Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, New York, is a leader in the learning community movement. The college, which has run learning communities for many years and has a long history of implementing innovative programs for its students, is one of six colleges participating in the National Center for Postsecondary Research's Learning…

This study explores and evaluates a rural practicum experience for pre-service Master of Arts in Teaching students. Using questionnaires, journal analysis, and interviews we share the experience from pre-service teachers' point of view. We learn about their attitudes about rural schools and rural school students. We asked, "does the…

Often, campus policies and public debate on student success has been too heavily focused on standardization of curriculum and assessment and on an unacceptably flawed graduation rate formula. The report, "Student Success in Higher Education," brings the voice of front-line faculty and staff into student success policymaking to ensure…

This paper presents the results of a rigorous experiment examining the impact of pay for performance on student achievement and instructional practice. This study, conducted by the National Center on Performance Incentives in partnership with the RAND Corporation examines an experimental pay for performance program administered via a randomized…

This study is part of a larger project that will test the effectiveness of the College Ambition Program intervention model beginning with two schools experimental schools and two control schools. The study will evaluate the effectiveness of the overall intervention, as well as each of the four specific programmatic components. Data will be…

The International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) focused on the ways in which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens. Preparing students for citizenship involves developing relevant knowledge and understanding as well as encouraging the formation of positive attitudes toward being a citizen. Descriptions of…

Virtual teams are a burgeoning presence in the corporate environment today. Research shows that virtual teams have begun to surpass conventional teams in meeting the demands of organizations that are increasingly called on to apply and respond to new technologies that support, and in some cases, require a virtual teamwork approach. In order to…

The reduction of recidivism is an ongoing problem in the U.S. correctional system. There is preliminary evidence that supports the use of parenting programs to reduce recidivism, yet further validation is needed. The purpose of this study was two fold. The first phase of this sequential, explanatory, mixed methods research was to determine the…

Left untreated, internalizing problems, such as a depressive or anxious mood, negative self-perceptions, and emotional distress, can undermine one's ability to succeed in school, live a healthy lifestyle, form and maintain close relationships with others, and, in general, accomplish life goals. When internalizing problems are experienced daily for…

The purpose of this research is to examine whether the effect of mathematics instructional strategies depends on first graders' entering mathematics skills. In particular, the authors compare Saxon Math, which is a highly scripted whole class mathematics core curriculum and Saxon Math supplemented with student/peer assisted learning opportunities.…

This study examined a pre-service, professional development training program for online instructors to determine whether the successful completion had an impact on teacher efficacy. The level of teacher efficacy was measured with a survey given both prior and subsequent to the participation of the participants in the pre-service, professional…

This thesis deals with "large-scale" detection problems that arise in many real world applications such as sensor networks, mapping with mobile robots and group testing for biological screening and drug discovery. These are problems where the values of a large number of inputs need to be inferred from noisy observations and where the…

This timely book takes up the challenge of maintaining programs in the arts in the face of unrelenting pressure from two directions; the increasing focus on literacy and numeracy in schools, teamed with the cut-backs in public funding that often affect the arts most severely. Drawing on the wealth of evidence already available on the impact of the…

Over the past three decades policymakers have been seeking new ways to secure improved performance from higher education institutions. One popular approach has been performance funding, which involves use of a formula to tie funding to institutional performance on specified indicators. This report reviews findings from studies on performance…

The objective of this project is to review the literature on adolescent depression with a focus on prevalence, risk factors, symptomology, comorbidity, and the need for increased awareness within the secondary school system. Adolescent depression is one of the most overlooked, undertreated, and debilitating psychological disorders (Cicchetti &…