After-school physical activity programs for youth can develop and extend physical and mental skills necessary for health across the life span. With the considerable time and effort required to operate such programs, it is important that youth are achieving tangible goals and benefit from the programs. Unfortunately, many after-school programs lack…

In this paper, we present details of a partnership undertaken by four universities with field-based, alternative STEM teacher preparation programs and a large urban school district to provide ongoing professional support for teachers serving as mentors for individuals preparing for careers in high-poverty schools. We also present key findings…

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the impact of task-based instruction (TBI) and traditional instruction (TI) on the motivation and vocabulary development in secondary language education. The focus of the study was to also find out the perceptions of teachers about implementing these two instructional methods in their…

This contribution gives an account of the results of an action research in which a task-based plurilingual programme was implemented with postgraduate students of Foreign Languages and International Business. Using a mixed-methods approach, combining questionnaire, interview and observation data, we sought to explore the degree to which the…

In this paper we describe a "Train the Tutor" programme (TtT) for developing the metacognitive skills, facilitator skills, and tutor skills of students in a problem based learning (PBL) context. The purpose of the programme was to train 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate students in psychology to become effective PBL tutors for…

We assessed the relationship of level of QualityCore[R] implementation and student achievement in Algebra I. The study is based on 1,291 9th grade students in three large metropolitan school districts who took EXPLORE in the fall and the QualityCore Algebra I end-of-course assessment (EOC) in the spring. During the same period, the students' 41…

The benefits of students learning together in peer-assisted learning (PAL) programmes have been widely reported. Implementing and evaluating PAL programmes provide specific challenges for academic staff. This paper explains how action research was used to design, trial and refine a same-year PAL programme to enhance student engagement. The PAL…

One of the challenges in in-service teacher education is how teachers can be given professional development (PD) that enables them to respond to national curriculum and policy change. In recent years primary teachers in New Zealand have been inundated with Ministry of Education-funded professional development programmes to help them implement a…

Authors in this paper present the design and implementation of daily routines in Slovenian kindergartens. Slovenian national document for preschool education, "Curriculum for Kindergartens" (1999), describes daily kindergarten activities (communication and interaction with and among children, use of compliment and reprehension, and rules…

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to highlight the training factors that mostly affect trainees' perception of learning and training usefulness. Design/methodology/approach: A new research model is proposed exploring the relationships between a trainer's performance, training programme components, outcomes of the learning process and training…

Background/Context: As accountability pressures have mounted toward ever-higher targets under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, low-achieving schools have sought new tools for raising achievement. The association between parent involvement and student achievement is well established, though the association is an indirect relationship mediated…

For many decades now, applied linguistics studies have investigated the impact of second language acquisition on various aspects of the development of school children. Few studies, however, have focused on the simultaneous acquisition of two additional/second languages in the classroom. The present paper explores the impact of a spoken Arabic…

When faculty evaluation systems are proposed, students, faculty, and administrators often think only of questionnaires and assignment of data-processing tasks. Much more must be considered, including balancing the needs of all constituencies, designing student-rating forms and administration procedures, and the treatment and uses of the…

This handbook for administrators of school district mathematics programs outlines a set of procedures for implementing the Pennsylvania Comprehensive Mathematics Plan (PCMP) and provides a degree of standardization and a planning framework to encourage the communication of related ideas and successes. The procedural steps, instruments, checklists,…

This handbook is intended for teachers new to adult basic education (ABE) programs and attempts to cover concepts of adult learning and the role of the educator as facilitator and resource for self-directed learners. Background information is provided concerning the phenomenon of illiteracy with discussions of basic principles (particularly…