In this paper, we present a synchronous text-based communication tool, referred to as Adaptive Communication Tool (ACT), which provides capabilities for adaptation and personalization. ACT supports both the free and the structured form of dialogue. The structured dialogue is implemented by two types of Scaffolding Sentence Templates (SST); i.e.…

We propose a framework for evaluating the degree of authenticity of instructional tasks used within a teacher education program. First, we provide a defense for authenticity as an exemplary aspect of education. Second, we synthesize the theoretical literature on authenticity into conceptual codes. Using these codes, we build our authenticity…

Research for Action's third and final report completes a three-year evaluation study of the Pennsylvania High School Coaching Initiative (PAHSCI). This report presents lessons from the PAHSCI model of school-based instructional coaching and mentoring as a vehicle for job-embedded professional learning. Reporting from an analysis using qualitative…

"The Learning Principal" is an eight-page newsletter published eight times a year. It focuses on the important and unique work of school principals. This issue includes: (1) Efficacy Can Overcome Classroom Barriers (Valerie von Frank); (2) Q & A: Leadership, Learning Communities Change School Culture (Valerie von Frank); (3) Focus on NSDC's…

This dissertation examines the content of a required classroom management course to determine how preservice teachers are prepared for managing problem behaviors. Qualitative content analysis of interviews with four adjunct classroom management course instructors, their course syllabi, textbooks, assignments and projects, ancillary course…

The level of learners' expertise has been used as a metric and diagnostic mechanism of instruction. This metric influences mental effort directly according to the applications of cognitive load theory. Cognitive efficiency, an optimal measurement technique of expertise, was developed by Kalyuga and Sweller to replace instructional efficiency in…

The aim of the reported study was to explore how science teachers made sense of their roles and responsibilities in teaching and assessing science coursework. The focus was on the teacher assessment, the feedback that teachers gave to students and, how they perceived their role when they taught and assessed students' science coursework reports.…

The authors explored the credibility of using informal reading inventories and writing samples for 138 students (K-4) to evaluate the effectiveness of a summer literacy program. Running Records (a measure of a child's reading level) and teacher experience during daily reading instruction were used to estimate the reliability of the more formal…

Over the last decade alternative assessment strategies have become an important part of the debate regarding the reform and restructuring of American education. The purpose of assessment should be to improve student learning, which means it should be integral to the teaching and learning process. For this to occur, a seamlessness needs to exist…

This article discusses the significant contributions of Peter H. Rossi to the field of program evaluation. It was the publication of "Evaluation: A Systematic Approach" by Peter Rossi, Howard Freeman, and Sonia Rosenbaum in 1979 that most emphatically marked the point at which program evaluation had clearly consolidated as a distinct field of…

Government agencies and members of the educational research community have petitioned for research-based curricula. The ambiguity of the phrase "research-based", however, undermines attempts to create a shared research foundation for the development of, and informed choices about, classroom curricula. This article presents a framework…

Two studies are reported, comparing the browser loading times of webpages created using common Web development techniques. The loading speeds were estimated in 12 Asian countries by members of the "PANdora" network, funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to conduct collaborative research in the development of…

This two-year study focused on the lived terms of inquiry in middle-school science classrooms. The conditions that enable teachers to see and act on science learning as ongoing inquiry were deliberately sought in Year 2. Nine science teachers participated in search of capacities connecting curriculum, teaching, and assessment for greater student…

Purpose: The School of Nursing and Midwifery at De Montfort University has been consistently successful in producing student midwives who are, by the end of their chosen programme, fit for practice, purpose and award according to the DMU. This paper aims to investigate this claim. Design/methodology/approach: The paper looks at De Montfort…

This study reports the preliminary results from a field test of the College-readiness Performance Assessment System (C-PAS), a large-scale, 6th-12th grade criterion-referenced assessment system that utilizes classroom-embedded performance tasks to measure student progress toward the development of key cognitive skills associated with success in…