Mentoring has been used in various fields as a professional development and acculturation tool (Kram, 1991) and is used extensively in higher education (Cunningham, 1999). However, despite numerous studies based on faculty mentoring, those conducted at Christian institutions of higher education have been limited. The study was framed by several…

Targeted or universal pre-K? Direct instruction or learning through play? These and other debates are heating up as more and more young children across the country gain access to pre-K programs. Now there's a single volume that spotlights today's most urgent pre-K debates, explores each one from all sides, and paves the way for sound, educated…

Despite the growing body of research on doctoral education, little is known about how doctoral students learn to do research across the disciplines. Even though there is a lack of empirical research on the pedagogy of research in doctoral education, much of the literature anecdotally and metaphorically attributes students' learning to traditional…

The rapid expansion in higher education in the 1960s and early 1970s brought a reexamination of university teaching and learning, placing significant attention on the role of faculty development. The steady growth of this field has been reflected in the establishment of centers, offices, and divisions at many colleges and universities that are in…

Agencies that fund scientific research have called increasingly in recent years for the projects they support to contribute to broader social and educational impacts. However, the means by which these projects might best utilize their own resources to support educational outcomes for young learners have received relatively little attention. This…

The dissertation builds on the research literature studying conductor training and the musical attributes requisite for adequate conducting skill and musical performance. The study also provides evidence that effective tools for evaluation of band and orchestra conductors are prevalent throughout the music education literature. Public school…

As state-funded pre-K programs expand--more than 1 million children currently attend such programs--there is debate about the impact of state-funded pre-K on the quality and supply of child care for low-income working families. This policy brief looks at state policies and regulations regarding pre-K expansion that have the potential to positively…

The 6+1 Trait[R] Writing model (Culham 2003) emphasizes writing instruction in which teachers and students analyze writing using a set of characteristics, or "traits," of written work: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation. The Ideas trait includes the main content and message, including…

Evidence suggests that college preparation programs successfully support students through college preparation and application process. However, most research into college preparation programs does not attend to students' collegiate experiences once they leave college preparation programs. This dissertation explored the long-term influence of Small…

Many public school choice programs use centralized mechanisms to match students with schools in absence of market-clearing prices. Among them, the Boston mechanism is one of the most widely used. It is well-known that truth-telling may not be optimal under the Boston mechanism, which raises the concern that the mechanism may create a disadvantage…

High dropout rates and low on-time graduation rates across the United States suggest that for many students proper transitioning is not taking place from middle schools to high schools. This study was designed to examine what measure perceptions and expectations held by students, faculty, and parents dealing with transition from middle school to…

The individualized education program (IEP) is a critical component of providing special education services to children with disabilities, outlining the services and modifications that will be provided to help them make progress towards the general curriculum. While simulations have been shown to be an effective means of teaching special education…

While many music educators learn how to teach through teacher training programs, the standard mode of transmission in which piano teachers learn to teach applied piano is through proficiency of the instrument under the guidance of a master teacher. This tacit development of pedagogical knowledge occurs through the master-apprentice model of…

The development of universities as independent scientific centers determines their mission to incorporate the most modern achievements of science into the students' practical training. This research on the attitudes of the participants in this process towards the use of modern practices encompasses both trainers and students, and it consists of…

This study explores professional development for school executives in a suburban school district in North Carolina. Survey research and descriptive statistics were utilized to capture demographic data and the perceptions of professional development opportunities in this setting. The knowledge level of each participant related to the school…