This article introduces the main tenets of an ecocritical framework in social and cultural foundations of education; specifically, it explores how scholar-activist, EcoJustice educators work to actively deconstruct and reconstitute basic, foundational cultural assumptions that currently frame education within the United States. The article asserts…

The purpose of this study was to examine the life and work of Solomon W. Straub, who worked as a music teacher, composer, and publisher during the late nineteenth century. Straub was born in Butler Township of DeKalb County, Indiana, in 1842. He taught music in Dowagiac and Lansing, Michigan, before moving to Chicago, Illinois, in 1873. Straub…

There are many contemporary issues to address in adult education. This paper explores art-based strategies and the utilization of creativity (Kuumba) to expand learning for global communities in any field of practice. Benefits of culturally grounded approaches to adult education are discussed. Images from ongoing field research can be viewed at…

The California Budget Act of 2012, through a trailer bill known as Senate Bill (SB) 1041, contained significant reforms to the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. CalWORKs is California's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, a central component of the safety net that provides cash aid for…

"Engaging Imagination in Ecological Education" illustrates how to connect students to the natural world and encourage them to care about a more sustainable, ecologically secure planet. Cultivating ecological understanding can be more challenging for teachers than simply imparting knowledge of ecological issues; it requires reimagining…

This proposal explores how the activity of subitizing--quickly apprehending the numerosity of a small set of items--changes with the development of number concepts. We describe how varying the orientations of items in teaching experiment sessions promoted one pre-schooler, Frank, to attend to subgroups of items and change his thinking about…

What will it take to improve the quality of instruction in higher education? An important first step is the ability to measure quality. A variety of measurement systems exist, but how informative are they, and how can we bring greater coherence to instructional measurement in higher education? Recently, the William T. Grant Foundation, along with…

In "MOOCs, High Technology, and Higher Learning," Robert A. Rhoads places the OpenCourseWare (OCW) movement into the larger context of a revolution in educational technology. In doing so, he seeks to bring greater balance to increasingly polarized discussions of massively open online courses (MOOCs) and show their ongoing relevance to…

This book provides a comprehensive overview of approaches to academic literacy instruction and their underpinning theories, as well as a synthesis of the debate on academic literacy over the past 20 years. The author argues that the main existing instructional models are inadequate to cater for diverse student populations, and proposes an…

Entrepreneurial learning is the backbone of this Brooklyn charter school network which opened in Fall 2014 to serve grades 6-12, including English language learners and students with disabilities. LAB's academic model combines empirically effective learning practices with innovative implementation strategies, including a blended learning model…

At present social networks are becoming important in all areas of human activities. They are simply part and parcel of everyday life. They are mostly used for advertising, but they have already found their way into education. The future potential of social networks is high as it can be seen from their statistics on a daily, monthly or yearly…

When presenting results from rigorous, field-based evaluations of educational interventions, researchers often reveal methodological barriers they face in designing studies to assessing program effectiveness. The evaluations funded by the Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) present a timely opportunity for identifying relevant and pressing issues…

This chapter addresses the importance of community in fostering transformative learning and living environments for children with special needs. Community is conceptualized as a special kind of relationship between people, who, regardless of geography, share common values, concerns, interests, or experiences. This understanding of community as…

German-born composer Ernst Mahle (b. 1929) holds a respected position in the music field in Brazil, his adopted country since 1951. Mahle is the artistic director and co-founder of the "Escola de Musica de Piracicaba," one of the most important musical institutions in Brazil. His work has focused on conducting, composition, and…

How can schools teach the skills required for a strong democracy to flourish? "What Kind of Citizen?" asks readers to imagine the kind of society they would like to live in--and then shows the ways in which schools can be used to make that vision a reality. Westheimer draws on groundbreaking research on school programs and policies to…