Florida lawmakers began a comprehensive education reform effort in 1999 combining accountability, transparency, and parental choice with other far-reaching changes. In March 2010, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released new results showing just how successful Florida's reforms have been and how futile Oklahoma's efforts…

Parent involvement has been the focus of many educational research studies since the release of "Equality of educational opportunity" (1966), which concluded that parents and home environment determine students' academic success. Since that time, educators have worked toward identifying effective strategies to increase home-school collaboration in…

Schools remain one of the safest environments for children. However, in far too many schools, a lack of respect for the authority of teachers and other school employees, as well as for the rights of other students, is undermining the ability of schools to provide students with a quality education. Even in the best schools, employees often…

A rich literature--both within education circles and in other kinds of labor markets--links teachers' sense of efficacy and collective responsibility to their teaching effectiveness and improved student achievement. Prior research has found that a teacher's self-efficacy as an instructional leader is strongly and positively associated with…

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Who Me? Yes, You Can Use Technology to Individualize…

This report describes 2009-2010 Austin Independent School District parent involvement activities which are coordinated by the district's Parent Support Office, conducted by campus-based parent support specialists, and supported through the activities of special parent support staff.

Few people realize the movement's breadth and the forms in which school choice expansion is manifest. Out of slightly more than 57 million K-12 schoolchildren, almost 29.4 million--nearly 52%--are enrolled in a K-12 school choice option. This article provides an overview of the scope of school choice today and summarizes the political, policy, and…

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) states that transition planning should begin at the earliest age appropriate and no later than age 16. IDEA requires schools to make collaborative efforts to provide students access to an array of postschool activities including integrated employment, postsecondary…

This study attempts to examine six-year high school effectiveness as perceived subjectively by different stakeholders in three different schools. It examines the attitudes of principals, teachers, students and parents towards specific characteristics of the effective six-year high school: (1) collaboration between students and teachers; (2)…

What do experienced teachers have to say about integrating modern educational games into their classroom? This paper addresses this question by exploring the discourse of teachers who were provided professional development, technical support, access to a modern educational game, and flexibility in deciding how to integrate the game in their…

We examined ethnicity and cultural orientation as predictors of parents' views of and involvement in children's education, using data gathered from the Latino (n = 74) and non-Latino (17 White and 13 ethnic minority) parents of children in an elementary school's dual-language program. Parents completed a questionnaire that assessed Latino and…

This qualitative study grounded in critical inquiry and cultural-ecological theory explores barriers to academic achievement for Latino English language learners (ELLs). Parents and teachers were purposefully selected from a rural school district in the Rocky Mountain region to participate in focus group interviews. Findings included barriers…

This article reviews qualitative and quantitative studies related to the academic achievement of youth from immigrant Chinese families. Overall, the literature suggests that Chinese Canadian students demonstrate high levels of achievement and that this academic success is associated with factors such as stronger feelings of ethnic identity, better…

A preschool movement through dance program is a way to open the door to numerous cultural benefits and opportunities, and preschool skill facilitation. Creating new contexts for learning enrich young children and offer them different opportunities to understand and negotiate the world. Inclusive curricular integration and parent and community…

The author describes the changes which classroom assistants have seen over the past 40 years in terms of their job title and role. He argues that the Plowden Report's recommendations for greater responsibilities, better training opportunities and an increase in the number of teaching assistants in schools are at last being implemented.