Purpose: Whereas the achievement of students has closely been linked with the quality of teachers and there is a bulk of literature supporting the need of teachers' preparation in enhancing their quality, professional development (PD) of teachers has been a central focus of reform initiatives in education across the globe. This paper aims at…

Background: The use of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in education has increased significantly over the last 15 years. However, their use has also been subject to sustained and rather trenchant criticism from significant sections of the education research community. Key criticisms have included the claims that: it is not possible to undertake…

The National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ) recent review of university-based teacher preparation programs concluded the vast majority of such programs were inadequately preparing the nation's teachers. The study, however, has a number of serious flaws that include narrow focus on inputs, lack of a strong research base, missing standards,…

The Finnish education system has received worldwide attention due to the top academic performance of Finnish school students. Physical education, as an integral part of the Finnish education curriculum, potentially contributes to the overall success. The purpose of this article is to summarize Finnish physical education reform during the past…

The need for character education is apparent in the statistics regarding school violence, absenteeism, drop out rates, and achievement. The directive has been sent out by the government to get the job done. This manuscript examines a number of studies that claim to provide evidence that character education programs work, and others that provide…

Conventional wisdom suggests that the Teaching-Family Model (TFM) approach to treating youthful offenders is not effective in reducing post-treatment recidivism. This article reviews two major studies referenced in support of this widespread perception. Data presented in one widely referenced study are treated with a Cochran-Mantel-Haensel test,…

"Neo-Hahnian" approaches to outdoor adventure education assume their programs "build character." Social psychology research has found that "character" is almost entirely illusory. Outdoor adventure education programs may provide situations that elicit certain behaviors, but the belief in character building must be…

Examines the impact of affirmative action as to whether the consequences of discrimination have been eliminated and whether measures are in place to prevent discrimination from occurring in the future. Argues that affirmative action has been partially successful, but its ultimate goal has not been reached. Some concerns and limitations in…

Describes dual language instruction models, and presents a paradigm for examining congruence among theoretical models, teacher beliefs, and actual classroom practices to determine program effectiveness. Examples illustrate implementation pitfalls. Analysis of Proposition 227 finds it to be a decontextualized procedural model; it has an incoherent…

Rossell's critique of the Walsh and Carballo (1986) study of five bilingual education programs in Massachusetts is marred by a number of problems, here identified. (BJV)

Despite their claim to the contrary, Walsh and Carballo in their report, "Transitional Bilingual Education in Massachusetts: A Preliminary Study of Its Effectiveness" (1986), did not demonstrate the superiority of bilingual education because their study was marred by a number of problems, here identified. (BJV)

Argues that the theoretical consensus on second language learning, which focuses on instruction in the target language, contradicts the main premises used by bilingual education advocates to gain respectability for bilingual education programs. The roles of translation, transfer, input, and interaction in the Eastman model of bilingual education,…