In 2010, when the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development's (OECD) released its 2009 PISA results, the big story was that eight of the top ten performing systems were Asian. Almost everyone overlooked the strong performance of Canada: sixth overall and the highest English-speaking and French-speaking nation in the world. The four…

Although One-Stop Career Centers are mandated to promote client-centered services, patrons are ordinarily funneled through a standard procedure. Adult education principles suggest that these centers should be learner-centered and address individual differences. Therefore, the purpose of the this study was to describe the interaction of the…

Leadership is an important life skill that can and should be developed in young people. Sport and physical activity contexts have been identified as a prime venue for developing leadership in youths, but they are underused. Coaches and physical educators can play an integral role in helping their athletes and students to develop leadership skills.…

The purpose of this paper is to support school professionals in their work with parents as they meet IDEA (2004) requirements during IEP meetings. The authors share tools to help recognize when IDEA principles are violated and provide alternative responses that school professionals and parents can offer. Definitions and brief explanations of the…

The paper proposes a contingent, learner-centred usability evaluation method and a prototype tool of such systems. This is a new usability evaluation method for web-based learning systems using a set of empirically-supported usability factors and can be done effectively with limited resources. During the evaluation process, the method allows for…

Field trips to science museums can provide students with educational experiences, particularly when museum programs emphasize scientific inquiry skill building over content knowledge acquisition. We describe the creation and study of 2 programs designed to significantly enhance students' inquiry skills at any interactive science museum exhibit…

This article presents the author's critique on a new report titled "A Crucible Moment: College Learning and Democracy's Future", and focuses on civic education and civic engagement. The Obama administration's new report confronts a genuine problem in American education. The decline of civic education and knowledge in America is one of the few…

A "civic recession" is as worrisome as an economic recession. "A Crucible Moment: College Learning & Democracy's Future" (The National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement, 2012) should be praised for acknowledging the peril and seeking to rebuild the "depleted civic capital." Welcome, too, is the report's conviction that…

Based on over twenty years of empirical and intellectual work about knowledge production in the field of educational administration, I examine the origins and development of the canon, methodologies and knowledge workers in England. I focus on the field as being primarily concerned with professional activity and how and why this was established…

The environmental and social effects of hurricane-related flooding and the recent oil disaster in southeastern Louisiana, and the current global crisis in world fisheries, are case studies that reveal the need for scientific work that is carried out and disseminated with conscious attention paid to the important relationship between scientists,…

This essay argues for a particular form of student blogging as a powerful tool for generating and sustaining student engagement and conversation. After a brief discussion of pedagogical principles, "hub-and-spoke" blogging is presented as a means to facilitate a more student and discussion-centered classroom. Based upon recent research and the…

Countries around the world refer to twenty-first century education as essential to maintaining personal and national economic advantage and draw on this discourse to advocate for and embark on educational reform. This paper examines issues around education reform, particularly in British Columbia. It argues that reformers should give careful…

Completion by Design, an initiative sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, seeks to raise community college completion rates for large numbers of students while containing college costs, maintaining open access, and ensuring the quality of college programs and credentials. The goal of this guide is to assist community college…

Professional development is defined as the main route to quality teaching, which in turn leads to improved learning for all students. Because the real challenges of professional development become apparent only after the implementation process has begun, the present paper focuses on integrating professional development experiences with classroom…

Background/Context: This article calls attention to the restrictive notions of inclusive education promulgated within the discourse of special education in the United States and asserts the value of using disability studies in education to support broader conceptualizations of inclusion that potentially incorporate all students.…