Purpose: Whereas the achievement of students has closely been linked with the quality of teachers and there is a bulk of literature supporting the need of teachers' preparation in enhancing their quality, professional development (PD) of teachers has been a central focus of reform initiatives in education across the globe. This paper aims at…

This chapter describes the historical and contemporary theoretical underpinnings of learning communities and argues that there is a need for more complex models in conceptualizing and assessing their effectiveness.

Droves of school turnaround providers are chasing the massive federal infusion of funds flowing into failing schools. They arrive armed with glossy materials, impressive sounding claims, and, often, citing their prior relationships or experiences with one's school to support their promises of great service and impressive outcomes. But, are their…

High school guidance counselors have a tremendous job of balancing their administrative responsibilities and providing students with career and college guidance. However, collaborative efforts that bring together guidance counselors, institutions of higher learning, and local community members can provide students with the guidance needed to set…

Preparing teachers to implement a new curriculum presents a significant but important challenge. While formal professional development programs can assist in this preparation, finding prescribed experiences that meet the needs of all teachers can be formidable and indeed may not always be the best option for promoting change in practice. Decisions…

Over the next five years, schools will be expected to replace more than 60% of key leadership in independent schools. This is just one example of the growing evidence of shortages of persons filling key leadership positions. Based on this increasing concern, there is a need to develop a strategy to ensure the efficacy of prospective heads and…

Research studies in the past decade have shown that computer technology is an effective means for widening educational opportunities, but most teachers neither use technology as an instructional delivery system nor integrate technology into their curriculum. Studies reveal a number of factors influencing teachers' decisions to use ICT in the…

Examines problem areas of training needs analysis (TNA), first by presenting a model of the TNA process, then by listing sources of data available for TNA (based on an analysis of the literature), and finally by proposing a method of choosing appropriate data-gathering techniques for TNA. (CT)

Communities across our nation--whether geographic, ethnic, or issue-based in their composition--are struggling to be healthy, to grow, and thrive. The production of knowledge and the sharing of knowledge by both the community and the higher education institution is the key to helping our communities improve. Retaining and valuing community-engaged…

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to determine current in-service needs of agricultural faculties at Razi University in Kermanshah province in Iran. A descriptive research methodology design was used to conduct the study. The target population of the study consisted of all agricultural faculties in College of Agriculture at Razi…

The Adult Education for the Homeless (AEH) program was initiated with funds provided through the McKinney Act of 1987. During its first 4 years, the AEH program served over 100,000 homeless adults. In 1991, 34,000 adults participated in AEH programs in 31 states; nearly half were women. Approximately 60% of those served were between the ages of 25…

This article examines the different ways in which the HIV/AIDS pandemic is negatively impacting on affected and infected children's willingness and ability to attend school in South Africa. Within the context of HIV/AIDS, South Africa has the mammoth responsibility of saving the present generation of children from a fate similar to or worse than…

The 12th iteration of the International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2019) is organized under the auspices of the International Educational Data Mining Society in Montreal, Canada. The theme of this year's conference is EDM in Open-Ended Domains. As EDM has matured it has increasingly been applied to open-ended and ill-defined tasks…

A study was conducted to describe the use of study centers and study center networks as a support system in distance education in Australia. Information was obtained by interviewing students, tutors, and coordinators of study centers within four distance-education systems. The University of Queensland, the Riverina College of Advanced Education,…