On January 23, 2004, President Bush signed the DC School Choice Incentive Act into law. This landmark piece of legislation included $14 million in funding for what would come to be called the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP). The OSP is the first federally funded K-12 scholarship program in the country and is designed to provide…

Following an ecological framework, the primary purpose of this study was to examine the adjustment needs of international students within their academic and social communities. Focus group interviews revealed that students are more in need during their initial transition after arrival to the U.S. and that they experience a number of barriers in…

Young children with special needs and their families often experience transitions across multiple environments in the early childhood years. Many transitions are identified as stressful for children and families. In the present study, a series of focus groups involving administrators, practitioners, and family members were held around the United…

This study investigated the unexpected effects of inclusion on the families of students with learning disabilities. A focus group interview was conducted with 13 parents who have children with learning disabilities. The children's ages ranged from 5 to 24 years. Findings are reported regarding participants' comments in response to two guiding…

The authors detail the design, implementation and evaluation of an eConference entitled "Biohorizons," using a presage-process-product model to describe the development of an eLearning community. Biohorizons was a summative learning and assessment task aiming to introduce large classes of first-year Human Biology students to the practices of…

Background/Context: In an era of high stakes accountability, public school districts struggle to improve teaching and learning for all students. As a result, effective professional development approaches for teachers are a high priority. Recently, teachers' learning communities (LCs) have been recommended because successful LCs foster teacher…

This article presents a longitudinal case study of an urban high school as it transitioned from one comprehensive reform model to another over a 10-year period. The study is based on qualitative interview data and quantitative data on student outcomes. Despite evidence of improved student outcomes during this reform period, the school could not…

In Spring 2007, the State Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges awarded, based on a competitive grant competition, the Transfer Leadership Center (TLC) study to investigate two-to-four year transfer practices and strategies. As part of the study's qualitative component, research teams from the Center for Student Success of the…

In Spring 2007, the State Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges awarded the Transfer Leadership Center (TLC) study to investigate two-to-four year transfer practices and strategies. As part of the study's qualitative component, research teams from the Center for Student Success of the Research & Planning Group of the…

This study examined practices of teachers in Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) high school Algebra I classes. Regression analyses of standardized state testing results allowed for identification of the most effective and least effective Algebra I teachers and schools. The study used surveys, observations, and focus group interviews to compare and…

Growing consensus among policy makers and educators alike suggests that our education system must be transformed to address the needs of a global society as well as the needs of the 21st century student. Often overlooked as a resource, students can contribute a valuable perspective on education. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to learn…

The CONSABE (Content Standards for Adult Basic Education) project has been a joint project of the San Diego Community College District and the National Institute of Literacy in Washington, D.C. to develop content standards for adult basic education (ABE). During the project, more than 350 adult students, business leaders, ABE teachers,…

This report summarizes results of three focus groups which examined teachers' ideas and attitudes about the utility of research on the practice of teaching reading to students with learning disabilities and about forms of communication that would make research information more useful. The focus groups were part of a larger project designed to…

In March and April 1994, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting conducted a focus group study of Native Americans to determine how they perceive public television. The focus groups were conducted by American Indian Telecommunications to determine the general viewing habits of Indians, their awareness of television programming, their response to…

A state-wide survey of public attitudes about education in Connecticut conducted by Public Agenda, supplemented by focus groups and a survey of educators and community leaders, suggests that the Connecticut public is ambivalent about support for education and for proposals to integrate the schools. Resistance seems to stem from the public…