This paper describes Japan's most recent attempts to improve English teaching and learning at all levels of the education system both for students and teachers as well as for the public in general. Based on policy recommendations by several advisory committees, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has…

This article reports the findings of a collective case study of 2 low-performing, predominantly minority urban schools. The research shows that principals were able to improve the quality of parent-teacher relationships using multidimensional strategies that addressed the needs of teachers and parents. The findings suggest that strategies to…

Lesotho and Turkey are two developing countries, both relatively deficient in educational resources--one in Southern Africa, and the other straddling the continents of Europe and Asia in the Middle East. This study reports and compares the priorities and responses of (a) 172 Turkish science teachers, lecturers and students, and (b) 171 Lesotho…

This article profiles Gail Awakuni, principal of James Campbell High School in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, who was named the 2005 MetLife/NASSP National High School Principal of the Year. From the beginning, Awakuni had a dream for the students of James Campbell High School. She knew that they had untapped potential, despite the fact that the school had…

This study explores the importance of competence in boys' literate lives. Participants were 49 middle and high school boys from very different backgrounds, ethnicities, social classes, and levels of academic achievement. They came from an elite, private all boys' school; a large suburban high school; a large urban school; and a small rural school.…

The area of teachers' continuing professional development (CPD) is of growing interest internationally. However, while an increasing range of literature focuses on particular aspects of CPD, there is a paucity of literature addressing the spectrum of CPD models in a comparative manner. This article therefore considers a wide range of international…

Up to this point, university education has largely remained unaffected by the developments of novel approaches to web-based learning. The paper presents a principled approach to the design of problem-oriented, web-based learning at the university level. The principles include providing authentic contexts with multimedia, supporting collaborative…

Struggling adolescent readers need interventions that provide them with opportunities to read more and to read better. The authors examine two case studies of interventions at work and propose criteria on which to evaluate intervention programs. Their review of the evidence on these programs for struggling adolescent readers suggests that at least…

One Texas elementary school's teachers uncovered a straightforward method to raise achievement for every child who wasn't succeeding.

This study contributes to the field by identifying a broad range of traditional and newer middle grade policies and practices, and determining in California which of these differentiate higher- from lower-performing schools serving similar student populations, with performance measured by the state's standards-based tests. Based on a sample of 303…

In the 2008-09 school year researchers from EdSource and Stanford University conducted a large-scale study of 303 middle grades schools in California. The team surveyed 303 principals, 3,752 English Language Arts (ELA) and math teachers in grades 6-8, and 157 superintendents of the districts and charter management organizations that oversee the…

In 2000 and 2001, the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education conducted a series of projects on career and technical education (CTE) practices, trends and outcomes. Selected preliminary findings from a review of the reports on those projects are as follows: (1) integration of CTE and academic instruction in high schools remains…

The factors responsible for the atypical success experienced by some English further education (FE) colleges were examined through case studies of eight FE colleges that have managed to extend their high-quality vocational education and training (VET) provision in recent years. The 8 colleges were selected from only 56 identified as having…

This bulletin tells how the boys and girls and staff of the elementary school at Culloden, West Virginia, recently took a critical look at their school program and decided that they ought to do something toward having more useful, interesting, and meaningful learning experiences. Accordingly, they began to develop a curriculum which was different…

This report summarizes a research analysis examining instructional practices for positive impact on achievement of low-income, English learner students as measured by the English Learner Academic Performance Index (EL-API) and other achievement tests. The report provides additional interpretive information. Based on research that surveyed teachers…