Over the past two decades, two heavily funded initiatives of the Federal government of Australia have been founded on two very different and seemingly conflicting (if not antithetical) visions of education. The first, the Australian Values Education Program (AVEP, 2003-2010) enshrines what may be called an 'embedded values' vision of education;…

Most first-year seminars exist to ensure that incoming students achieve what is commonly described as "academic success." While definitions of this term vary widely, it most often means socializing students into an academic culture so that they will remain at the institution, achieve a strong GPA, and graduate on time. Most first-year…

That students' social and economic characteristics shape their cognitive and behavioral outcomes is well established, yet policymakers typically resist accepting that non-school disadvantages necessarily depress outcomes. Rather, they look to better schools and teachers to close achievement gaps, and consistently come up short. This report…

The publication of Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa's influential new book, "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses," the findings of which were summarized in an article by the same authors in the March/April "Change," has caused a national furor centering around their multi-institutional findings that the…

This systematic review sought to understand the individual characteristics of incarcerated youth within the major risk factor domains identified by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). A comprehensive search of the literature from 1979 to 2013 identified 85 articles of individual-level risk characteristics that…

The debate over whether intelligence is largely fixed or malleable is not over. What is most exciting, however, is the research from social psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience that is highlighting just how malleable intelligence is. Differences in achievement among racial, ethnic, or gender groups have…

Background: The international science competitions show that students from different countries perform differently in subjects such as mathematics, physics and chemistry. In the literature comparative empirical studies tried to address the reasons for cross-national students' differences in performance from different perspectives such as teaching…

First-year seminars have become common at liberal arts and other colleges across the United States. An accumulating body of research appears to demonstrate that this curricular element is associated with increased retention of students and is positively correlated with graduation rates, student adjustment and involvement, student satisfaction,…

Contemporary education theory (and official South African policy) underwrites learner-centredness. I analyse learner-centredness as a possible piece of the puzzle about why it is proving so difficult to improve academic achievement. Learner-centred ideas are grounded in the belief that cognitive abilities develop spontaneously in accordance with a…

Introduces articles in the special "Kappan" section drawing primarily on data from an ongoing longitudinal study (the Illinois Middle Grades Network), Indiana's middle Grades Improvement Program, the national Middle Grade School State Policy Initiative, and Michigan's Middle Start Initiative. Each project used Robert Felner's Middle…

Instead of being devices for measuring what students have learned, tests should be instructional--the central vehicle for clarifying and setting intellectual standards. To regain control over testing and instruction, schools need to rethink their diploma requirements and grading systems. Then school transcripts will become trustworthy again.…

Presents a developmental theory of mentoring proposing that mentoring enhances creative and intellectual growth as it facilitates task accomplishment uniquely characteristic of early life stages. How different levels of mentoring facilitate this developmental process is described. The synergism of creativity, intellectual accomplishment, and…

This chapter summarizes theoretical perspectives and research findings on developmental education, and emphasizes the importance of considering students' voices and experiences in determining how best to facilitate growth and development in college.

Fifty years after the "Brown" decision, it is timely to examine whether society has supported middle level educators in creating schools where young adolescents living in poor communities do indeed attend schools that are socially just, diverse, democratic, and culturally relevant. In this article, the authors explore the significance of race and…

Experiences of Black students at a large, predominantly White, border-state university that houses one of the few comprehensive Black Studies programs in the nation were examined. Previous research has shown that the level of Black identity development of Black college students varied from one higher educational institution to the next. Based on…