This article explores how an online course was received by a group of teachers who teach students with severe/profound intellectual developmental disabilities. The intent of the course was to engage teachers in conversations, activities and reflections that support the development of curriculum and instruction in a least restrictive environment.…

Over the past few decades, deterioration in student achievement has provoked a pervasive public sentiment that American institutions are failing to meet the needs and expectations of society. The growing public demand for transparency and accountability has fueled the integration of state-mandated learning outcomes assessment into the standards…

This study investigates the counter-intuitive observation that older students tend to thrive better than younger students in online classes. We use a variety of measures to compare performance and attitudes of undergraduates and continuing adult professionals in separate but nearly identical class sections led by the same instructor at a US…

The last few years have seen the implementation of fundamental structural and curricular policy initiatives affecting the teaching of languages in schools in England. Several policy initiatives have been introduced by the government affecting the position and status of languages in schools, such as the development of foreign language teaching in…

A new Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) approach was designed for youth who participated in the Minnesota State Fair Livestock interview process. The project and evaluation were designed to determine if the new SET approach increased content knowledge and science process skills in participants. Results revealed that youth participants not…

A pressing problem facing regulatory agencies, academia, and the food industry is a shortage of qualified food science graduates, particularly those with advanced degrees (that is, M.S. or Ph.D.). In 2000, the Cornell Institute of Food Science established the annual Food Science Summer Scholars Program as an experiential summer research program…

A study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the Handwashing University on teaching youth the benefits of proper handwashing. The Handwashing University is an interactive display with several successive stations through which participants move to learn necessary skills for proper handwashing. Upon completion of the Handwashing University,…

Youth in underserved, urban communities are at risk for a range of negative outcomes related to stress, including social-emotional difficulties, behavior problems, and poor academic performance. Mindfulness-based approaches may improve adjustment among chronically stressed and disadvantaged youth by enhancing self-regulatory capacities. This paper…

The requirement in the USA of the No Child Left Behind Act (2002) that every classroom has a highly qualified teacher, coupled with the current high-stakes testing environment, creates the need for all principals to be knowledgeable about quality staff development systems. One aspect of effective staff development is whether teachers adopt the…

Developmental psychologists have long been concerned with the ways that early adversity influences children's long-term outcomes. In the current study, activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis of medically at-risk (e.g., preterm) infants was measured as a result of maternal participation in a novel cognitively based home visitation…

The purpose of this study was to begin to examine the relationships between social emotional factors related to resilience as measured by the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA) and the degree of impairment as reflected in problem behaviors reported by parents according to the Home Situations Questionnaire (HSQ). A second goal was to…

This study investigated interactions between pedagogical documentation--a formative assessment technique and instructional intervention designed to increase student learning by recording children's experiences--and kindergarten children, families and teachers in the UAE. The study sample comprised six teachers in six kindergarten classrooms, 141…

The expectation for schools to continually improve outcomes for students underscores the importance of tapping teacher leaders' contributions in school improvement and renewal efforts. As National Board (NB) certification has become a common feature of state and district policies to improve teaching and learning, it is worthwhile to explore how…

Before revising the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation under the new administration, policy makers need to be informed as to whether or not the NCLB labeling formula adequately distinguishes good-quality schools from poor-quality schools. This study tests this question, using rich descriptive data for Milwaukee's urban school district (MPS).…

This study examined the effectiveness of the First Step to Success (FSS) early intervention program for preventing antisocial behavior in Turkey. Participants included 24 students, their teachers and parents from four K-8 elementary schools. The experimental group included 12 targeted students (four kindergarten, four first-grade and four…