In recent years, great emphasis has been placed on providing all students access to the general education curriculum (e.g., Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, No Child Left Behind Act). Given the diversity found among today's student population, both general and special education teachers struggle to find methodologies that enhance the…

The basics of No Child Left Behind (NCLB)--adequate yearly progress benchmarks, provision of supplemental services, and a "highly qualified" teacher in every classroom--are known. The intense scrutiny of the "how to" of those basics has resulted in a mix of impassioned criticism and effusive praise. What has been left largely…

This article discusses concerns with the No Child Left Behind definition of scientifically based research and its preference for random-assignment experiments from a single/within subject research perspective. A comprehensive program of research that can focus on the bridging the gap between research and practice is proposed. (CR)

This study examines six teachers' responses inside and outside of their classrooms to increasingly mixed messages about how they should develop the literacy of California's youngest and most at-risk students. While they must develop highly developed knowledge and skills to teach literacy in linguistically diverse classrooms, they must also adhere…

The issue of physical punishment is a particularly controversial one at the moment as child advocates are engaged in a struggle to persuade the New Zealand government to repeal a defence in law (section 59 of the 1961 "Crimes Act") which justifies parents hitting their children provided the force used is "reasonable in the…

In October 2001, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act to strengthen the ability of the U.S. government to combat terrorism. Unfortunately, some sections of the Act strike at core values and practices of libraries and archives, especially in the areas of record keeping, privacy, confidentiality, security, and access to the collections. This article…

Having a child with autism can severely disrupt family life. Parents may experience emotional stress, anxiety, fear, and guilt. Understanding parental efforts in learning about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their experiences with a variety of therapeutic interventions and educational strategies is an important component of building…

This article, based on the author's doctoral research, examines the ways in which some religious schools in New South Wales (NSW), via institutional practices, maintain and perpetuate discrimination in relation to lesbian teachers and lesbian sexualities. These institutional practices, which included threats of dismissal, forced resignations,…

Principals are increasingly held accountable for student achievement. Why shouldn't schools, like other institutions, be judged on how successfully they perform their mission? Yet school leaders have a good reason to resist contemporary accountability programs. Instead of articulating the mission of schools and then holding leaders accountable for…

The past two decades have witnessed a significant growth in the number of school improvement programs and in the accompanying efforts to evaluate such programs. Passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2002 has intensified the need for evaluations to assess and understand the quality and value of educational interventions. Well over a…

The purpose of this article is to present an argument for the need for culturally responsive Response to Intervention (RTI) as an approach for reducing disproportionate minority representation in Special Education Programs for Students with Emotional Disturbances. We present an overview of the RTI model as initially intended for use in determining…

District and building-level administrators are often responsible for the hiring and supervising of related services personnel. Thus, a deeper understanding of the personnel issues that exist in the related services disciplines becomes important. What we know about the supply and demand, professional preparation, and certification and licensure of…

Educators have frequently expressed concern about young children who are exposed to known environmental risk factors associated with the development of chronic behavior problems (e.g., poverty, domestic violence, child maltreatment). Nevertheless, a societal commitment to address these environmental risk factors by identifying young children who…

This article examines the need for preparing highly qualified teachers and the challenge of preparing future generations of citizens. Examining the historical antecedents of "highly qualified," beginning with the 1954 "Brown" decision, I ground my position on the role of schools and colleges of education in preparing educators…

Legalized gambling is growing substantially and provides both a dilemma and an opportunity for those in the health promoting professions. Gambling represents a form of economic development and, for certain segments of society, improved health and quality of life. On the other hand, gambling is a known addiction, with a host of sociological…