The publicly funded early intervention program for preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Nova Scotia, Canada, uses the pivotal response treatment (PRT) model. Parents are coached in use of PRT strategies during their children's first week of treatment. We explored whether parents of older preschoolers with limited verbal ability…

Given the substantial impact school leaders have on school improvement, the imperative for continuous professional learning for leaders is evident. In this two-year action research study, researchers collaborated with a school division, forming a research-practice partnership, to design and explore a collaborative professional learning and…

Although a growing number of caregiver-mediated intervention models for families with children with autism are being examined in efficacy trials, few have been transferred to community implementation. Furthermore, little testing has explored implementation strategies to support caregivers' strategy use with their children. In partnership with a…

Recent efforts have focused on developing and evaluating early intervention for toddlers with probable or emerging autism spectrum disorder. Parent-mediated approaches have gained traction, with mounting evidence of efficacy, but a research-to-practice gap exists, and community effectiveness remains to be firmly established. We report outcomes of…

Neoliberal theories--whether the new public management, principal-agent theory, or performance management--have provided the rationale for sweeping reforms in the governance and operation of higher education. This paper expands our understanding of neoliberal theory and practice by examining a leading neoliberal reform: performance-based funding…

In recent years, educational assistants (EAs) have taken on an integral role in special education. They often work with the most challenging and vulnerable student population (i.e., students with exceptionalities). To prepare EAs, some of Ontario's publicly funded colleges have developed pre-service training programs. In Ontario, the number of…

This paper reviews data from 27 final reports of action research projects in the area of instructional coaching undertaken as part of Cycle 4 (2008-2010) of the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI). AISI was an Alberta government programme that provided funding to every school district to allow teachers to create site-based, action…

Using an engagement in research approach this article explores the landscape of blended learning in higher education over the last decade by comparing the results of a critical literature review by Vaughan to an instrumental case study that identified key factors that led to the implementation of a blended learning initiative in one medium sized…

Prevention programs yield modest reductions in bullying in North American schools. This study explored the perspective of educators regarding factors limiting the impact of these initiatives. Transcripts from nineteen 90-min focus groups with 103 educators were coded thematically. Educators felt that off-site incidents, cyberbullying, and the…

This article describes a project in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to develop an in-house career coaching program to support and develop young employees recruited on an affirmative action initiative. The project involved the international partnership of a financial services organization in the UAE and a training provider in Canada to train human…

This article reviews the literature base on class size reduction and proposes a new analytic framework that we believe provides practically useful explanations of how primary class size reduction works. It presents descriptions of classroom practice and grounded explanations for how class size reduction affects educational core activities by…

Previous work on policy implementation has often suggested that schools leave their "thumbprints" on policies received from above. During the implementation of Primary Class Size Reduction (PCS) Initiative in Ontario, Canada, however, school principals spoke with remarkable uniformity about the ways PCS affected their work. This article…

There are two purposes of this study. The first is to examine our experiences as beginning teacher educators who taught using models-based practice (using the example of Cooperative Learning). The second is to consider the benefits of using collaborative self-study to foster deep understandings of teacher education practice. The findings highlight…

This article presents the findings of a study on the use of an electronic portfolio (EP) in 16 elementary classrooms across Canada. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected to understand how teachers used EPs in their classrooms, to what extent they integrated the EP into their practice, and the factors influencing their use. Using…

This qualitative case study explores the implementation of restorative justice within one Ontario Public School. Restorative justice is a philosophy and a process for dealing with harmful behaviour, viewing such behaviour as a violation of relationships, not rules. My research seeks to present how restorative justice has been implemented in one…