Quantitative literacy is an essential twenty-first century skill that universities are heavily invested in teaching to students. The social sciences play an important role in these efforts because they attract students who might otherwise avoid data and mathematically oriented courses and because they ground quantitative reasoning in political and…

Although researchers have found that family involvement impacts educational outcomes for children, there remains a dearth of knowledge regarding the connection between strengthening families and children's academic success. This study examined what parents' perceptions regarding the internal and external factors that strengthen families who face…

Climate change is complex, requiring critical thinking on both local and global scales. Its effects vary dramatically around the world and require new strategies to help students grasp its complexity, scale, and interrelatedness. This article describes a project to help biology students think critically about climate change from a global…

Active learning is recognised as a crucial component of university courses in enhancing performance and retention. However, universities face numerous challenges in broadening the provision of active learning, including time constraints, and a lack of staff training and confidence to develop appropriate activities. This article outlines an…

The Center for Community College Student Engagement encourages colleges to hold focus groups with part-time and full-time faculty to learn about differences in the faculty and their experience at their college and to complement survey data. Survey responses tell the "what" about faculty's experiences; through conducting focus groups,…

The Bradley PDS Partnership, about which we report in this article, was established in 1995 to promote academic and professional development for P-12 students, pre-professionals, practitioners, and professors. For twenty years, the partnership has been generously funded by the William T. Kemper Foundation-Commerce Bank, Trustee. In a grant…

A study was conducted the information and communications technology component (ICT) of the King Abdullah Public Education Development project (the Project)--part of sweeping educational reforms in Saudi Arabia at four schools in two cities. This study presents two significant shortcomings key players encountered: A lack of training and a lack of…

This qualitative study examines the transition of eight elementary preservice teachers into student teaching after participating in a science methods course that included a significant amount of teaching after-school science to elementary grade students. These eight participants had a chance to practice teaching inquiry-based science and to reform…

Two years ago, the then North American Council for Online Learning released the initial "Snapshot State of the Nation: K-12 Online Learning in Canada" report. This study was the first systematic examination of K-12 distance education policies and activities in each of the thirteen Canadian provinces and territories. One year ago, the…

In fall 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded a three-year project (IB Access Project) with International Baccalaureate (IB) to increase participation of minority students and students in poverty in the Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP). The IB Access Project seeks to do four things: (1) Improve teacher practice…

Research continues to support the many teaching and learning benefits of one-to-one laptop learning. Benefits range from improved student engagement and teacher-student interactions to the attainment of 21st century skills and the transformation of teacher practice. Additional benefits include improved student writing skills, increased teacher…

The major purpose of this descriptive report is to provide an overview of the structure, capacity, and roles of educational service agencies (ESAs) across five states--Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin--in the Great Lakes region, within the context of the broader statewide systems of support for educational improvement and progress.…

The purpose of this publication is to establish a rationale for early childhood environmental education and to offer some guidelines and suggestions for planning and implementing developmentally appropriate environmental education programs for preschool children. This monograph is divided into four major sections. Part 1 outlines the rationale for…

This document describes the development of a Wisconsin state plan for career education. First, the profile of the proposal is presented. Next, the major activities are described, including formation of the advisory group; needs assessment of students, educational staff, and community groups; identification of resources; and the development of…

The purpose of the School Library Resources Program was to provide direct support to local public and non-public schools in their efforts to develop and maintain high quality library and media resources as an adjunct to their instructional program. There were two major emphases in the 3-year old program during the 1984-85 year. The first was to…