For someone who has never been convicted of a crime, the author spends an unusual amount of time in state prisons and youth correctional facilities. She does not work for these criminal justice agencies; instead, she studies prison culture, and--in small ways-- has become a part of it. The author is a university professor trained in sociology and…

Out-of-school programs for students with high abilities are especially relevant when their needs are not covered in formal education. The evaluation of these programs is essential and it can be carried out from different evaluative approaches. The evaluation of the behavior of the people who implement the programs is an important aspect in the…

The purpose of the research is to know the context, input, process and product evaluation on the Social Internship Program (Kukerta) of IAIN Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi Students by using Participatory Action Research (PAR) system. The research is conducted in four locations of IAIN Sultan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi students' Kukerta in first period…

Traditionally, evaluation has primarily tried to answer the question "Does a program, service, or policy work?" Recently, more attention is given to questions about variation in program effects and the mechanisms through which program effects occur. Addressing these kinds of questions requires moving beyond assessing average program…

Water resource professionals and others involved in managing water resources face increasingly complex challenges. Effective leadership development programs are needed to produce water leaders who can address these challenges. Leadership programs must be designed not simply to increase participants' environmental and leadership knowledge but to…

While regression discontinuity has usually been applied retrospectively to secondary data, it is even more attractive when applied prospectively. In a prospective design, data collection can be focused on cases near the discontinuity, thereby improving internal validity and substantially increasing precision. Furthermore, such prospective…

Although assessment has been an integral part of the development and expansion of learning communities, much of the assessment was focused on investigating student satisfaction, retention, and graduation. This chapter provides a case study illustrating one learning community's efforts to create assessments focused on student learning.

This chapter explores the practices of learning communities designed for specific, underserved student populations, highlighting on-campus examples and culminating with a synthesized list of core practices from these "inclusive" learning communities.

This article focuses on contemporary federal education policy as it manifests in rural schools. Rural schools differ appreciably from nonrural schools in terms of organizational systems, structures, and culture. Federal policies that drive school improvement initiatives (e.g., those regulating the functioning of schools and those managing the…

Research Findings: In the past 20 years, obesity rates among U.S. children have skyrocketed. In fact, 15.4% of 2- to 4-year-olds in North Carolina, where this study takes place, are obese, making it the 5th worst obesity rate in the nation. Research indicates that young children in preschool settings largely engage in sedentary activities,…

This practitioner's guide discusses what digital storytelling (DST) is and reasons for using it in family literacy (FL) programs. Examples of FL programs using DST effectively are provided, along with concrete steps for implementation. The guide concludes with important considerations for educators and a list of resources.

As the use of mathematics apps in classrooms becomes more prevalent, robust research into their effectiveness is required to inform best practice regarding their use. This is particularly the case for Geometry apps where accurate and dynamic representations are critical in enhancing mathematical learning. This paper provides findings from an…

This year's "Tennessee Higher Education Fact Book" consists of four sections and an appendix of additional resources and terminology. The four main sections of the report provide data on Student Participation, Student Success, Academic and Fiscal Trends, and Outcomes-Based Funding. Relative to the previous Fact Book, Quality Assurance…

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of important theories and frameworks that ground research and assessment of co-curricular learning.

Even the most basic of school trips will require booking places, arranging transport, writing to parents, collecting payments, planning activities, producing worksheets and, of course, endless risk assessments. It always leaves teachers wondering: "is it really worth all this effort?" Robert Johnston believes that every teacher should…