This study is based on a pragmatist analysis of selected international accounts on quality assurance in higher education. A pragmatist perspective was used to conceptualise a logical internal quality assurance model to embed and support the alignment of graduate competencies in curriculum and assessment of Ghanaian polytechnics. Through focus…

While the editors of "Across the Disciplines" were working at the Michigan State University (MSU) Writing Center in 2011, they began focusing on the issues of graduate writing support through their involvement with the graduate writing groups hosted through the MSU Writing Center, conducting research on the benefits of such groups. When…

Increasingly, professional training programs are dealing with the need for competency-based assessments of student learning outcomes. This is particularly challenging in fields such as school psychology, with competencies identified by multiple accrediting bodies and state requirements. The primary goal of this study was to examine the degree to…

This article provides an overview of my experiences in special education as a teacher and subsequently as an intervention researcher providing background on where we were in providing instruction to individuals with disabilities 40 years ago (prior to legal protections and supports) compared with the present. This article acknowledges the progress…

The key practices that improve struggling schools, writes Chenoweth--a researcher who's studied successful high-poverty schools and their leaders--aren't a mystery. From both decades of research and the craft knowledge of educators who've jumped in and turned around schools, we know these practices generally yield improvement: (1) a…

More than twenty years ago reading researchers sought to capture the behaviors good readers demonstrated to make meaning from their reading. By shifting the focus away from what was wrong, researchers were able to study and discuss what worked. A comprehensive list of reading strategies emerged from this research. This was an important discovery.…

Borrowing the term "translational research" (TR) from medicine, along with some of the ideas and practices that define it, holds promise as a way of linking research more closely to the practice of youth development. However, doing so entails substantial adaptation. TR is more than a new name for applied research. It comprehends the…

In this regular feature of "Educational Technology," Michael F. Shaughnessy and Mark Viner present their interview with Curt Bonk, Professor of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University and President of CourseShare; and Elaine Khoo, Research Fellow at the Wilf Malcolm Institute of Education, University of Waikato, Hamilton,…

The majority of students with disabilities require support in the area of reading. Given the importance of reading instruction, it is essential that special education teacher preparation programs prepare candidates who are knowledgeable about reading development and skilled in the delivery of reading instruction. The purpose of this article is…

Systematically observing instruction for students with learning disabilities (LD) provides information regarding the quality of school-based interventions, allocation of instructional time, and other implementation variables associated with student outcomes. In this synthesis, observation studies of reading and mathematics instruction from 2000 to…

This article provides the final report on a research project that investigated the ways in which curriculum innovation can be led successfully in primary schools. Data gathering included 40 semi-structured interviews in 10 successful primary schools in England of varying sizes and types and in a range of geographical and social locations. Findings…

This article presents a qualitative evaluation methodology of academic departments for library organizational learning and library enhancement planning. This evaluation used campus units' academic program review reports as a data source and employed collaborative content analysis by library liaisons to extract departmental strengths, weaknesses,…

The current study aims at exploring the common means that may improve organizational effectiveness by focusing on two main facets of organizational qualities: teacher commitment and job satisfaction. Data were collected from 841 randomly sampled teachers employed in 118 elementary schools in Israel. A quantitative questionnaire, which included…

Studies have shown that there are not enough qualified foreign language and English as a second language teachers in this country. To increase the number of new second language teachers who remain in the profession, and to promote their use of best teaching practices, the ACTFL has identified mentoring as a national research priority. The…

This study was a phenomenological study examining the experiences of faculty in an online learning environment in order to identify the factors that could produce job burnout and stress in master's programs in education. The challenges and related stress-producing factors were also explored to identify best practices for online faculty and…