In the past, educators almost always looked for best practices in classrooms. In fact, when educators say "practice," they are generally talking about teacher practice. Yet 12 years of work at Springboard Schools (and its predecessor, the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative, or BASRC) argues that administrators, as well as teachers,…

Difficulties in finding, keeping, and ensuring the competence of the direct support workforce in community developmental disability services has long been a challenge for individuals, families, providers, and policy makers. Direct support staff recruitment, retention, and competence are widely reported as one of the most significant barriers to…

Audience response systems (ARS) or clickers, as they are commonly called, offer a management tool for engaging students in the large classroom. Basic elements of the technology are discussed. These systems have been used in a variety of fields and at all levels of education. Typical goals of ARS questions are discussed, as well as methods of…

The principles, difficulties and challenges in control education are discussed and compared to the similar problems in the teaching of mathematics and systems science in general. The difficulties of today's students to appreciate the classical teaching of engineering disciplines, which are based on rigorous and scientifically sound grounds, are…

Training of direct care workers (DCWs) varies depending upon the setting in which they work and the state in which they are trained. Evidence points to the importance of adequate training as critical to DCW job satisfaction and reduction in turnover. Several approaches have been taken to enhance the training of DCWs with the objective that as job…

Background/Context: Recent research has shown the importance of professional development for teacher learning and has documented the qualities that make professional development effective for improved instruction and student achievement. But there is little research to suggest how the policy environment shapes teachers' choices to participate in…

Distance learning is enabling individuals to earn college and graduate degrees, professional certificates, and a wide range of skills and credentials. In addition to the rapidly expanding role of distance learning in higher education, all types of organizations now offer Web-based training courses to employees, clients, and other associates. In…

With the growth over the past 25 years in the establishment of residential environmental education (EE) centers, what factors EE center directors identify as important to the success of these centers merits discussion. Research in environmental education is still relatively new, with few continuously contributing researchers and a lack of…

European education today is characterized by two dominant trends. First, e-learning has made impressive advances in the past five years. Second, European higher education has become increasingly internationalized. The authors wanted to determine how e-learning is used in higher education in The Netherlands, their home country, to increase and…

We suggest that there is a powerful and affirming socialization taking place in African American communities that could be instructive to schools. This article illustrates how educators can build on the strengths found in the black community to effectively teach African American students. Relating the ethos of the barbershop to tenets of…

The fields of Computer Information Systems (CIS) and Information Technology (IT) are experiencing rapid change. In 2003, an analysis of IT degree programs and those of competing disciplines at 10 post-secondary institutions concluded that an information technology program is perceived differently from information systems and computer science. In…

Faculty members at a large state university engaged in discussions of 21st century communication, new media, and the demands for new communication skills as they elected to establish a Communication across the Curriculum (CxC) program in 2005. Faculty leaders reviewed communication theory (e.g., from McLuhan to Kress), best practices from other…

As the nation struggles to get back on its feet economically, the colleges and universities are working harder than ever to fulfill their mission: to educate the next generation of workers and citizens. In the West that task is arguably more challenging than elsewhere. The region is highly diverse in terms of both demographics and geography, with…

"YouthBuild" offers low-income youth both education and job training services. "YouthBuild's" education component emphasizes attaining a GED or high school diploma, typically in alternative schools with small class sizes and an emphasis on individualized instruction. In "YouthBuild's" job-training program,…

Teacher and trainer training is one of the most important determinants of the success of reforms in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems in recent years in the Mediterranean region. This is based upon the assumption that the role of teachers and trainers in the reform of TVET is a dual one; that of stakeholder and…