This study tested whether and how methods called 'Play Time/Social Time' and 'I Can Problem Solve' contribute to the improvement of social skills and the development of theory of mind (ToM) in children. The participants in the experiment were nearly 200 (N = 196) preschool children with low social functioning, with and without disabilities. The…

The Big Lift is a collective impact initiative extending from preschool to third grade in San Mateo County, California. The collective impact effort consists of people and organizations from various sectors uniting to tackle a single, complicated societal problem -- in this case, third grade reading achievement. The initiative is a partnership of…

In 2013, the 83rd Texas Legislature established the Foundation High School Program, which allows for significant local variation in graduation planning and represents one of the most substantial changes to Texas curricula in recent history. The new policy (HB5) lowered graduation requirements for mathematics, science and social studies;…

The present study is the first empirical research in Hong Kong to evaluate a peer career counselling programme consisting of a 3.5-day training and a school-based service project. Using a quasi-experimental design, the evaluation was based on the Career Readiness Scales ratings at three waves of data collection. Results showed that the programme…

The challenge study is a project based learning curriculum at Technical High School aimed at the construction of a wireless communication system. The first period was engineering issues in the construction of an artificial satellite and the second period was a positional locating system based on the general purpose wire-less device--ZigBee device.…

Legislations mandates that educators use evidence-based practices (EBPs) that are supported by scientifically based research. EBPs have demonstrated a likelihood to work for students with disabilities. EBPs should match targeted needs of the student receiving the instruction, which sometimes requires educators to search for the best intervention…

Following four years of continuous expansion in scale, the Confucius Institutes have begun entering the stage of implicit development: the most pressing question that needs answering is whether the Confucius Institutes, which are devoted to the dissemination of Chinese culture, can achieve the spread of Chinese culture overseas through day-to-day…

Approximately 5 to 7% of school-age students have a learning disability related to mathematics (Shalev, Auerbach, Manor, & Gross-Tsur, 2000), but the percentage of students who experience mathematics difficulty is much greater. For example, results from the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP; National Center for Education…

This brief outlines some simple methods that Teacher Incentive Fund grants could add to their local evaluations to find out how well they are promoting attainment of the four overall TIF goals. The methods described in this brief can help grantees determine if they are moving toward improving effectiveness, student achievement, and equity.…

Preschool Development Grant (PDG) grantees and Head Start programs are funded to provide high-quality preschool education and comprehensive services to families meeting federal poverty guidelines. The overlap of program standards and services across these two programs provides unique opportunities for partnerships. This document provides examples…

The purpose of this qualitative program evaluation was to examine the impact a two-year new teacher induction program had on teachers' feelings of support, satisfaction, and self-efficacy. The program purports that higher feelings of support, satisfaction, and self-efficacy in teachers will lead to lower teacher attrition. In turn, research shows…

This study is a program evaluation of the Life Skills Program at Mammoth Heights Elementary in the Douglas County School District. The overall goal of the Life Skills Program is to increase students' independent and daily living skills through the teaching of communication, social-emotional skills and academic skills. Students in the Life Skills…

There is a current crisis in computer science teacher certification in US, which primarily centers around a growing confusion in licensure requirements. Some universities have created Computer Educator Licensure (CEL) programs to better address this confusion and to help train the next generation of K-12 computer science educators. The authors of…

Teacher education provided in U.S. colleges and universities has been routinely criticized since its inception in the early nineteenth century. These programs are uneven in quality and can be improved. Advocacy groups and self-proclaimed social entrepreneurs are working aggressively to deregulate the preparation of teachers and to expand…

In every era, publicly funded programs seek to document their value. During the centennial celebrations of Cooperative Extension's legislation and establishment, this cry for data became even louder and the demand more intense. The Western Extension Directors Association (WEDA) tasked their Western Region Program Leadership Committee (WRPLC) to…