Family policy was a key component of the "New" Labour government's family, social and education policy, and a wide range of family focused initiatives and interventions designed to "support" families and improve individual, family and social outcomes were introduced. The post-May 2010 coalition government's family policy…

In this paper, we report on the development and implementation of a web-based mobile application, "Grammar Clinic," for an ESL writing class. Drawing on insights from the interactionist approach to Second Language Acquisition (SLA), the Noticing Hypothesis, and mobile-assisted language learning (MALL), "Grammar Clinic" was…

This article presents the results of a mixed methods study that used the Draw-a-Scientist Test as a visual tool for exploring preservice teachers' beliefs about scientists. A questionnaire was also administered to 165 students who were enrolled in elementary (K-8) and secondary (8-12) science methods courses. Taken as a whole, the images drawn by…

The research herein uses a mixed methods approach to examine how organizational phenomena at the macro level of analysis translate into phenomena at the micro level. Specifically, the research attempts to explain how cultural institutions may translate into individual attitudes and actions, such as public school teachers' decisions about using…

The purpose of this study was to examine the comparative influence of college administrator credential programs, on-the-job experiences, and the ISLLC Standards in the development of leadership expertise among urban public school principals. An exploratory, ex-post-facto research design used both quantitative and qualitative approaches. A survey…

Research spanning two decades shows that there is a continuing development of 3D virtual worlds and investment in such environments for educational purposes. Research stresses the need for these environments to be well-designed and for suitable pedagogies to be implemented in the teaching practice in order for these worlds to be fully effective.…

Evaluations should be issues driven, not methods driven. The starting point should be priority programs to be evaluated or policies to be tested. From this starting point, a list of evaluation questions is identified. For each evaluation question, the task is to identify the best available method for answering that question. Hence it is likely…

The present study focuses on the language attitudes underlying patterns of stylistic variation in the speech of a female former President of the Spanish local Government of Murcia. We build on previous quantitative work demonstrating that this speaker shows unexpectedly high usage levels for nonstandard Murcian Spanish features in public speech,…

This article presents the perceptions of approximately 300 experienced New Zealand principals who participated in a pilot leadership development initiative funded by the Ministry of Education. The Experienced Principals Development Programme (EPDP) underwent a rigorous evaluation that included formative (mid-point) and summative (end-point)…

Data from the Christchurch Health and Development Study, a 30-year prospective longitudinal study, were used to examine the associations between the quality of parent-child relations in adolescence and adult parenting behaviour 15 years later. At ages 14 and 15 years, cohort members were interviewed about the quality of their relationship with…

Based on Zimmerman, Bonner, and Kovach's (1996) academy model, an intervention consisting of seven weekly training sessions to increase students' awareness of and ability to plan and manage their study time was developed. Participant students reflected on the implementation of each phase of the learning model in their weekly journal entries,…

Objective: To describe a mixed-methods approach to develop and test a basic behavioral science-informed intervention to motivate behavior change in 3 high-risk clinical populations. Our theoretically derived intervention comprised a combination of positive affect and self-affirmation (PA/SA), which we applied to 3 clinical chronic disease…

Effective competition in a rapidly growing global economy places demands on a society to produce individuals capable of higher-order critical thinking, creative problem solving, connection making, and innovation. We must look to our teacher education programs to help prospective middle grades teachers build the mathematical habits of mind that…

Classroom-based continuous assessment (CA) has become an important component of Namibia's post-independence emphasis on learner-centred education. This paper compares continuous assessment results with end-of-year examination marks for Grade 10 Mathematics for the years 2008-2010. Against this backdrop, and given that classroom-based continuous…

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to establish among health educators a consensus in the definition of spirituality and health that would ultimately guide effective development of a curriculum or program in spirituality and health for undergraduate programs in college health science departments. Methodology. This mixed-methods research study…