The Youth Villages Transitional Living program is intended to help youth who were formerly in foster care or juvenile justice custody, or who are otherwise unprepared for adult life, to make the transition to independent living. Youth Villages, which serves emotionally and behaviorally troubled young people, operates a number of programs in…

Since its publication in 2012, "The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students" has helped countless classroom teachers, special educators, and others implement an effective, new approach to teaching focused on skill-building, practical interventions, and purposeful, positive interactions…

Accountability and dissemination of its work are important elements of Cedefop's policy to provide assurance to stakeholders for resources used and results achieved. For a centre of expertise and policy advice like Cedefop, the impact of which is hard to gauge for the common European citizen, legitimacy of public expenditure is important, and is…

This evaluation study examined the effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of the statewide master plan for professional development (PD Master Plan) by investigating seven questions. With regard to effectiveness, (1) What was the level of implementation for the PD Master Plan, overall and by individual providers? (2) What were the impediments, if…

Web 2.0 technologies characterised by user participation and sharing have been used increasingly in academic environments. In such learning environments, it is critical to engage learners as active participants rather than passive consumers of online content. The present study attempts to conceptualise the participation issue central to blogs…

Teaching residency programs that blend coursework with clinical experiences have emerged nationwide to prepare aspiring teachers for the demanding reality of teaching in high-need urban schools. The Teaching Residency Program for Critical Shortage Areas was created to help urban school districts with the challenge of recruiting and retaining…

The importance of social capital as a resource for rural development, especially in the context of projects involving joint participation of state and civil society, is widely recognized today. This paper analyzes the obstacles confronted by local players--small farmers and government organizations--in the development of an irrigation area through…

Purpose: Despite the popularity of school "turnaround" and "portfolio district" management as solutions to low performance, there has been limited research on these strategies. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap by exploring the strategic case of Los Angeles Unified School District's Public School Choice…

This report, based on a spring 2013 survey of state education agency officials who oversee K-12 education in Common Core-adopting states, describes states' perceptions about the variety of ways in which they are collaborating with their state's postsecondary institutions to prepare for and implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Other…

Background: Schools are responsible for handling life-threatening events due to a variety of conditions, including anaphylaxis. California is one of a few states that permits school districts to stock emergency epinephrine auto-injectors and to train unlicensed assistive personnel to administer epinephrine for a life-threatening event. We surveyed…

A growing number of countries are introducing qualification frameworks (QFs) following a common definition of outcomes, level descriptors, and a set of occupational or knowledge fields. Botswana has been no exception to this trend. The passing of the Vocational Training Act (1998) led to the creation of the Botswana National Vocational…

STEM--the catchy shorthand for "science, technology, engineering and mathematics"--has been part of the school improvement discussion for more than a decade, as educational leaders and policy makers have underscored the importance of these areas in preparing students for an internationally competitive, 21st-century economy. But while the…

School accountability and student assessment are closely associated in educational jurisdictions' attempts to monitor student achievement, focus instruction, and improve subsequent student and school performance. The research reported in this article examines the School Effectiveness Framework in Ontario, Canada, exploring the foundations upon…

Restructuring large schools into smaller, more personalized learning communities focused on developing students academically, socially, and emotionally has the potential to produce better outcomes for students. Although small school reform in large urban high schools has been the focus of the research literature on school reform in the last…

Global food security and sustainability, animal welfare, dietary health, and socially just relations of food production have become prominent societal issues. They are of particular concern for young people as their lives progress towards becoming independent consumers and citizens with the capacity to shape food systems of the future. This paper…