The article profiles a project addressing a central issue in reform-driven STEM education--the need to align educational experiences with real-world STEM. The interdisciplinary program aimed for authenticity by purposefully designing an authentic PBL project and incorporating STEM professionals as volunteer facilitators. These volunteers enhanced…

The integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, also referred to as integrative STEM education, is a relatively new interdisciplinary teaching technique that incorporates an engineering design-based learning approach with mathematics, science, technology, and engineering education (Sanders, 2010, 2012, 2013;…

The label of "teacher" is something of a misnomer for the problem-based learning (PBL) practitioner. Rather than acting as a source of content knowledge, PBL educators are lead learners who demonstrate learning to students through their own authentic inquiry (Hmelo-Silver, 2004). PBL educators and students travel a road together that…

Developing excellent principals who can set direction, develop people, redesign organizations, and lead instruction requires a system of high-quality preparation and professional development. This paper summarizes the elements of high-quality principal preparation and professional development programs that have been associated with positive school…

This report describes a problem based learning project focusing on Section 504 Compliance in the State of Missouri. Additionally it provides information about Superintendent's perceptions and levels of knowledge about Section 504 compliance in their districts. The project team sought to learn and understand the historical timeline of legislation…

Two recent peer-reviewed studies support the need to update the traditional school design model that has remained fundamentally unchanged for over a century. In a 2011 study published by the American Educational Research Journal, entitled "Problem-Based Learning in K-12 Education," Clarice Wirkala and Deanna Kuhn document a 200-500…

This second report of an ongoing evaluation of "The Wallace Foundation's Principal Pipeline Initiative" describes the six participating school districts' activities in school leader preparation and support and analyzes their progress over two years. The evaluation, conducted by "Policy Studies Associates" and the "RAND…

This document is a Problem Based Learning project addressing the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the achievement gap issue that lingers in public education. It centers on the ideas of cultural sensitivity as a means of educating all students in an era of accountability. The goal of the project was to address the problem of minority student…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on research into the ethical dilemmas faced by school heads from seven independent schools in Australia. Design/methodology/approach: Data for the research were gathered by semi-structured in-depth interviews with the Heads, all of whom were experienced school leaders. All the schools had religious…

This study examines online messages in a discussion forum that a group of K-12 history teachers used to discuss curriculum implementations as part of their professional development. It has 3 main research foci. First, it focuses on identifying the types of assistances provided to the teachers in an online forum. Second, it examines teachers'…

When most teachers hear the phrase "professional development," skepticism clouds their faces. But research-based professional development can provide interesting experiences and valuable content knowledge. The Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program, funded by the National Science Foundation, helps "facilitate professional development of…

As part of the usual end of year meeting that has been a feature of the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) project, a conference intending to provide a forum for young voices in an outside of the Center was organized. The basic model for the gathering was borrowed from track and field. This was to be an intellectual…