The Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS) for vocational education and training (VET) providers (referred to as "the Standard") is currently being reviewed by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). The Standard is the framework that underpins the…

In 1995, Virginia began a broad educational reform program that resulted in revised, rigorous content standards, the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL), in the content areas of English, mathematics, science, and history and social science. These grade-by-grade and course-based standards were developed over 14 months with revision teams including…

This article presents an analysis of two major reports discussing the current crisis in STEM education. Both the National Science Board (NSB) and the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) reported alarming facts and figures about the United States' position in the global knowledge economy. The U.S. is no longer…

Recent advances in technology are transforming our lives, but in many cases they are also limiting the way children are exposed to local communities and physical spaces. Technology can help young people actively connect with their neighborhoods, but doing that requires different methods and tools from the ones typically available in schools,…

The concept of experiential learning, in one form or another, has been around a long time, some would say going back to Confucius. More recently, however, within the United States it was put into practice in a very aggressive form, cooperative education, created by Herman Schneider and initiated at the University of Cincinnati (UC) in 1906.…

Support for the use of local languages for learning and communication is currently in fashion among national policy-makers in Africa. This position has been promoted by UNESCO and other local-language advocates for years; more recently it is being seen favourably by a range of influential international institutions. However, even positive language…

National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) is a nationally celebrated event that promotes sport and physical activity opportunities for girls and women. Over 1,500 events and activities are held annually in all 50 states to celebrate and promote female participation in sport. This article introduces the sport/activity-clinic model of the NGWSD…

We report on an investigation into the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of an informational and instructional Website in order to generate guidelines for instructional designers of read/write Web environments. We describe the process of design and development research, the problem addressed, the theory-based solution, and the…

In China, after many years, the current status and challenges of e-learning development in higher education have been gradually understood. The educational technology centre (ECT) serves as the key unit to promote e-learning initiatives, but the performance of some centres still trails their foreign counterparts. Under such conditions, the project…

This research involves the development and validation of a survey that measures users' acceptance of e-learning. A total sample of 386 university students from a teacher training institute in an Asian country participated in this study. Comprising two studies, the first study (n=197) initiated a generic questionnaire, and examined factorial…

By using concept-mapping techniques and incorporating the Afrocentric framework, this study demonstrated that people with mental illnesses, when asked and provided the means to participate, can engage in meaningful identification of their needs, service conceptualization, and prioritization. They provided 13 service area needs that included 104…

This paper details the advantages of creating a strategic plan in the development and delivery of distance programs at the authors' own institution. The steps involved in the planning process and the three key elements of a successful strategic plan are addressed. The key elements include a program plan explaining the roles/responsibilities of…

On July 30, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 into law. The legislation was crafted by the United States Congress to address issues related to accounting improprieties which came to light during the Enron scandal. The specific purpose of the legislation was "To protect investors by improving the accuracy and…

From 1998 to 2008, the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) offered its employees a variety of options for formation, a type of reflective practice. The district encompasses 10 locations, seven of them independently accredited colleges. Formation is based primarily on Parker Palmer's model for Circles of Trust as described in "A…

To improve the quality and stability of couple and father-child relationships in fragile families, researchers are beginning to consider how to tailor existing couple-relationship and father-involvement interventions, which are now targeted on married couples, to the specific needs of unwed couples in fragile families. The goal, explain Philip…