In urban schools overwhelmed by increasing demands to raise test scores, exclusive focus on increasing academic competencies has proven ineffective. School-wide, comprehensive social-emotional and character development (SECD), focused on the cultivation of Noble Purpose, provides an alternative pathway toward life, college, and career success. We…

Elementary school students in today's urban classrooms face many life circumstances at home and in their communities that contribute to stress and coping needs. These stressors are often brought into the classroom, which impact learning, behaviors, and overall academic performance. Mindfulness has been used in classroom settings, particularly with…

Beginning teachers have to figure out how to "fit in" once they "get in" their new work environments. New teachers do know they need to perform all aspects of their formal contracts. New teachers may not know there are also extra-role expectations that exist beyond those in the formal contract. The extra-role behaviors teachers…

School policy regarding student failure of courses at the K-12 level generally focuses on grade retention or social promotion, neither of which addresses the students' needs. Grade retention has never been effective in helping students gain mastery of course objectives. To reduce the numbers of social promotions, many states require 8th graders to…

This pilot study investigated the effectiveness of using a thematic intervention approach for children with language disorders. Twenty students receiving language therapy at a university speech and hearing clinic were selected as participants in this pilot study. This pilot project was entitled the REAL Project with the term REAL being an acronym…

"Gift of Tongues: Passing the Ohio Mathematics Graduation Test" examines the Ohio Graduation Mathematics Tests of 2004, 2005, and 2006 in the context of bilingual test takers at one of Cleveland's high schools and reports findings from a promising, bilingual pilot project in 2007 that may point to a new strategy for passing the…

When preservice teacher programs are failing to adequately prepare collegiate students towards becoming thriving teachers, what can be done? After many complaints were voiced from my student body, a survey was constructed, which revealed student satisfaction levels were lowest in the following areas: 1) The variety of opportunities to teach…

A pilot study was conducted in an urban Buffalo Public School to improve communication and relationships with families. Based on the research of Ruby Payne (2001), Canisius College and Early Childhood Center #17 (ECC#17) collaborated to create a school video. A copy was distributed to every student in the school. All students, faculty, and staff…

The investigation of the impact of the "growth" approach, based on humanistic or Third Force psychology, involved developing a "growth" model based on humanistic psychology, pilot "testing" the model, and drawing implications regarding the model's potential for inservice education. The data indicated that the "growth" approach to inservice…

Technical assistance given to facilitate implementation of continuous progress programs in a Georgia elementary school system is discussed in terms of long-range goals for staff development and general objectives for a continuous progress model and its mainstreaming program. (DS)