This research reveals the type of support that is imperative for principals working with external agents in low-performing urban schools as required by federal and state legislation. Nine principals, in four urban districts, two aided by one external agency and seven aided by another, were followed in year-long case studies. Mixed methods for data…

The study conducted included four school districts that were addressing New York State Chapter 405 citations related to disproportionality. The purpose of this study was to identify the districts' common characteristics related to disproportionality, as well as common approaches and processes used to address the issue. An action research,…

Demonstrating persistence and resilience, increasing numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early childhood teachers are gaining university qualifications. This paper explores factors that support and constrain these students on the path to their degrees. Investigated through a cycle of interviews and focus groups, otherwise perceived as…

This paper focuses on the difficulties of assessing multi-year team projects, in which a team of students drawn from all three years of a full-time degree course works on a problem with and for a real-life organization. Although potential solutions to the problem of assessing team projects may be context-dependent, we believe that discussing these…

To be effective in higher education, text messaging must be effectively integrated into both the student and staff experience. These user groups provided input into the design of StudyLink, an email to text message service. A small-scale trial was conducted over a period of two academic terms to investigate the feasibility of using this system in…

The purpose of this study was to investigate why some Hawaiian language and culture-based (HLCB) educators perceived the Montessori approach to be congruent with their goals and values and to determine the salient features of the Montessori approach used by HLCB teachers who received Montessori training. The sociocultural perspective on learning…

This report describes how an innovative curriculum promoted the civic development of high school students along with parents by stimulating news media attention and discussion in families. Evidence is based on a three-year evaluation of Kids Voting USA, an interactive, election-based curriculum. Political communication in the home increased the…

Most interventions for at-risk youth are group based. Yet, emerging research indicates that young people often learn to become deviant by interacting with deviant peers. In this important volume, leading intervention and prevention experts from psychology, education, criminology, and related fields analyze how, and to what extent, programs that…

The purpose of this comparative case study was to explore English language teachers' beliefs, assumptions and knowledge about learner-centeredness and to see how they implement learner-centeredness in their classrooms. The study was conducted at one public and one private primary school in Istanbul. Focus group interviews were held in each school…

In this paper we present the preliminary findings of a study focused on determining the demographic and professional profiles and competencies of professors teaching at the Normal Schools that prepare elementary school teachers in the Southeast of Mexico. Data collection involves multiple methods of data collection including focus group…

Many children in the foster care system are at great risk of academic difficulties and school failure. The purpose of this study was to bring together individuals within the foster care system to discuss the challenges to obtaining an appropriate education for foster youths and how best to provide the supports and structures needed for educational…

This paper explores adolescent preferences for the setting, timing, delivery format, provider and key elements of tobacco control programmes. The need for programme sensitivity towards urban/rural, gender and ethnic subgroups is also discussed. Schools were purposively selected from the Southern Cape-Karoo Region, South Africa. Twelve prevention…

Information and communication technologies (particularly websites and e-mail) have the potential to deliver health behavior change programs to large numbers of adults at low cost. Controlled trials using these new media to promote physical activity have produced mixed results. User-centered development methods can assist in understanding the…

Independent learning and independent learning strategies are at present significant topics in educational research. The bulk of this research deals with independent learning in junior and higher education with little based upon the further education sector. The focus of this article is the interpretation of independent learning by 16- to…

This paper describes strategies developed to recruit and retain an ethnically diverse sample in a longitudinal intervention of 246 participants in the SeniorWISE study. The ethnic and socioeconomic differences of these participants necessitated the use of different methods of effectively communicating with this population. Recruitment benefited…