States have accumulated considerable experience in operating publicly sponsored pre-kindergarten programs. In spite of this extensive experience, only fragmentary accounts exist of how these pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs handle issues such as program intensity, location, staffing, and population served. These issues are addressed by the…

School classes can be conceptualized as bounded communities of practice made up of teachers and students working together to build knowledge. Teachers make design decisions about physical and virtual spaces supported by information and communications technologies, and about curriculum. Design influences how students go about their work, and their…

The Self-Administered Tool for Awareness and Relaxation (STAR) is a stress management strategy designed to facilitate awareness of the physical, mental, emotional, and physiological effects of stress through the interconnectedness of the brain, body, and emotions. The purpose of this article is to present a stress-management model for teachers,…

In the three years that the Pinellas County, Florida, district has offered its more than 7,800 teachers a performance bonus as mandated by the state, exactly two have qualified and taken home the money. To get a paycheck topped up by 5 percent, Pinellas teachers are required to have had a hand in helping students raise their test scores by 120…

The increased use of technology in academia combined with the challenges posed by growing enrollments of nontraditional graduate students have forced institutions to adapt educational programs to insure student retention and academic success. This case study examines student perceptions and responses to a required information literacy workshop,…

This article investigates how training instructors in the South African clothing industry were prepared for their roles as Education, Training and Development Practitioners (ETDPs) by a university adult education programme. The key focus is on how these emerging ETDPs experienced their changing roles, identities and approaches to teaching and the…

Numerous reports and articles have decried the mediocrity of U.S. students' foreign language skills and have called for improved language education. One study that looked at foreign language education in 19 countries suggests several characteristics of successful foreign language programs: starting early, providing an articulated framework,…

High school students in Seattle's Global Technology Academy bring refurbished computers to schools and orphanages in developing areas of the world and teach young people the skills they need to advance in an increasingly information-based global marketplace. In 19 trips to date, teams of 5-15 students have taken computers and knowledge to such…

Frequently cited among the benefits of service-learning is the potential enhancement of students' ability to critically reflect upon their experiences. It is often questioned as to how critical this reflection process is in practice, noting that service-learning often leaves students' assumptions regarding privilege and equity unexamined.…

Studies have shown that stand-alone technology courses, such as those taught in most teacher education programs, only develop basic computer literacy skills and do not prepare educators to use instructional technology in the classroom. A 14-item questionnaire assessed instructional technology use for classroom management and instructional…

Schools are moving toward a human service approach that encompasses the physical and mental needs of its students on top of the traditional role of educating. School-based collaboratives are one delivery model that satisfies this expanding role. Lacking in the research on this emerging setting, particularly in the realm of mental health, is…

Purpose: Speech-language pathologists frequently address social communication difficulties in children with diverse clinical profiles. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of a social communication intervention for a school-age child with a complex cognitive and behavioral profile secondary to diagnosis of a fetal alcohol…

Purpose: The on-line tutor or e-moderator faces a diversity of new challenges, including instructional design, organisation, direct instruction and facilitating discourse. This study aims to contrast the views of students and tutors regarding what factors constitute effective e-moderation in order to identify key attributes of an on-line tutor.…

This article profiles the educational system of Ontario and discusses initiatives for students who are at-risk. It describes programs and services for students who are at-risk, relevant educational legislation, areas of strength, challenges that need to be overcome, and areas of action. Individual Education Plans are discussed. (Contains…

This article reports on the design, development and evaluation of an educational virtual environment for biology teaching. In particular it proposes a highly interactive three-dimensional synthetic environment involving certain learning tasks for the support of teaching plant cell biology and the process of photosynthesis. The environment has been…