Suggests principals and supervisors should be aware of the special needs of beginning teachers and work to provide a climate that supports positive growth. Offers strategies for beginning teacher and administrator strategies on the issues of isolation and loneliness, classroom management and discipline, conflict with colleagues, understanding…

Examines common assumptions about the rationality or irrationality of organizational behavior and finds that decision making occurs in a complex context that successful college/university institutional research offices must recognize and work with. Finds that emerging organizational theories suggest there are limitations on the use of data and…

Describes the results of a study of a global company that examined the effect of training design and work environment on the transfer of human resources development training. Presents a model of international transfer of training and discusses organizational factors and cultural differences that affected the transfer of training. (LRW)

Examines factors that contribute to the development of an organizational culture. Discusses the vision/mission; training; technology, equipment and supplies; and decor/appearance. Describes how one library created a staff-friendly environment through increasing communication between departments and cross-training to provide interdepartmental…

The author argues that leadership is a cultural construct embedded in symbolic processes. By culture, the author refers to the informal codes and shared assumptions of individuals who participate in an organization. An organization's members shape and are shaped by the symbols and rituals of the institution as well as the unique history from which…

As part of a large-scale instructional intervention research, this study examined elementary students' science knowledge and awareness of social activism with regard to an increased greenhouse effect and global warming. The study involved fifth-grade students from five elementary schools of varying demographic makeup in a large urban school…

In this article, the author developed an activity called "The Polar Insulation Investigation." This activity builds on students' natural interest in "things polar" and introduces them to animal adaptations in a unique way. The aim of the exploration is to determine the role of animal coverings (e.g., blubber, fur, and feathers) and to see which is…

Sociocultural and cultural-historical theories urge us to study the social relations and interactions of faculty embedded in local and particular contexts. They promise deeper insights into the work of college and university faculty.

In this commentary, we examine the articles in this special issue in terms of a continuum of research to practice strategies currently used in school psychology. On one end of the continuum is the "publish and hope" approach, and at the other end is the "change the organization to fit the innovation" approach. We present the concept of innovation…

Do institutional researchers need to get approval from their Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)? Are IRBs difficult to work with? This chapter explains the functioning of IRBs and offers suggestions for enhancing cooperation between IRBs and institutional researchers.

For successful implementation of FLCs, consider leadership recommendations for institutional change, reasons for choosing the FLC model, and institutional conditions that may facilitate or hinder FLC development. (Contains 1 table.)

This article describes a variety of opportunities for educational activities that can be found in the complex, yet easy-to-manipulate, trophic relationships between goldenrod plants, insects that induce gall formation, and the natural enemies of these gallmakers. Gall collection, measurement, and observation (exit holes, larval response,…

Recent research links the development of a collaborative community of educators to enhanced teaching and learning effectiveness. This study contributes to this research by testing a work group effectiveness model with a sample of teachers from middle school teams. The study assesses the interrelationships among the model's antecedent variables…

During a training program on climate change education, teachers were invited to experiment with environmental behaviors in their personal lives. They then created their own climate change education model, with which they experimented in their classroom. Through teachers' and students' work, individual interviews, and questionnaires, researchers…

This article is a case study examining the media's commitment to sustainability in one southern state. The researchers surveyed both broadcast and print newsroom managers in South Carolina and observed student run newsrooms within the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina. Interestingly, both print and…