Student performance and achievement are often seen as the only indicators of school success. This emphasis on accountability and achievement exacerbates the dropout crisis in public high schools as increasing numbers of students fail to graduate on time, many of whom eventually leave school without a diploma. This article demonstrates how a…

Children and their teachers are more likely to achieve success when genuine caring is connected to literacy learning. This connection is important because it increases the chances of success across the curriculum and through the grades. Among the ways of demonstrating a caring attitude is to provide children with opportunities to make choices, to…

Today's classrooms are increasingly diverse, and some of the students may be learning English at the same time they're trying to learn math, science, and history. Many new teachers are left to decide on their own how best to address the variety of backgrounds, languages, and experiences their students bring to the classroom. For new teachers with…

Recent studies of school discipline (Skiba, Michael, Nardo, & Peterson, 2002; see also, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, n.d.) have called for greater scrutiny over treatment of students in varying demographic contexts. Minimal research, however, has grappled with the ethics of disciplinary practices using legal data. Utilizing…

As the United States has struggled to answer the question of what education for the 21st century must look like, most states have now responded by signing onto the Common Core Standards. Drawn from lessons learned from a generation of standards-based education and research on what high-performing countries do to enable young people to prosper, it…

This one-year ethnographic case study focused on students of color from a West Coast High School who faced a variety of academic challenges. Collectively, they shared perspectives on school improvement, and among the recommendations was the importance of mentorship in the classroom to develop students' aspirational, navigational, and informational…

Teachers' decisions about pedagogy are informed by a range of educational discourses. These discourses constitute particular kinds of teaching practices and teacher-student relationships in ways that are not immediately obvious. When a particular pedagogy becomes accepted as best practice and it produces desired learning outcomes for the majority…

In the current elementary school environment of increased academic and administrative demands on schools and teachers, it has become increasingly challenging to maintain the personal teacher-student relationships that form the basis for learning. In this qualitative study, we conducted focus groups with 17 elementary students and 6 elementary…

For over 30 years, Ken Ponds has served as Chaplain to thousands of children of color at Starr Commonwealth. This school was founded in 1913 by Floyd Starr with the legendary motto "There is no such thing as a bad boy." Starr Commmonwealth sees their mission as "discovering greatness" in every young person. In this interview…

In this paper, we explore what events, activities, and teaching styles invoke student interest in engineering courses. The research is based on inputs from some of the best and award winning faculty members across disciplines. The activities that professors use to keep students engaged are highlighted. Similarly, the actions that professors take…

Australian Government policy initiatives to increase young peoples' participation in higher education are pursued in this paper. It argues that pedagogy and curriculum have a direct influence on student engagement. The interrelationships between pedagogical practices, curriculum based on a well-being framework, and the shaping of subjectivities…

Differences in students' academic self-efficacy and motivation were examined in predicting preferred teacher traits. Undergraduates (261) completed the Teaching Behavior Checklist, Academic Self-Concept scale, and Academic Motivation scale. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that academic self-efficacy and extrinsic motivation explained…

Voluntary lateness and voluntary absence may be considered dysfunctional behaviours in schools. However, only few studies focus on the relationship between them and ethics. This study will explore the relationships between these behaviours and organizational ethics. Participants were 1,016 teachers. GLIMMIX procedure was used for a simultaneous…

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the impact of an equine-facilitated authentic leadership development program on at-risk youth. Participants were asked to participate in two focus groups and a 3-day equine-facilitated authentic leadership development program based on Bill George's Model of Authentic Leadership. Participants were…

Purpose: Relatively little is known about how principals make decisions about teacher hiring. This article uses mixed methods to examine what characteristics principals look for in teachers. Research Methods: Data were gathered using a mixed method approach, including in-depth interviews with a representative sample of 31 principals as well as an…