"The First-Year Seminar: Designing, Implementing, and Assessing Courses to Support Student Learning and Success," a five-volume series, is designed to assist educators who are interested in launching a first-year seminar or revamping an existing program. Each volume examines a different aspect of first-year seminar design or…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), also known as the stimulus package, appropriated $100 billion for education and included $3 billion for school improvement grants (SIGs) to help reform low-performing schools. This amount was in addition to the $546 million provided by the regular fiscal year 2009 appropriations bill for…

On September 22, 2012, NSF announced its decision to fund a three-year project, "Models for Information Assurance Education and Outreach" (MIAEO). In the first year of grant operation, MIAEO has invited 18 high school students, two K-12 teachers, and two CSUB student assistants to conduct research explorations in the fields of…

"The Measures of Success" (MoS) project set out to develop, implement, and present the results of an evaluation model that could assess longer-term outcomes of workplace education programs for increasing literacy and Essential Skills. The model was tested at 18 work sites in Manitoba and Nova Scotia and included training programs that…

Race to the Top represented a new paradigm in federal education. Instead of spreading relatively modest dollars evenly across all jurisdictions through funding formulas--as virtually all federal education funding has been and continues to be spent--a small number of successful states received all of the available funding, and in turn made it…

This article describes a model that aims to create a greater ability to recognize the negative aspects of making unethical decisions. To this end, the authors developed an ethical decision-making model to aid students through the process of analyzing these situations--a model that is easy to remember and apply. Through this model, the COVER model,…

Academies were launched by David Blunkett, the then Secretary of State for Education, in March 2000 in a speech on transforming secondary education. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) was commissioned by the predecessor of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in February 2003 to conduct an independent longitudinal evaluation of…

This paper explores definitions and understandings of restorative practices in education. It offers a critique of current theoretical models of restorative justice originally derived from the criminal justice system and now becoming popular in educational settings. It questions the appropriateness of these concepts as they are being introduced to…

This article is about how the West Boca Raton Community High School's Culinary Arts Academy achieved national model status as it works to prepare the next generation of culinary artists. The culinary academy, established in 2004, adopted national standards that have served as a foundation for its excellence. In November 2007, the National Career…

This chapter examines how factors both internal and external to Cooperative Extension have influenced its commitment and capability to assess the quality and impact of its programs. The authors begin by documenting how the nature of Extension programming has changed dramatically in response to societal needs over the course of the organization's…

The current study examines the inherent challenges of the wide-scale implementation and replication of program models. Using the Healthy Family America (HFA) program model, the study reviews the adaptation/adoption debate and highlights the ways in which program adoption and program adaptation could coexist to facilitate successful program…

The paper aims to analyse several scientific approaches how to evaluate, implement or choose learning content and software suitable for personalised users/learners needs. Learning objects metadata customisation method as well as the Method of multiple criteria evaluation and optimisation of learning software represented by the experts' additive…

The vocational education and training (VET) sector is a major pathway to post-school education for indigenous students, yet questions are being raised about the capacity of the VET system to provide successful outcomes for the indigenous apprentices and trainees it attracts. Within a system plagued by high cancellation rates in general, indigenous…

The theoretical framework for the present study encompassed the four pillars of the Performance Based Diploma System (PBDS) program: small learning communities, educational technology, flexible scheduling, and mentoring. This mixed-methods study uses appropriate portions of the Context-Input-Process-Product program evaluation model to assess…

Differences in intern performance, as measured by a Praxis III-similar instrument were found between interns supervised in three supervisory models: Traditional triad model, cohort model, and distance supervision. Candidates in this study's particular form of distance supervision were not as effective as teachers as candidates in traditional-triad…