This paper reports on the impact of a classroom-embedded professional learning (PL) program for mathematics teaching in two contrasting districts in Canada, and investigates the relationship between teacher efficacy and student achievement. Before the PL, District A had lower teacher efficacy and student achievement than District B, but after the…

The Farm Financial Analysis Training (FFAT) course covers fundamental skills and concepts in liquidity, profitability, solvency, and efficiency. The research reported here identifies and measures the impacts of FFAT on participants including: 1) perceived gains in knowledge, 2) changes in management behavior, 3) changes in specific farm assets and…

Improving Performance in Practice (IPIP) is a large system intervention designed to align efforts and motivate the creation of a tiered system of improvement at the national, state, practice, and patient levels, assisting primary-care physicians and their practice teams to assess and measurably improve the quality of care for chronic illness and…

Conflict in school settings continues to be an area of concern for school administrators, teachers, and parents. Conflict between and among students in their school environment is followed by aggressive behavior that contributes to violent actions. The aggressive behavior may range from verbal attacks to physical attacks that may end up with the…

A program at North East High School (NEHS) was started to help improve state test scores. Senior students work with underclassmen in one of the four state test areas: Algebra, English 10, Biology, and Government to help improve scores with hopes of passing the test. State test scores help to determine whether or not a school will meet their Annual…

This project tracked the mid-term evaluation processes, practices, and products of a multinational program to reduce at-risk behaviors for HIV/AIDS among children in Kenya, Tanzania, and Haiti. It focused on participant and community perceptions; program effectiveness in promoting abstinence and monogamy decisions; and factors supporting ongoing…

Background: There is a relatively small body of research on the motor performance of children with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) and borderline intellectual functioning (BIF). Adequate levels of motor skills may contribute to lifelong enjoyment of physical activity, participation in sports and healthy lifestyles. The present study compares…

A critical theory lens is used to explore the role of evaluation in youth development, a field aimed at recognizing youth as assets. A theory of change in the field is questioned for its emphasis on individual youth outcomes as programmatic outcome measures. A review of 209 evaluations of 131 programs in the Harvard Family Research Project's…

This study examines the impact of a nationally disseminated professional development program, Developing Mathematical Ideas (DMI), on teachers' specialized knowledge for teaching mathematics and illustrates how such research could be conducted. Participants completing 2 DMI modules were compared with similar colleagues who had not taken DMI.…

Introduction: This study tested the effects of a training program intending to foster social understanding or the capacity which enables them to understand themselves and others in terms of intentions, beliefs, desires, and emotions in children at preschool age. A number of studies have shown that in the context of shared narratives, children are…

Since charter school research on student achievement is mixed, many researchers and policy makers advocate looking inside the "black box" of schools to better understand the conditions under which schools of choice may be effective. We begin to address this issue with data from charter schools and a comparison group of traditional public schools.…

A primary goal of school districts' investments in professional development for principals is to enhance their effectiveness. This study examines the connection between administrator professional development and performance in a national sample of schools. We show that not all types of administrator professional development participation correlate…

This study examines the relationship between TABE-R performance and performance on selected, more focused reading component tests after 42 hours of adult education classroom instruction. Specifically, measures of expressive vocabulary, reading fluency, sight word reading, and decoding were administered to 98 participants along with the TABE-R.…

Research indicates that partner placements--pairing two preservice teachers with a mentor teacher--provide a supportive and collaborative context for learning to teach. This qualitative study examines three partner placements in a 100-hour urban field practicum to understand how preservice teachers experience and perceive partner placements, and…

Library student assistants account for approximately one-fourth of the staffing in academic libraries in the United States. Each student assistant plays an important role in the daily operations of today's college libraries by providing desk coverage, technical support, and customer service. This article discusses the advantages/disadvantages of…