Graduating sufficient numbers of healthcare providers to fill the needs of an aging population in the United States is a major social concern. To address this problem physical therapist assistant (PTA) programs need to improve their graduation rates to keep up with the demand for qualified personnel. Applying Senge's theory of effective systems, 1…

The changing roles of two primary (elementary) school music teachers are explored in this article, and how these changed roles have impacted on music programmes in their respective schools. Change readiness provides the theoretical framework for investigating the way both teachers responded to their changing roles. The first teacher's role changed…

Using qualitative data from two Chilean public schools, I interrogate the expectation that standardised testing motivates staff to critically self-assess themselves and to be accountable for failing evaluations. The research findings bring new insights into looking at ways in which school members, especially head managers, strategically debate,…

More than 6,000 charter schools exist in the United States, and of these 120 are Montessori charter schools. When studying charter school practices, researchers often examine issues such as performance accountability measures and effectiveness of charter school curricula. In doing so, the outcomes often overlook the challenges for teachers as they…

This issue of "ZDM Mathematics Education" focuses on the formative assessment of young children's mathematical thinking, with an emphasis on computer-based approaches drawing upon on cognitive and educational research. The authors discuss several different assessment methods, including clinical interviewing, observation, and testing,…

This article examines the ways neoliberal school culture mediates the schooling experiences of elementary emergent bilinguals. I draw upon narrative inquiry to privilege the voices and stories of the children who contributed to this work. With the exception of children in first grade, who were sheltered from the discourse of accountability,…

This case study explores the relationship between the results obtained by a group of Industrial Engineering students on a national standardized English test and the impact these results had on language program improvement. The instruments used were interviews, document analysis, observations, surveys, and test results analysis. Findings indicate…

African American and other students of color have continued to score lower than White students in many classrooms and on achievement tests in every subject, especially in reading. The purpose of this study was to explore if there is a relationship between a teacher's cultural responsiveness and their third grade African American students'…

This study examined science programs, instruction, and student outcomes at 30 elementary schools in a large, urban district in the northeast United States in an effort to understand whether there were meaningful differences in the quality, quantity and cost of science education when provided by a science specialist or a classroom teacher. Student…

As military connected students transition, the scope and sequencing of courses and expectations for standardized testing is often inconsistent and unpredictable. Military leaders work diligently with education agencies to develop programs and legislature which levels the playing field for these students in order to provide them the most…

This study explores the experience of becoming an elementary teacher in an educational climate where standardization and accountability increasingly affect what happens in classrooms across the country by following two beginning teachers. Specifically, this longitudinal study in which two first-year teachers' stories are analyzed and restoried…

This article traces the work of community-based popular educators with an explicit commitment to "Freirean" popular education as they shifted from teaching in a community-based setting to an after-school program focused on standardized test-preparation. Drawing from ethnographic observation and interviews, it examines educators'…

This study investigated the potential benefits of a blended learning approach on the reading skills of low socioeconomic status students in Grades 1 and 2. Treatment students received English language arts instruction that was both teacher-led and technology-based. Comparisons were made with control students who received the same English language…

Purpose: Aspects of intellectual competence would not be sufficient for quality teaching that requires a mix of intellectual and personal qualities. The purpose of this paper was to elicit personal attributes of teachers' college applicants. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative case study consisted of 99 participants aged 20-24 years of…

Researchers and practitioners alike have noted that Hmong students in the United States do not achieve as well as their monolingual peers and other bilingual students. The current mixed-methods study is designed to describe reading development and achievement of 4th-grade Hmong students in one large, urban school district. This study explores the…