Parent advocates play a key role in driving forward the debate and critical analysis of what constitutes professional knowledge in special education. The results of the study indicate that a burgeoning confidence and status might be attached to parental knowledge and expertise that could widen the traditional boundaries confined by the…

We compared how teachers and pupils in Italy take into account different dimensions of bullying behaviour, such as intentionality, imbalance of power, repetition and typology of aggression, in relation to bullying behaviours, and investigated the attribution of meaning that teachers and pupils give to a set of terms frequently used to connote this…

With the increasing prevalence of online education, institutions of higher education may encounter challenges as they seek to hire instructors who have the skills, knowledge base, and competencies that "best fit" the unique characteristics associated with online teaching. This article describes the initial development of the Systematic Interview…

Within primary and secondary school technology education, engineering has been proposed as an avenue to bring about technological literacy. Different initiatives such as curriculum development projects (i.e., Project ProBase and Project Lead The Way) and National Science Foundation funded projects such as the National Center for Engineering and…

The 12th Annual Building on Family Strengths Conference was held from June 23rd through June 25th 2005 in Portland, Oregon. Highlights included: (1) An information-packed keynote address by Dr. Richard M. Lerner on promoting positive youth development through enhancing the assets of communities; (2) An exciting research plenary panel session that…

Based on an ethnographic case study done in an all-white, rural middle school, this article examines the students' experience with and interpretation of an international education program implemented with a hope of providing more global/international contents to the curriculum. The study shows that these students interpreted other cultures…

This monograph describes results of focus group interviews with 28 regular and special education teachers in Virginia concerning their experience with inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education classrooms. An introduction notes the trend toward greater inclusion of these students while providing needed special educational support…

This report, mandated by Ohio's 119th General Assembly, examines the fairness and appropriateness of the state's ninth-grade proficiency test. Under the assumption that it is indeed fair and appropriate to have a single, statewide graduation standard for all students, the study focuses on the issue of whether the test, as developed and…

The goal of this third year of an ongoing 5-year study was to identify and evaluate the diverse technology and product needs of persons with functional limitations, from users' perspectives. This qualitative research study involved 14 focus groups representing 4 different categories of people; those included persons 50 years and older with sensory…

The research is clear that parents' involvement in their child's education improves outcomes in areas such as learning, attendance, behavior, and graduation rates. Although almost any parent involvement brings improvements in student outcomes, parent involvement with their child's learning at home is most helpful in increasing student learning.…

Because family literacy programs' success depends on strong relationships between family literacy programs and Head Start partners, a series of focus groups were convened to identify ways of strengthening cooperation between Pennsylvania's family literacy and Head Start programs. The six focus groups sites represented a mix of Pennsylvania's…

The needs of the clients of Australia's vocational education and training (VET) sector were examined in this report. Case studies of client groups in rural, urban, and metropolitan areas were also conducted. The client groups studied included: (1) enterprises (4 owners/managers or workplace experts/delegates per region); (2) industry (at least 1…

On July 22, 1997, a panel of approximately 25 individuals, including members of the Accountability Committee of the National Association of State Directors of Vocational Technical Education, participated in a focus group for the following purposes: to identify the information needed for program accountability; to assess the National Center for…

In 1992, a study at the University of Melbourne (Australia) investigated the experiences of 1,108 freshman students in the schools of arts, economics, and commerce. Based on the results, areas for improvement in curriculum design and faculty development were identified. The three faculties were then invited to develop teaching and curriculum…

An assessment of Australia's housing industry determined the level of management skills currently existing in the industry, identified current and future management skills required for the industry, and evaluated current management skill development strategies. Data were collected from the following activities: review of recent literature; study…