Schools are uniquely positioned to impact student health and academic outcomes through health and wellness policies. The purpose of this study was to describe factors influencing implementation of school health and wellness policies, specifically those focused on physical activity and nutrition. In-depth, stakeholder interviews were conducted with…

The increasing amount of available subjective text data in internet such as product reviews, movie critiques and social media comments provides golden opportunities for information retrieval researchers to extract useful information out of such datasets. Topic modeling and sentiment analysis are two widely researched fields that separately try to…

In conducting a literature review of 133 articles on cultural responsiveness in middle level education, we identified a lack of shared definitions, theoretical frameworks, methodological approaches, and foci, which made it difficult to synthesize across articles. Using a conceptual framework that required: a) clear definitions of terms; b) a…

Providing ninth-graders with academic and social support can put more students on the graduation path, but it can be challenging for schools and school systems to implement that support routinely and effectively. This brief describes how Broward County Public Schools adopted a community of practice (CoP) approach to improve school-based teams'…

This study focused on the lived experiences of a team of four rural middle school teachers as they made the transformation from traditional classrooms to personalized learning classrooms. The teachers were beginning their third year of personalized learning implementation as the study took place. The researcher investigated participants'…

Portugal, like many other countries, faces obstacles regarding school-based sexuality education. This paper explores Portuguese schools' approaches to implementing sexuality education at a local level, and provides a critical analysis of potential strengths and weaknesses. Documents related to sexuality education in a convenience sample of 89…

With schools continuing to fall short of No Child Left Behind standards and with future challenges just around the corner, educators must identify and make positive changes in schools. Researchers must work to recognize and exhibit how student achievement is fostered and inform educators of options on how to move in a positive direction according…

This article reports on how design-based research methodology was used to guide a line of intervention research that developed, implemented, revised, and evaluated online learning science curricula for middle school students, including general education students and English language learners (primarily of Hispanic origin). The iterative,…

Reports on one-to-one (1:1) technology initiatives emphasize overall favorable results; however, comprehensive multiyear studies looked at understate the progressive experiences of teachers and students. A small body of research suggested the second year of 1:1 technology programs manifested difficulties and struggles which significantly…

The authors examined the effects of team-based learning (TBL) implemented in Grade 8 social studies classes on student content acquisition. Twenty-four classes were randomly assigned to treatment or comparison blocking on teacher. In the treatment classes teachers integrated TBL practices in the content instruction. The authors examined teacher…

School districts have been attempting to implement the response-to-intervention (RTI) framework in an effort both to comply with federal legislation (i.e., IDEA 2004) and to improve teaching for all students. Extant research on this framework has focused on exploring assessment practices across tiers and the efficacy of specific interventions,…

The Office of Shared Accountability (OSA) conducted an evaluation of the implementation of the second year (2011-2012) of the Science, Technology, and Engineering Leadership Program (STELP) in Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS). Funding for STELP, including the evaluation study, is provided by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical…

In an age of technological advancement, video games have been found to be effective teaching aids in middle school science classrooms. A National Science Foundation (NSF) project at Ohio University, known as STEAM, (Science and Technology Enrichment for Appalachian Middle Schoolers), has examined Second Life as a curriculum aid through the design,…

Understanding the contribution of the whole-school staff to health education (HE) is an important goal in HE research. This study aimed to identify the views of staff (principals; teachers; school nurses and doctors; counsellors and administrative, maintenance, canteen and cleaning staff) regarding the nature of their contribution to HE. The…

Technology implementation research indicates that teachers' beliefs and knowledge, as well as a host of institutional factors, can influence technology integration. Drawing on third-generation activity theory, this article conceptualizes technology implementation as a network of planning and integration activities carried out by technology…