The middle grades have become the agreed upon starting point for high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) programs, as this represents a critical time for students making important decisions that may have a lasting impact on their careers. However, there lacks a common view among state and local leaders on what makes up a high-quality middle…

Experiential learning is an effective educational tool across many academic disciplines, including career development. Nine different institutions bridged by the National Institutes of Health Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training Consortium compared their experiments in rethinking and expanding training of predoctoral graduate students and…

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of a program based on the Toastmasters Approach on developing EFL student teachers' oral communication skills. The study adopted the pre-experimental one group pre-posttest design. Participants comprised a voluntary group (N = 9) from third year, English Department (basic education),…

This article describes the successful stories of the Early Mathematics Education Project at Erikson Institute in Chicago. It intends to address three questions related to the project's work: What is the purpose and scope of the program? How does the program work to enhance the mathematical competence of early childhood teachers? What are the…

This article outlines some of the major factors leading to the introduction of the New Zealand National Qualifications Framework (NQF). It also describes the NQF's design, outlines changes that were introduced following its introduction in 1991, and explores its impact to date. The New Zealand case is interesting, as the agency responsible for the…

This article presents generalisations drawn from experience gained designing and renewing study programmes so that the use of learning outcomes became the underlying principle of curriculum organisation. Conceptions of a purpose (profile), aim and outcomes of a study programme are presented, their formulation requirements are discussed and…

In this article, relevance of practice during university studies is highlighted, as well as the main stages of its organisation, qualitative parameters, as well as criteria and indicators that validate them are defined. Discussion on the idea that taking into consideration qualitative parameters of organising practice as a component of studies…

The evaluation of educational or social programmes is paramount for establishing success or impact in higher education. Evaluation questions about programme goals (e.g. better performance of first-year students) or about the quality of programme strategies (design and implementation) and effectiveness of delivery (coordinator inputs and…

Educational technology-related professional development (ETPD) can be designed in many different ways. ETPD varies by general purposes and goals, specific learning objectives, curriculum content, student grade levels for which the strategies and tools presented are appropriate, professional development models used, how it is matched to…

There is an emerging body of literature advocating a "critical" approach to community service learning with an explicit social justice aim. A social change orientation, working to redistribute power, and developing authentic relationships are most often cited in the literature as points of departure from traditional service-learning. This…

Administrators, who assess others, cannot themselves be immune from assessment. A plan for administrator assessment is offered. (Editor/RK)

In U.S. K-12 public education, incentive pay for educators remains firmly fixed as a high-interest policy topic and has recently become a popular reform initiative in many school systems. The Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF), created in 2006 by the U.S. Department of Education, is at the forefront of this policy movement and has provided hundreds of…

This article describes a 12-step procedural model for redirecting ineffective physical education programs. The procedure identifies expected outcomes, offers a rationale for each, provides inservice education necessary for program improvement, incorporates guidelines from the literature, and emphasizes documentation of program effectiveness. (MT)

Results of a survey of baccalaureate programs for dental hygienists concerning their program structure, objectives, and graduate employment patterns are reported and their implications for program development and research efforts are discussed. (MSE)

Students from seven institutions of higher education reported their preferences for different paradigms of service at the beginning of their service-learning courses. At the end of the courses, they described the associated service activities in terms of the same paradigms and also completed scales describing their learning outcomes and attitudes…