This meta-analysis examines current North American research on the work of school principals in the special education milieu. More specifically, it considers how elementary and secondary principals envision and act in ways that foster inclusion within a school community. Three core special education-oriented domains arose in the 19 studies…

There are increasing numbers of children with special health care needs (CSHCN) who require various levels of care each school day. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of public schools in supporting CSHCN through in-depth key informant interviews. For this qualitative study, the authors interviewed 17 key informants to identify key…

Healthy lifestyles education (HLE) is defined as nutrition and physical activity education aimed at controlling or preventing serious health issues. The purpose of the study reported here was to determine knowledge and behaviors of Extension Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) and 4-H agents concerning HLE. Eighty-five and 86% of FACS and 4-H…

Despite our best efforts, black children still lag behind white children in academic performance on standardized academic measures. Unconscious racism and our lack of ability to confront it present the most salient reason for the indefatigable prevalence of inequitable opportunities for children of color which undeniably result in achievement…

Purpose: Within the framework of Health Promoting Schools "Up" is an intervention using a whole school approach aimed at promoting mental health by strengthening social and emotional competence among schoolchildren. Social and emotional competence is an integral part of many school-based mental health interventions but only a minority of…

This article reviews the results of a school-based self-management intervention for Chinese obese children at risk for metabolic syndrome. Twenty-eight Chinese obese children (M age?=?10 years) and their parents participated in the study. Metabolic syndrome risk factors were measured pre- and post-intervention. The risk factors included Body Mass…

In this conceptual article, we integrate existing literature on early school transitions, ecological systems theory, and student-teacher relationships to propose a framework for investigating the transition to school for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A review of the literature suggests that the quality of early student-teacher…

This study explored the impact that parental levels of education and parental support have on college adjustment for first-year students. An ex post facto design was used to examine parental level of education and parental support as variables. Parental level of education is a categorical variable based on report from the student. Parental support…

All parents can and should participate meaningfully in their children's education, including those whose children receive special education services. The value of parent participation has been recognized under law since 1975, most recently as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (Coots, 2007). Many scholars and professionals…

This article explores parent involvement in decision making in the United States and in postapartheid South Africa and highlights similarities and differences in how parents in these two countries participate in public school governance and decision making. Parents' role in public school governance in South Africa is significant and entrenched in…

The purpose of this study was to examine dissertations that were published in the U.S. during the past 5 years that related to collegiate housing. The dissertations were examined using a bounded qualitative meta-analysis approach. Each dissertation was examined using three questions: What were the methods/attributes of the research? What were the…

Nurture groups have been identified as supportive and potentially effective provision for young people with troubled patterns of social, emotional and behavioural development, and a specific literature has emerged in relation to understanding their functioning. The work outlined here derives from an exploratory study by Valerie Taylor, a senior…

The acquisition of social skills is critical in the successful academic inclusion and competitive employment of individuals with disabilities. Parent involvement in identification of social skills targets for intervention is a valuable first step in the intervention process. A total of 21 parents completed the Pragmatics Profile from the "Clinical…

Values education (alternatively, moral education, character education) is the attempt, within schools, to craft pedagogies and supportive structures to foster the development of positive, ethical, pro-social inclinations and competencies in youth, including around strengthening their academic focus and achievement. Recent research has uncovered…

Improving all aspects of the quality of education is dependent on preparing teachers to become critical citizens. The social reconstructionist approach to teacher education is essential to transforming an education system defined by inequity, issues of quality, and issues of access. How do pre-service teachers perceive the mission of quality…