"A Focus on Professional Development" is the fourth in the Research-Based Practices in Early Reading Series published by the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) at Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL). Because reading proficiency is fundamental to student achievement across all subjects and grades, the preparation of the teachers…

This report highlights the research on how schools across the country have successfully transformed themselves into high-performing schools. It provides suggestions for how school leaders can use this knowledge base as they examine their schools' instructional and administrative practices. Chapter titles reflect the contents: (1)…

This collection of papers is divided into two parts. After "Introduction" (L. Kathy Heilenman), Part 1, "Research and Language Program Directors: The Relationship," includes "Research Domains and Language Program Direction" (Bill VanPatten); "Language Program Direction and the Modernist Agenda" (Celeste…

Although there has been great concern about the incidence of bullying in American schools, there has only recently been research conducted in American schools on this problem. This volume considers the difficulties involved in various definitions of bullying, theoretical perspectives on bullying, current clinical research findings on the dynamics…

This report focuses on an investigation of assumptions and principles underpinning training and assessment programs offered by a civil construction company in Australia. Section 1 is an introduction. To conceptualize the new workplace and consider the role of literacy and numeracy in it, Section 2 addresses changing work conditions, features of a…

This book describes how American teenagers develop attitudes and acquire skills to achieve their career goals and expectations. It presents findings of a study that followed the progress of more than 1,000 students from 13 school districts from 1992-97. Focus is on the experiences of adolescents as they were reported in the first few years of data…

This paper describes the results of two specific primary surveys, one of IT professionals in the city of Bangalore and their role in making the city a corridor for international mobility of Indian professionals, and the second survey of health professionals (doctors and nurses) in the city of New Delhi. In these surveys, highly skilled Indians…

Understanding the Early Years (UEY) is a national research initiative. It provides communities with information to enable them to make informed decisions about the best policies and most appropriate programs for families with young children. It seeks to provide information about the influence of community factors on children's early development…

Through offering insight into different approaches to quality assurance, with input from those who provide leadership in post-secondary education in British Columbia and Canada, this project's goal is to recommend whether Canadian jurisdictions should consider a new quality assurance regime, and to provide potential new models to consider in that…

In 2006, the British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education and the Universities Presidents' Council collaborated to survey graduates of masters and doctorate programs in order to measure graduate outcomes and provide feedback on the links between graduate education and the labour market. The 2006 Graduate Survey was administered to graduates…

This report presents the results of two years of work by a 12-member task force which surveyed faculty and administrators at 51 universities regarding their opinions about the importance and stature of teaching as the central role of the university. Over 800 questionnaires were returned, with one from the provost at each institution and the rest…

A study evaluated the Early Literacy program that served 2,021 underachieving pupils in grades 1 (1600) and 2 (421) in the Columbus, Ohio, public schools. The purpose of the Early Literacy program was to provide early intervention to underachieving first- and second-grade pupils who appeared unlikely to learn to read successfully without reading…

A study evaluated the Title I Early Literacy program that served 1,503 underachieving pupils in grades 1 (1,169) and 2 (334) in the Columbus, Ohio, public schools. The purpose of the Early Literacy program was to provide early intervention to underachieving first- and second-grade pupils who appeared unlikely to learn to read successfully without…

Research papers on the relationship between oral and written language include: "Une distinction bien fragile: oral/ecrit" ("A Fragile Distinction: Oral/Written") (Francoise Gadet); "Oral et ecrit dans les representations des enseignants et dans les pratiques quotidiennes de la classe de francais" ("Oral and Written Language in Teachers'…

This research study reports the results of an attempt to build a model of individual differences in undergraduate student development based on factor analysis of a wide range of students' beliefs and behaviors. An 127-item inventory named the Dakota Inventory of Student Orientations was administered to 738 male and female undergraduate students in…