Reflective practice represents a central theme in teacher education. The focus of this study is to look at pre-service teachers' reflection processes and their breadth and depth in four different contexts. Our research data consist of 53 pre-service teachers' mathematics portfolios, from which three were selected for closer scrutiny. The chosen…

Transition from primary to secondary school in the UK has received considerable attention in educational research over the last few decades, although specific focus on transition in music has only been relatively recently addressed. Research by Mills (1996) and Marshall and Hargreaves (2007, 2008) draws upon both general and music-specific studies…

This case study of faculty and student transition into a newly renovated academic building examines the implications of the built environment upon the professional practice and relationships of faculty and students in higher education. The authors argue that material surroundings communicate in ways that reinscribe the neoliberal order, yet often…

This essay presents perspectives on the range of potential reciprocity in literacy research and service learning, focusing attention on opportunities for individualized and institutional reciprocation, as observed by Takayoshi and Powell (2003). Researchers and students involved in community-based research or service programs have several…

"Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies" (PALS) is a peer-tutoring instructional program that supplements the primary reading curriculum. Pairs of students work together on reading activities intended to improve reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. Students in the pairs--who alternately take on the roles of tutor and tutee--read…

The study examined the effectiveness of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), which provides vouchers for low-income students to attend private schools. The study examined the four-year academic achievement growth of more than 600 students who were given a voucher in the 2006-07 school year, compared to the academic achievement growth of a…

The "Spalding Method"[R] is a language arts program for grades K-6 that uses explicit, integrated instruction and multisensory techniques to teach spelling, writing, and reading. The program and its textbook, The "Writing Road to Reading," provide 32 weeks of lesson plans. Students work on program materials in spelling,…

Participating in cross-disciplinary collaborative activities can pose a range of challenges for those involved therein. Typically disciplinary strongholds are entrenched, and collaboration is dependent on the building of relationships--relationships that can exist in tension as issues of power, identity and the trappings of academic status inhibit…

Can stories about students and classrooms be the basis for meaningful research? In this book, the authors describe and tell illustrative stories about the potential and limits of narrative for the purpose of inquiry in English education. They argue that narrative inquiry is uniquely suited to the questions educators are asking in the field today.…

In this follow-up to "Effective Teacher Induction and Mentoring" (ED522923) Michael Strong tackles the major issues surrounding teacher quality and effectiveness. "The Highly Qualified Teacher" provides an accessible overview of the research related to teacher quality, and introduces a new method for evaluating teachers based on extensive…

This Progressive Policy Institute report argues that charter schools should be expanded rapidly and exponentially. Citing exponential growth organizations, such as Starbucks and Apple, as well as the rapid growth of molds, viruses and cancers, the report advocates for similar growth models for charter schools. However, there is no explanation of…

In this paper, the authors examine some of the ways that different types of non-equivalent comparison groups can be used to strengthen causal inferences based on regression discontinuity design (RDD). First, they consider a design that incorporates pre-test data on assignment scores and outcomes that were collected either before the treatment…

Methodological reviews, reviews that concentrate on research methods rather than research outcomes, have been used in a variety of fields to improve research practice, inform debate, and identify islands of practice. In this article, we report on the results of a methodological review of all of the articles published in "Georgia Educational…

The use of existing data for education research activities can be a valuable resource. Improvement in statistical analysis and data management and retrieval techniques, as well as access to government data bases, has expanded opportunities for researchers seeking to investigate issues that are institutional in nature, such as participation…

This paper examines the representation of rural education research orientations--defined in terms of methodological approach, academic focus and place-consciousness--within the literature and across academic disciplines. A content analysis of 155 abstracts from articles published in the Journal of Research in Rural Education and Rural Sociology…