People with psychiatric disabilities represent a growing group within the population of nursing home residents in the USA. Despite a preference for living in community-based settings, the availability of supportive services for community living is hindered by barriers at both the service provision and public policy levels. Therefore, understanding…

Can a capacity building policy encourage school leaders to engage in professional development that will increase their focus on student achievement and understanding of instructional leadership? To explore this issue, school administrators were interviewed and a content analysis of plans for professional development generated during the first year…

This article examines how mentoring and female role models enhance perceptions of self-worth and career aspirations for adolescent girls from low socioeconomic backgrounds. It describes an eight-week project that provided nine girls from the slums of Bangladesh with female role models and mentors in a modern work environment. The project involved…

This article reports on a needs assessment study which investigated Greek Cypriot teachers' in-service training needs in the context of local demands for educational reform and the drive to reformulate teachers' professional development. Data presented in the article were collected through open-ended questionnaires in addition to individual and…

Purpose: This paper aims to report findings from a North East (of England) study co-financed by the European Social Fund and the Learning and Skills Council to explore the issues around the provision of vocational training for women in Northumberland, focusing on the construction, engineering and manufacturing sectors. The aim of the research was…

An ethnographic study of a Canadian, undergraduate, advanced Hebrew course composed of heritage language learners of diverse backgrounds examined the fluctuating notion of nation and shifting national membership affiliations. Data collection techniques included participant observation and in-depth, semistructured, focus group and individual…

While the existence of racial disproportionality has been well documented, the causes of disproportionality are less clear. Studies identifying contributing factors have relied largely on analyses of state and national data sets, which may lack the robust data necessary to fully explain the factors related to this issue. Further, a limitation of…

The use of peer assisted learning in clinical education is explored in this case study. Groups of undergraduate physiotherapy students were structured into communities of practice during the second half of their clinical fieldwork program. They collaborated online in an asynchronous manner, using information communications technology (blogs) and…

A two-year evaluation of the Advancing Young Adult Learning (AYAL) project was conducted. AYAL is a professional development process for teachers working with 16- to 24-year-old students preparing for their General Educational Development Test (GED). It combines Youth Cultural Competency (YCC), Project-Based Learning (PBL), and strengths-based…

Adolescence is considered a critical life transition that can lead to heightened vulnerability. Acculturation takes on increased importance during this period. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between acculturation and perceived health concerns of early adolescent Latinos in rural North Carolina. A qualitative descriptive…

This article presents the results of two studies on the applicability and use of universal design in higher education. In Study 1, the instructional climate for students with disabilities was assessed through a survey of 271 faculty members and teaching associates (TAs) and focus groups with 92 additional faculty members and TAs. Survey…

As part of the "face" a university projects to the world, student service staff play a key role in constructing an institution's external identity. Yet, there have been few studies of who are the general staff providing these services, and how they define their role within their institutions. Although there have been several excellent studies…

Currently there is an international shift towards inclusive education, a means of education according to which the learner is schooled in the least restrictive environment possible, to overcome his or her challenges to learning and development. Bearing this in mind we considered the experiences of a learner with learning difficulties who transited…

The introduction of computers, the Internet, and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into the school context has proved challenging for many schools and teachers. In meeting these challenges, professional development for teachers has been seen traditionally as a formal process conducted by an expert from outside the school.…

In response to the widespread use of and ever-changing nature of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), various investigations were carried out regarding attitudes toward ICT. This paper attempted to investigate college non-English majors' attitudes toward the integration of Information and Communication Technologies into English…