This study examines the reasons that influence six secondary English teachers' decisions to remain in the teaching profession. A concern of parents, administrators, and policymakers is that secondary English teachers, often early in their careers, leave the profession at alarming rates, especially in California. This problem exacts a high monetary…

This article describes a pilot study that suggests writing-faculty workload may affect the pedagogical focus and rhetorical effectiveness of written response to students' essays. To study the relationship between writing-faculty workload and comments that faculty write on students' essays, the author sent an eleven-question survey to 30 English…

Students with learning and behavioral disorders often lack the requisite academic skills and behavioral self-control to remain engaged during passive seatwork activities. Because independent seatwork composes a large portion of the instructional time in general education classrooms and teachers expect students to demonstrate self-control in these…

Noting that access to higher education has expanded dramatically in the past several decades, Sara Goldrick-Rab and Kia Sorensen focus on how unmarried parents fare once they enter college. Contrary to the expectation that access to college consistently promotes family stability and economic security, the authors argue that deficiencies in current…

It is recommended that schools incorporate literacy in all aspects of the curriculum. In this way, students begin to understand that reading and writing are not just for English class--they are skills that are important for many parts of daily life. This does not mean that teachers need to take time away from their other subjects to achieve this…

This issue of "Infobrief" concludes the exploration into the potential for high school reform in the United States. Earlier issues defined five components of an Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) proposal to effect reform: (1) multiple measures of assessment; (2) personalized learning strategies; (3) new models of…

Administrators at Findlay City Schools had been researching methods to improve student achievement. District administrators decided to work to form professional learning communities to focus on improved student learning. Findlay High School had recently added a freshman wing to help students transition to high school and allow teachers to focus on…

This study investigates the relationships between students' confidence in their generic skills on entry to university, their learning styles and their academic performance in first year. Research based on a large cohort of Scottish undergraduates found that students generally entered university feeling very confident that they already possessed…

This paper explores the academic success of NCAA Division I collegiate student athletes that enroll in engineering majors. At the University of South Carolina, which is a member of the NCAA Division I Southeastern Conference, nineteen engineering students were on an active athletic roster during the spring semester of 2005. The mean cumulative…

Virtual teams are an important work structure in global software development. The distributed team structure enables access to a diverse set of expertise which is often not available in one location, to a cheaper labor force, and to a potentially accelerated development process that uses a twenty-four hour work structure. Many software teams…

In this paper, a companion piece to "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools" (ED544382), the authors analyze small high school spending in three urban districts--Baltimore City, Boston, and Chicago--to understand whether it is higher than in larger schools; if it is, why it is different; and the policy…

Given the many changes in our students and their study and research practices, libraries are finding it necessary to seek new ways to reach these students. The Undergraduate Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign created a new model to do so. Librarian's Office Hours are a hybrid of reference and instructional services that…

In this article, Fr. Carl Markelz and Harold Maldonado, two veteran inner-city principals, share how they have learned to use their time more efficiently. Fr. Markelz is the principal of Mount Carmel High School, a 900-student, all-male, parochial school in an area of Chicago, Illinois, that is experiencing regentrification. Maldonado is the…

This report summarizes the results of a survey on attitudes toward inclusion, which was conducted in a middle school in a large school district in the Southeast. The survey was given prior to the beginning of the school year, and immediately prior to the implementation of full inclusion. Respondents were general and special educators,…

Fathers' beliefs were examined as mediators between multiple risk factors and involvement practices with children age zero to five enrolled in Head Start or Early Head Start. A diverse sample of 101 fathers, living in rural Midwestern communities of the USA completed questionnaires assessing "mediators" (i.e. parenting efficacy, role beliefs, and…