to change" as measured by the Stage of Change…

Sabbaticals have been identified as an important tool to help faculty remain current in their responsibilities. By having a dedicated break from traditional responsibilities, faculty members have self-reported rejuvenation and recommitment to their professional work. Institutional policies, however, are largely vague and lack measures to help…

This November, CTE professionals from all over the country will assemble in the beautiful state of Georgia for CareerTech VISION 2012. With the total redesign of this event, this opportunity will no doubt prove to be one of the greatest professional development opportunities ever offered by the Association for Career and Technical Education…

As a career and technical high school, Middle Bucks Institute of Technology in Jamison, Pennsylvania, has risen to the challenge of preparing students with 21st-century skills through rigorous academics, technical knowledge, and professional development. Everyone, from the administrative director to the classroom teacher, needs to understand their…

Principal David Wheeler of Southeastern Regional Vocational-Technical High School founded LE[superscript 3]AD Academy--an innovative program that gives students the opportunity to build and run their own town in teams and with guidance from teachers. The program started in the spring of 2011, and it is innovative in many ways. The students' main…

We are on a threshold of a revolution in technology education where human knowledge is increasing at an extremely rapid rate. In the wake of these technological advancements, the required workforce skills and competencies are constantly changing. This combination of human knowledge and technological advancements is placing a demand on educators to…

There can be no doubt that mobile technologies are here to stay. Global mobile traffic grew 74 percent in 2015 alone, with 563 million devices and connections added -- most of them tablets and Smartphones. This growth has been 4000-fold in the past 10 years and 400 million-fold in the past 15 years (Cisco, 2016). Mobile technologies permeate the…

Over the past decade, the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) has been documenting what colleges and universities are doing to gather evidence about student learning and helping institutions to productively use assessment data to strengthen undergraduate education. NILOA also has been monitoring how institutions communicate…

This research study explores the doctoral socialization and transnational experiences of sub-Saharan African doctoral students whose education is sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This study is designed to explore the convergence of the international student experience, doctoral student socialization, and the…

This resource is part of a series of reports about challenges facing statewide science assessments and innovative solutions states are enacting to meet those challenges. Deciding to implement a system of assessments is a critical step toward ensuring that all students are getting the high-quality science education they need--but it is also…

This article reports the results of the investigation into institutional support provided to adults by 12 novice consultants on assessment and recognition of their non-formal and informal learning in four institutions of higher education (HEIs) in Lithuania. Using the general systems perspective and perception theory, novice consultants'…