Background: The social relationships model was developed to describe positive relationships between support staff and people with intellectual disability. We evaluated an educational intervention based on this model. Method: Eighteen staff supporting 5 adult service users with severe or profound intellectual disability from 3 day services received…

Assistive Technology (AT) has become an important tool used by special needs children for improving their quality of life by empowering their abilities, therefore improving their personal independence. The purpose of this Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study was to closely examine the experiences and meaning-making of parents, of…

Many studies of education interventions make claims about impacts on students' outcomes. Some studies have designs that enable readers to make causal inferences about the effects of an intervention but others have designs that do not permit these types of conclusions. To help policymakers, practitioners, and others make sense of study results, the…

This qualitative study sought to examine the Holy Cross Immersion, a service-learning trip for senior boys at Holy Cross School, New Orleans, Louisiana. The specific focus of the study is whether the experience increased the participants' awareness of social justice issues, leading to future civic involvement. Individual interviews were conducted…

A cadre of school inspectors with different backgrounds visit thousands of schools annually in Sweden as is also the case in several other European and other nations. Do these inspectors believe that they 'make a difference'? In this chapter we elaborate on inspection effects as they are perceived by Swedish inspectors and inspection managers at…

This study explored a new mentoring and advocacy-networking paradigm sponsored by the National Science Foundation (14-7680) under the NSF call by the Office for Broadening Participation in Engineering. The Increasing Minority Presence within Academia through Continuous Training (IMPACT) program pairs underrepresented minority (URM) faculty with…

This paper explored the history of education, including how the focus has evolved into the current demand for a qualified workforce, and the practices of retention and social promotion. Grade level retention research examined the positive and negative impacts on students, as well as alternative intervention approaches. An in-depth study of an…

In an effort to lessen the implementation burden of a new formative assessment, a state allowed each of its school districts to develop their own professional development and implementation plans based on their unique capacities. This study qualitatively analyzed data from six school case studies and an electronic survey issued to all state…

During the 2016-2017 academic year, with financial support from Capital One Bank, the Houston Independent School District's (HISD) Strategic Partnerships Department collaborated with community partners, HISD's Academic Services, and School Offices to implement the "Dream On/STEAM On" initiative. Planning for the initiative began during…

This memorandum introduces a set of 10 principles--"from" states and "for" states--to inform the design and management of effective systems to improve or replace low-performing schools. The principles are derived from what is known based on current research, evidence, and experience, and the input of state leaders, key…

Teaching undergraduate science courses through the lens of local community issues has the potential to help students connect more strongly to the sciences and to the communities near the university. In considering the construction of such courses, it is clear that even community issues that have strong science cores--water quality, viral and…

This chapter describes three research-informed SoTL initiatives undertaken at the McMaster Institute for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning and presents preliminary evidence of their impact on teaching, learning, and SoTL.

In this article, the author reflects on some cuts that were presented during her term as the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) President. The author developed a plan to showcase what an excellent school library program looks like so that school libraries and school librarians could escape the cuts. She asked each AASL state…

The Elon Gap Experience (EGE) was conceived out of Elon University's most recent strategic plan, the Elon Commitment (Elon University, 2009). One theme calls for "strategic and innovative pathways in undergraduate and graduate education," specifically "to launch a service program as part of a gap-year program" (Elon University,…

Mentoring occurs in formal and informal ways. While formal mentoring programs are valuable, the majority of people are likely to have opportunities for informal mentoring in their workplace and in their communities. The author makes the point that mentors are all around us, and each of us may have the capacity to mentor or to be mentored, whether…