Over the last decade in Australia, the role of the teacher has changed. Teachers are now expected to model and foster in their students a wide range of skills such as critical thinking, self-regulated learning, knowledge of self and others and lifelong learning. These changes are having a significant impact on the design of pre-service teacher…

Study aim: To determine the effects of indoor cycling training combined with restricted diet, lasting 12 weeks, on serum lipid concentrations in obese women. Material and methods: Twenty women aged 23.8 [plus or minus] 3.6 years were randomly assigned into two groups: control (C) and experimental (E), the latter subjected to indoor cycling at…

This article reviews and analyzes selected past and current research approaches in the study of music teacher effectiveness. Early "teacher characteristic studies" are discussed along with the role of these first-generation studies in attempting to identify personal qualities and characteristics of apparently effective or ineffective teachers.…

A survey of assessment and instructional approaches to literacy education in middle schools was distributed to coordinators of reading programs in schools state-wide in Illinois to determine the alignment between existing schools' literacy program organization and new directions mandated by researchers for instruction for young adolescents. This…

For most facilities leaders, sustainability is nothing new. The authors have observed repeatedly over several decades that administrative and facilities staff have often taken the lead in initiating many of the most effective and visible efforts on campuses to dramatically curb energy use and waste and to contain costs, even during times of rapid…

Background: Health educators have discussed the importance of the eight component Coordinated School Health Program (CSHP) approach to facilitate the success of school health education. Conducting a School Health Index (SHI) assessment of the CSHP is an important early step for improving the health, environment and academic success of youth.…

The Chinese Career Key (CCK) Online was studied for its effectiveness and user satisfaction. Study participants were 92 students at a public high school in Hong Kong. The research findings provide preliminary evidence of reliability, validity, and user satisfaction for the CCK Online. Limitations and implications for future studies and counseling…

A new study by a public and labor economist suggests that "value added" methods for determining the effectiveness of classroom teachers are built on some shaky assumptions and may be misleading. The study, due to be published in February in the "Quarterly Journal of Economics," is the first of a handful of papers now in the…

Background: Adults with intellectual disability (ID) have several risk factors for osteoporosis. Feeding problems with consequent nutritive deficiencies, and lack of sunshine exposure may lead to vitamin D deficiency. The purpose of this study was to evaluate vitamin D status in adults with ID living in nursing homes and to compare two different…

There is a paucity of treatment literature for significant and intractable behavior problems in adults with autism and mental retardation. Four adults with autism, severe to profound mental retardation, and serious, long-term behavior problems participated in an accommodation training program as an adjunct to more traditional behavioral and…

Operating a quality assurance system in tertiary education is the rule rather than the exception, because of the belief that it will improve quality. However, proving this is not easy. This study examines three ways of providing the evidence: the a "priori" method, the stepwise backtracking method, and the external evaluation method. The…

Positive peer reporting (PPR) is a peer-mediated intervention that involves teaching and rewarding peers for providing descriptive praise during structured daily sessions. PPR has been used in residential facilities to improve social acceptance, increase prosocial behaviors, and decrease negative interactions of youth identified as peer rejected.…

A nutrition education module for a family and consumer sciences curriculum was developed and evaluated with junior high school students (n = 63) using a quasi-experimental design. The multivariate interaction between time of measurement and intervention was significant, F (2, 50) = 8.68, p = 0.001.The univariate interaction between pre and post…

This study hypothesized that student performance in a First Year Introduction program (FYI), representing an initial sampling of students' academic behaviors, would correlate with subsequent academic success. Subjects were 1,501 first-time, first-year students attending Columbia Basin College in fall quarter 2007, whose FYI performance was graded…

The case for Lifelong Learning Networks (LLNs) was made by Sir Howard Newby, then Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), in the Colin Bell Memorial Lecture in March 2004. Their purpose was to widen participation by combining the strengths of diverse higher education institutions (HEIs) and further education…