Since 2005, the AISD Central Office Work Environment Survey has been conducted to gather information about working conditions. The following report presents the survey results for Spring 2013 for AISD central office employees in the Chief Academic Office. Separate reports were published for each central office group.

While a range of research has been done on hybrid learning and online discussions, few studies have examined the voice of students in regard to their perceptions of these types of learning experiences. This article presents current research findings gathered from part-time graduate students enrolled in a hybrid course. The students' perceptions…

The objective of this research was to explore design thinking among teams of high school students. This objective is encompassed in the research question driving this inquiry: How do teams of high school students allocate time across stages of design? Design thinking on the professional level typically occurs in a team environment. Many…

This research aims to investigate how to develop pre-service teachers in early childhood education through employing group-based problem-solving. Participant in this research are 4th year study of pre-service teachers in early childhood education. Forty seven pre-service teachers were selected in the second semester, academic year 2010 by…

Bashing public schools seems to be in vogue these days. Admittedly, some of the bashing is well deserved: inappropriate teacher-student relationships, cheating on standardized tests, embezzlement, and other illegal acts. The reality is that education is a people business and when an individual deals with as many people as educators and…

Collaborative group problem solving allows students to wrestle with different interpretations and solutions brought forth by group members, enhancing both critical thinking and problem solving skills. Since problem solving in groups is a common practice in agricultural education, instructors are often put in the position of organizing student…

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among U.S. Army soldiers. Suicide-related ideation, which is associated with suicide attempts and suicide, can cause considerable distress. In a sample of 1,663 recently redeployed soldiers, we used factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test the associations between combat exposure, unit…

Recent research suggests that personal and institutional constraints often limit the degree to which professional development impacts teaching practice. Darling-Hammond suggests that one of those constraints is time in schools for collaborative planning. She cites high performing schools in Europe and Asia that have three to four times more…

Stage Challenge is a performing arts competition for New Zealand secondary schools. This longitudinal study used observations, repeated questionnaires, informal conversations, and a graffiti board to follow the 5-month experience of a student-led girls' team aged 10 to 17 years (n = 103). The focus was on the quality of their experience and what…

In this qualitative study, the authors explored an online support group for individuals who self-injure. Twenty members of a private and moderated online group responded to questions about their history of self-injury and experiences with the online self-injury support group. Themes emerged related to the relational and emotional aspects of…

Trainee teachers undergo a complex series of changes as they move through their training, from subject specialists to teachers of their subjects. This paper considers the results of a small-scale action research project, part of which used blogs as a medium for developing students' understanding of geographical concepts, and as a space for…

For a century, democratic values have called for abandoning coercive approaches and teaching children and youth to be responsible citizens. The authors explore strategies for creating respectful environments and positive group cultures with challenging youth. They offer suggestions to adult group facilitators to support youth in developing…

This account draws upon learning from an incident in an action learning set where an individual challenged a mandatory organisational requirement. As a facilitator I reflect upon my initial defensive reaction to this challenge. The use of critical action learning to inform ourselves as facilitators of the underlying tensions between set members…

The opportunities in which university professors collaborate with the practicing school teachers in a teacher study group are few. This study investigated how a university professor facilitated a collaborative teacher study group to enhance teachers' professional growth. Five primary school teachers and a university professor collaborated on…

In this article, the authors share the skills required to plan and execute a successful days-long backpacking trip, which they have discovered are also useful in advising student leaders. The authors' lessons were originally learned while backpacking with several friends. The six of them had planned and trained for months to do a six-day, 50-mile…