Educational reform policies such as the No Child Left Behind Act continue to place great demands on teachers. Additionally, educational reform policies such as this imply the need for continuous professional development activities that enhance teacher qualifications, especially for practicing teachers. This study examined the effectiveness of a…

Background: A training package for staff working with clients presenting challenging behaviour was developed to (1) increase their knowledge regarding challenging behaviour, and (2) to improve the quality of physical intervention techniques. The latter aim was intended to reduce staff anxiety about dealing with incidents and limit physical risk of…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a text-to-speech software program known as "Read Please" on the reading rate and reading comprehension accuracy of two high school students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) in reading. A single-subject A-B-A-B "withdrawal" research design (Alberto & Troutman,…

The paper is a response to Holmes and Celani's (2006) invitation to learn from the Brazilian ESP experience. It discusses the conditions which sustained this experience, and compares the Brazilian situation to the Tunisian one. The paper also discusses the challenges that ESP projects in EFL environments face, the opportunities that ESP…

The present study investigated junior college students' conceptions of and approaches to learning via online peer assessment (PA) using a phenomenographic approach. Participants were 163 college students. Students were asked to accomplish a given learning task via an online PA system. Of the participants, 62 were interviewed after the activity.…

Skin-picking is a type of self-injurious behavior involving the pulling, scratching, lancing, digging, or gouging of one's own body. It is associated with social impairment, and increased medical and mental health concerns. While there are several reports showing that skin-picking is common in individuals with developmental disabilities, knowledge…

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) continues to be a problem among youth and there is a great need for programming aimed at reducing NSSI in adolescents. The signs of self-injury program is the first known NSSI school-based prevention program for adolescents that attempts to increase knowledge, improve help-seeking attitudes and behaviors, and…

A recent Google search for information regarding performance pay in education produced 6.1 million results. This number should come as no surprise given the current level of interest in incentives as a popular reform option in public education. Supporters believe pay-for-performance programs encourage less effective teachers to improve and will…

A meta-analysis was conducted to determine relationships between team training and team effectiveness. Results from the 21 studies provided evidence that training is positively related to team effectiveness and effectiveness in five outcome categories: affective, cognitive, subjective task-based skill, objective task-based skill, and teamwork…

Available empirical research investigating the relationship that study time has with college student performance has seen mixed results. Positive, negative, and no relationship between the two variables has been reported (G. A. Krohn & C. M. O'Conner, 2005; A. G. Lahmers & C. Zulauf, 2000; R. M. Schmidt, 1983). At a time when there is overwhelming…

This study evaluated the efficacy of video modeling delivered via a handheld device (video iPod) and the use of the system of least prompts to assist elementary-age students with transitioning between locations and activities within the school. Four students with autism learned to manipulate a handheld device to watch video models. An ABAB…

In "Performance Incentives in Texas: Why Schools Chose Not to Participate"--a paper presented at the National Center on Performance Incentives research to policy conference in February--Jessica Lewis and Matthew Springer of Vanderbilt University examine why some Texas public schools declined to participate in the Texas Educator…

Responsible for calling meetings? Dread the thought of attending another meeting that misses the mark and wastes everyone's time? This article offers tips to improve the effectiveness of meetings by planning their structure. (Contains 2 tables.)

In the author's position as director of institutional effectiveness and currently as a department assessment chair, he relates that he has found it useful to use an analogy between flossing one's teeth and instituting assessment. There are more similarities between flossing and assessment than one might imagine. In this article, the author…

Distance learning (DL) is a popular option in higher education. Information technology (IT) has made education more available for students without regard to location or time. Universities are now offering online degrees at all levels. This study presents an empirical investigation designed to identify some advantages and disadvantages of distance…