There is currently little consensus on how special education teachers should be evaluated in a way that is effective, fair and responsive to their unique teaching responsibilities. In this paper, we explain several of the current approaches to teacher evaluation under consideration, and then provide an overview of the challenges associated with…

Response to Intervention (RtI) provides a framework for effective prevention and intervention at all achievement levels. RtI also allows school districts to use an alternative method for identifying students with disabilities, but there is a paucity of published empirical research aimed to inform RtI best practices among general educators. The…

This paper examines, using regression modelling, whether a statistically significant relationship exists between the time spent by a student using the course website and the student's assessment performance for a large third year university business forecasting course. We utilise the online tracking system in Blackboard, a web-based software…

The growing importance of genomics and bioinformatics methods and paradigms in biology has been accompanied by an explosion of new curricula and pedagogies. An important question to ask about these educational innovations is whether they are having a meaningful impact on students' knowledge, attitudes, or skills. Although assessments are…

This article summarises findings from systematic reviews of research on primary and secondary mathematics, primary and secondary reading, and programmes for struggling readers. All reviews used a common set of procedures, requiring comparisons with control groups and duration of at least 12 weeks. Across hundreds of qualifying studies, a clear…

There is no shortage of challenges facing postsecondary institutions in the US. One that cuts to the core of the enterprise is whether they are preparing their graduates to live productive, civically responsible lives in a dynamic global marketplace mapped onto diverse, yet increasingly interdependent, social and cultural systems. Much of the…

This chapter describes a partnership with four urban districts that aimed to develop an empirically grounded theory of action for improving the quality of mathematics instruction at scale. Each year, we conducted a data collection, analysis, and feedback cycle in each district that involved documenting the district's improvement strategies,…

Family policy was a key component of the "New" Labour government's family, social and education policy, and a wide range of family focused initiatives and interventions designed to "support" families and improve individual, family and social outcomes were introduced. The post-May 2010 coalition government's family policy…

China is considered to be the new frontier of the global AIDS pandemic. Although effective treatment for HIV is becoming widely available in China, adherence to treatment remains a challenge. This study aimed to adapt an intervention promoting HIV-medication adherence--favorably evaluated in the West--for Chinese HIV-positive patients. The…

Research and policy have established that data are necessary to guide decisions within education. Many of these decisions are made within problem solving and response to intervention frameworks for service delivery. Curriculum-Based Measurement in Reading (CBM-R) is a widely used data collection procedure within those models of service delivery.…

Academic libraries, like other university departments, are being asked to demonstrate their value to the institution. This study discusses the impact library usage has on the retention and academic success of first-time, first-year undergraduate students at a large, public research university. Usage statistics were gathered at the University of…

Research shows that social norms interventions, which aim to educate individuals and groups on their actual attitudinal and behavioural norms relating to alcohol, cigarette and drug use,incur some success in reducing positive attitudes to substance use and rates of substance use. The research aimed to investigate the extent of misperceptions…

This study investigates syllabi for evidence of the principles of writing across the curriculum (WAC) in courses offered by the Faculty of Business (FOB) at a university operating in a non–English-speaking country. The research analyzed all syllabi of FOB courses offered in the spring 2010 semester for evidence of WAC looking for indications of…

This phenomenological study sought to address the problem of low job satisfaction of college and university ombudsmen as evidenced by predictors of high attrition. Data show that within the next six years, a preponderance of ombudsman practitioners with one to five years of experience plan to depart from the profession. Using Kalleberg's Theory of…

Computers are an important part of modern education, yet large segments of the population--especially low-income and minority children--lack access to a computer at home. Does this impede educational achievement? We test this hypothesis by conducting the largest-ever field experiment involving the random provision of free computers for home use to…