Across Europe, young adult unemployment remains an important issue. Those who have grown up in contexts of social and educational disadvantage can find it particularly difficult to find work. In response, governments, charitable foundations and in the rare case, researchers, have developed programmes of training and work-based learning to help…

School-based practicum is a critical component of teacher education programmes. Recent studies show that high-performing programmes evidence well-developed school university partnerships. In Ireland, recent policy changes mean pre-service teachers complete practicum placements of up to ten weeks in duration. Programme providers must design these…

Career Technology Education (CTE) program evaluations have been mostly completed for compliance and monitoring purposes. Hence, they have limited use in establishing program effectiveness or for program improvement. Moreover, engaging in program evaluations can be time consuming and costly, especially for programs that have not been evaluated in…

This article makes a distinct contribution to the understanding of establishing multi-agency working. Using Horwath and Morrison's framework, a collaboration is described in detail, bringing multiple agencies to work with children attending a new special school for those with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs, and with their…

While a large body of research considers factors enabling or constraining academic development in colleges and universities, comparatively little scholarship has considered the roles students might play in supporting positive change in staff teaching practices. This article explores one potential avenue by which such change might play out,…

Learning is not limited to a certain age group or a formal study environment. However, the first eight years, and particularly the first three years, are the most important because the effects of the care and attention provided to the child during this period will continue throughout his/her life. A child's early learning processes develop his/her…

Previous research suggests that early experience of and exposure to the world of work is an important predictor of a child's future involvement in a STEM career. Many interventions have focused on those in secondary education age 11 years and above. Far fewer interventions have explored the impact of STEM outreach engagements among younger age…

This paper examines the feasibility of developing a new Master Volunteer training program to help communities adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Traditional models of volunteer training programs, such as the Cooperative Extension Master Volunteer peer-to-peer learning model, are based in part on Diffusion Theory. The existing…

The performance of South Africa's educational system in national and international tests indicates that a large proportion of its public schools are underperforming. Ineffective leadership has been put forward as one reason. This paper analyses a leadership development programme, Partners for Possibility (PfP), which seeks to strengthen leadership…

This project took place at four Montana middle and high schools in three rural settings located across the state. Study participants included students and teachers located in four middle and high schools. Each of the schools had large percentages of struggling readers, American Indian students, English learners, and low-income students. Comparison…

Rural school educators are often isolated and have few opportunities to learn from neighboring schools or colleagues. This is an especially daunting challenge for low-performing rural schools faced with implementing significant reform efforts (e.g., turnaround approaches, educator effectiveness systems, college- and career-ready standards and…

As more K-12 students with disabilities enroll in online courses, virtual schools and programs are working to make courses accessible through stronger course design. When course designers approach the issue of accessibility, they must comply with legal requirements and mitigate the challenges many students with disabilities face for literacy and…

Teachers' professional development (PD) receives a great deal of attention in current educational settings. However, research has shown that many teachers hesitate to attend PD programs. In this study, data were collected from 270 elementary school teachers and were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to…

Postsecondary education programs (PSEs) for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in colleges and universities expand opportunities for these young adults and result in positive outcomes, including employment and improved social networks. Although participating in postsecondary education results in numerous benefits for…

In this summary article, six recommendations for the design, implementation, and interpretation of educational evaluations are presented and discussed. These recommendations are based on common "threads" that run through most, if not all, of the papers included in this special issue. The recommendations concern (1) the need for awareness…