More than 30 years since Hannah Arendt's death in 1975 at the age of 69, her novel theory of the public realm continues to attract attention and debate. In this article, the author contributes to this discussion by drawing on Arendt's theory of public life to investigate the space of youth media production in relation to questions of democratic…

Common forms of testing of student understanding of science content can be misleading about their understanding of the nature of scientific thinking. Observational astronomy integrated with related ideas of force and motion is a rich context to explore the correlation between student content knowledge and student understanding of the scientific…

Despite the promise of technology in education, many practicing teachers are faced with multiple challenges of effectively integrating technology into their classroom instruction. Additionally, teachers who are successful incorporating educational technology into their instruction recognize that although technology tools have the potential to help…

Nationally, women are greatly under-represented in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) postsecondary majors. Intersect race, social class, and gender, and low-income girls of color enter technology fields at a lower rate than White middle-income females. The authors created an after-school and summer program, CompuGirls,…

This paper summarizes the findings from a K-6 professional development program that emphasized scientific inquiry and nature of science within the theme of scientific modeling. During the 2-week summer workshop and follow up school year workshops, the instruction modeled a 5-E learning cycle approach. Pre and posttesting measured teachers' views…

Much of the research on the social coping of students with gifts and talents has relied on a single administration of an instrument while the participants were attending a summer program. This study attempts to understand how attendance at a residential high school (academy) may affect academically gifted students over time. Students in two…

This article focuses on a bookmaking project that was conducted with pre-adolescent Serbian and Bosnian girls at a summer camp outside Sarajevo, Bosnia in 2005. During this camp, children from Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia were brought together by the Global Children's Organisation to engage in a variety of activities, including conflict resolution,…

When RCA recording artist Clay Aiken created an independent study project to fulfill requirements for a degree in Special Education, he had no idea that his theoretical design would soon become reality. Aiken's concept on paper outlined an organization that would promote inclusion for children with disabilities. The seed of the idea was planted…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "Diplomas Count": Report Finds that 1.23 Million Students Will Fail to Graduate in 2008; (2) "The High…

This article features Friends' Discovery Camp, a program that allows children with and without autism spectrum disorder to learn and play together. In Friends' Discovery Camp, campers take part in sensory-rich experiences, ranging from hands-on activities and performing arts to science experiments and stories teaching social skills. Now in its 7th…

In this article, the author describes the Mississippi University for Women's studio art course that teaches students the ins and outs of mural making from inception and design to application of the final glaze. While students in other courses may spend the semester working toward a final exam or paper, this four-and-a-half-week summer course…

Summer reading setback is a phenomenon that occurs over the summer break when students lose the skills they gained over the school year. While school-year gains are similar for disadvantaged and more-advantaged students, the achievement gap widens over the summer months. Lack of print access and less time spent reading result in greater summer…

This article will examine a little known but long-standing group, the Lisle Fellowship, that endeavored to open the world to college students and foster international understanding--or "world-mindedness," as the organization's founders called it--ultimately with the goal to contribute to the ideal of world peace. It will also, in…

The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of the Iowa Chautauqua Professional Development Program in terms of changes in concept mastery, use of process skills, application of science concept and skills, student attitudes toward science, student creativity, and student perceptions regarding their science classrooms. Participants…

This study seeks to understand the effectiveness of a five-day residential leadership camp on the body image, assertiveness skills, attitudes towards gender equality, conflict resolution skills of early adolescent girl participants. To investigate the significance of the intervention, camp participants were asked to complete several instruments…