This newsletter of best practices describes steps that schools have taken to establish a guidance and advisement system that helps students plan for and succeed in students high school, further study and careers. Articles in this issue include: (1) Advisory Program Boosts Achievement and Career Planning; (2) District-Wide Guidance Program Assists…

School dropout is a problem that has distressing personal and societal consequences. Not surprising, students who drop out are typically not academically motivated. This phenomenological study examined the meanings that students construct about academic motivation while participating in a dropout prevention program that primarily uses counseling.…

This study investigates how comments that Mexican nationals made about U.S. schools influenced Mexican immigrant adolescents' perceptions of and experiences in U.S. schools. I investigated the diffusion of this information at three specific points in time--prior to immigration, upon entry to the U.S., and after a few years of living in the U.S.…

In 2004 the Australia Council of Deans of Education (ACDE) released a report entitled "New teaching, new learning: A vision for Australian education". This report was prepared on behalf of the ACDE by Mary Kalantzis and Andrew Harvey, respectively the President and Executive Officer of the ACDE. The argument put forward in the report is…

Based on ten months of ethnographic fieldwork, including more than 65 in-depth interviews with Chinese university students and higher education administrators, this study examines the roots of an emerging community service learning movement in mainland China. The dissertation focuses on a case study of a pioneering Chinese Party State-sponsored…

This booklet focuses on effective mathematics teaching. Drawing on a wide range of research, it describes the kinds of pedagogical approaches that engage learners and lead to desirable outcomes. The aim of the booklet is to deepen the understanding of practitioners, teacher educators, and policy makers and assist them to optimize opportunities for…

This research brief provides highlights from the full report (published separately) that describes the ninth annual High School Exit Survey in AISD. The survey was administered online to seniors in every AISD high school during Spring 2011. In total, 3,793 seniors completed the survey, for an adjusted response rate of 87.3 percent.

The "attitude-achievement gap" characterizing economically disadvantaged students of color is reexamined in a study of student perceptions of a higher education access program. Their descriptions of past and present experiences of teachers are contextualized in research citing the impact of stress, social stigma, and teacher misperceptions on…

Youth mentoring has become a key element of UK youth policy in recent years and is now integrated into a range of policy initiatives aiming to tackle social exclusion. It is claimed by proponents of planned mentoring that the introduction of a mentor enhances resilience through the provision of a consistent, caring relationship that transcends…

This submission contains the Proceedings of the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG), held at York University in Toronto, Ontario. The CMESG is a group of mathematicians and mathematics educators who meet annually to discuss mathematics education issues at all levels of learning. The aims of the Study Group…

According to a study of 944 two- and four-year colleges, "caring attitude of faculty and staff" was listed as the most important factor for retaining students (Roueche, 1993). This article will explain how one teacher demonstrates genuine concern for students while demanding high standards of excellence and student accountability. This…

The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine the relationship between compassion fatigue and elements of burnout among nine in-service elementary special education teachers in Michigan for the purpose of addressing the attrition rate common in special education. The objectives of the study were twofold: (a) to determine if novice…

School superintendents work in increasingly high stakes environments full of adversity. The purpose of this study was to examine how female superintendents apply strategies to confront adversity and become more resilient in the process. Fifteen female superintendents in New York State were interviewed. The findings about resilient leadership are…

Storytime programs for young children are ritual events in the everyday life of the public library. This article analyzes data from two such programs to identify and analyze the work carried out by program leaders, their adult and child participants, and other social actors in other settings (e.g., library CEOs) in order to enable the program to…

This paper will provide a general overview of the implementation of the Communities that Care (CtC) programme in the Netherlands. It outlines the socio-historical development of the initiative and considers the rationale and starting point for the Dutch experiment and the tools used in the process. Attention will also be paid to the implementation…