Professional learning is an important process in enabling teachers to update their pedagogical knowledge and practices. The use of online technologies to support professional learning has a number of benefits in terms of flexibility and scalability. However, it is not clear how well the approach impacts on teachers' classroom practices. This…

Investigating University-School Partnerships: A Volume in Professional Development School Research, the fourth book in the PDS Research Series developed by the same editors, includes a collection of organized papers that represent the best and latest examples of practitioner thinking, research, and program design and evaluation in the field at the…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of high-quality formative assessment tools to support teachers' incorporation of the Core Common State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Lessons from the first generation of standards-based reforms suggest that intense attention to high quality…

Addressing the problems of bullying in schools, this paper presents a novel and highly innovative pedagogical approach, building on the immersive power of virtual role-play. Educational role-play is widely accepted as a powerful instrument to change attitudes and behaviour, but faces some difficulties and disadvantages when applied to sensitive…

The iPod digital music player has been available since late 2001, and even in higher education, its presence has been seen, although mostly in the hands of students and rarely for outcomes-based educational purposes. In 2004, Duke University provided free iPods to all 1,650 first year students, which subsequently enabled faculty to create learning…

The move towards applying outcome-based education in teaching and learning at tertiary education level has become an important topic in Malaysia. Apart from the three learning domains; namely, cognitive, psychomotor and affective, the Ministry of Higher Education has determined eight learning outcomes which are important in providing wholesome…

This report discusses the highly decentralized Nordic model of distance education at the university level, which involves giving responsibility for carrying out distance education to the individual university departments. Meeting at the university and using the telephone are primary contact methods. The report includes a discussion of higher…

The UNESCO publication "Final Global Evaluation Report of the Experimental World Literacy Programme (EWLP): Lessons Learned from 11 Projects" is examined. The concept of functionality (emphasising economic development over political, cultural, and social development) was found to be unsuccessful. (LH)

The article is an explanation of an experiment in office supervisory development that took place in local government. The underlying principles of this work have relevance to developing supervisors and managers in an organizational setting. (Author)

The study part of a work-study program may provide an opportunity to attain the real objectives of the program (with the emphasis on student responsibility) and fulfill the role of the work-study coordinator. (Author)

Providing guidance to the administrator, supervisor, or reading consultant who may be called upon to evaluate a school or system-wide reading program, this practical checklist has been so arranged that each item calls for a "yes" answer. The checklist includes most of the effective features of a reading program as related to teachers,…

The paper reviews programs for gifted students in various countries, with particular attention to definitions of gifted students, identification procedures, program offerings, and evaluation procedures. The paper examines these aspects of programing in the following countries (sample subtopics in parentheses): Australia; the Union of Soviet…

The staff at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory developed a framework that classifies factors contributing to secondary vocational education effectiveness. These factors are organized into four categories--occupational, educational, ancillary, and societal. Another study reviewed the effective schooling literature and identified six…

Three examples of genetics and evolution simulation concerning Mendelian inheritance, genetic mapping, and natural selection are used to illustrate the use of simulations in modeling scientific/natural processes. First described is the HERED series, which illustrates such phenomena as incomplete dominance, multiple alleles, lethal alleles,…

This report documents a review of the literature in the area of vocabulary development. The various sections contain discussions of the need for vocabulary development and the current status of vocabulary development programs, a definition of vocabulary development, and suggestions for the technology and content of a vocabulary program. (Author)