Education reform is increasingly portrayed as a means to improve a nation's global competitiveness as measured by its performance in international league tables of pupil achievement. This has created a demand for comparative research which identifies "what works" in high-performing school systems. A diverse array of consultancies, thinks…

The importance of lifelong learning has been recognized for many years and consequently many countries, disregarding their geographical location, differences in education systems and traditions, have adopted their lifelong learning policies to develop the lifelong learning system. The goal of the present comparative research is to study the…

This review examined classroom science instruction for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). A total of 11 group and single-subject studies were analyzed. Across all group studies, a conservatively calculated mean effect size of 0.471 was obtained indicating the interventions as a whole had at least a small to moderate impact on…

In this study, the researcher explored collegiate faculty use and perception of learning- centered strategies to assess student performance on various learning tasks. Through this study, the researcher identified the assessment strategies that faculty participants most frequently used, as well as the strategies that they perceived to be most…

The majority of the nation's first-year college students are not prepared to assume postsecondary level studies. Many are diverted to developmental education programs and most never attain postsecondary credentials. Educational reform is on the national agenda and challenges community colleges to address the growing lack of postsecondary…

This article presents findings from an investigation of the overall effectiveness of Michigan's Freedom to Learn (FTL) One-to-One initiative. The major goal of the FTL initiative was to help students to gain 21st century knowledge and skills while increasing their learning and achievement through the integration of over 20,000 laptop computers…

Since the mid-1990s, the concept of professional learning communities has arisen in the education field in the West, aiming to improve teachers' professional competency by using collaborative approaches. Western studies indicate that these strategies help teachers achieve professional growth. Schools in China have had a long history of enhancing…

This study addresses preservice teachers' perceptions toward online experiences, specifically, their perceptions about utilizing an online science methods curriculum versus a traditional methods curriculum. Thirty-eight senior level preservice teachers at a midwestern U.S. university completed surveys about their experiences during their methods…

Teacher and trainer training is one of the most important determinants of the success of reforms in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems in recent years in the Mediterranean region. This is based upon the assumption that the role of teachers and trainers in the reform of TVET is a dual one; that of stakeholder and…

This article contrasts two major attempts at educational reform with regard to literacy. Starting with a brief background to the introduction of the National Literacy Strategy, together with an analysis of research into effective literacy teaching, it presents qualitative research carried out in the form of a comparative study of the National…

In a 1994 study commissioned by the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, Mergendoller, Johnston, Rockman, & Willis (1994) examined four exemplary institutions to identify their approaches to integrating technology into teacher education. A decade later, the field would benefit from a comparison of current approaches of infusing…

This article presents findings from a case study on the National College of School Leadership (NCSL) in Nottingham, England, an exemplary program that bridges the theory-to-practice gap using distributed leadership philosophies to develop leadership among school administrators and has manifested a positive impact on school leadership in England.…