This is the technical appendices to "Destination Integration: Perspectives of Students and Advisors about Improving Academic Advising. Part 2 of a Series on Academic Advising from the CSU Student Success Network." This research explores advising practices on five CSU campuses, expands on the previous report by bringing in the voices of…

Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID) is a feedback process to collect midterm feedback from students. The process uses small focus group student interviews to identify strengths of the course, areas of concern, and suggestions to address concerns. The purpose of this paper is to shares experiences using on online format of Small Group…

Teachers are not always aware of how the classroom design influences teaching, particularly in many family and consumer sciences (FCS) classes that require studio space, such as apparel and interior design classes. The purpose of this paper is to introduce strategies to assess studio spaces that are designed for enhancement of student learning.…

The purpose of these conference proceedings is to provide an in-depth understanding of what was presented and discussed at the Ed-ICT International Network Montreal Symposium: Stakeholder Perspectives. The focus of the Ed-ICT International Network is to explore the role that information and communication technologies (ICTs)--including computers,…

One of the driving forces behind the design of the Pathways to Results (PTR) initiative is to dismantle and redesign systems to produce equitable outcomes. This notion of systems producing the exact outcomes for which they were designed can also be applied to the Pathways to Results methodology itself. After five years of leading PTR initiatives…

Listening closely to what students say about their school experiences can be beneficial to educators for understanding and addressing school-related topics and problems and rethinking policies and practices. The purpose of this toolkit is to provide educators with a purposeful and systematic way to elicit and listen to student voice to inform…

Since gaining independence from South Africa in 1990, Namibia has placed considerable emphasis on education, including adult learning. As a means of improving the quality of adult learning, the Namibian Ministry of Education commissioned the development of national standards in 2010 to express competency requirements for adult educators.…

Educators face significant changes today that affect their daily work lives. Chief among those changes is the national expectation that every student will graduate from high school, college and career ready. Common core state standards adopted in 46 states, as well as college- and career-ready standards established in other states, define what…

Feeling that social studies has been sidelined by a test-driven focus on math and English/language arts, subject-matter specialists from more than a dozen states met last week with representatives of content-area groups to brainstorm ways to improve academic standards in that subject. The two-day gathering in Charlotte, N.C., is the third convened…

Educational researchers are concerned about the ways in which researcher identity can influence practice and findings for better or worse effect. However, writings which offer narratives, intended to instruct others in the ways in which the positioning and reflexivity of the researcher operates for better or worse, often present a view of identity…

In Scotland, A Curriculum for Excellence [Curriculum Review Group. 2004. A curriculum for excellence. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/11/20178/45862 (accessed January 6, 2010).] is being implemented in every school from August 2010. This gives teachers greater responsibility, flexibility and professional autonomy when planning and…

For more than ten years, the Ford Policy Forum, an integral part of the Forum for the Future of Higher Education's annual Aspen Symposium, has been chaired by Michael McPherson and Morty Schapiro, presidents of the Spencer Foundation and Northwestern University, respectively. Its intent has been to explore how economics can make individual…

This guide presents a data-driven, research-based process--referred to as the "school-community forum process"--for increasing youth voice, promoting resilience, strengthening adult-youth connections, and ultimately, for improving schools. It uses a "student listening circle"--a special type of focus group involving eight to…

During the 2008-2009 school year, faculty members at New Fairfield (CT) Middle School examined relevance and student engagement in relation to student achievement. Subtle clues indicated that students were not fully engaged in their learning: many students did not relate their classroom experiences to their personal reality or to their vision of…

This article focuses on Spain's most recent implementing of education policies designed to address the needs of immigrant students. It overviews how the latest education policies do not meet the needs of a diverse body of students, drawing on information provided in focus group interviews from several Madrid schools, as well as from other official…