In this article, 3 concerns voiced by legal analysts and advocates for students with disabilities regarding charter schools are reviewed, the extent of special education services in charter schools in Texas is reported, and the validity of those concerns is examined. Data submitted to the Texas Public Education Information Management System were…

School nurses and health office employees are the creators and caretakers of legal documentation. School nurses have an ethical and legal obligation to protect the integrity of electronic student health records. Although there are many threats to data integrity, from inadequate hardware to electrical surges, one of the most pervasive threats to…

Graduate education in an online environment frequently means relying on a course management system (CMS) but also calls for additional interactive components. Courses in an online Master's in Family Studies incorporated wikis (Hawaiian word for "quick") to support collaboration among students. Online collaboration can replicate the expected…

In the author's past work as a superintendent, and in his current capacity as an educational consultant, he has seen hundreds of dollars (per special education student) wasted in unnecessary costs and lost funding opportunities resulting from out-of-date, ineffective management systems. In addition to the fiscal implications, this imposes…

In the wake of September 11, 2001, and in light of heightened concerns about terrorism and the proliferation of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, the U.S. government has implemented a series of measures to regulate and monitor the flow of international students and scholars into the United States. Some of these measures are designed to…

Purpose: Experience shows that there are problems arising from the implementation of learning management systems (LMS). Indications are that they are too e-learning technology driven, emphasising the virtual component and neglecting the precursory development of a vibrant and committed formal learning organisation culture and infrastructure. This…

Purpose: Foundation degrees, the new proposal for sub-degree vocational education in the UK, are characterised by innovation both in their design (curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment) and in the marketplace for which they are designed. This article argues that the development and delivery of foundation degrees carry a high level of risk,…

The evaluation reports in this series usually feature several products at once. The current review, however, comes at a time when one of the most widely used (and expensive) online learning management systems is undergoing a major change in its marketing strategy and corporate focus. "WebCT" is currently evolving to a new version ("WebCT Vista"),…

This article presents an account of the development of competency standards and profiles for primary teachers in Vietnam. The development project has taken more than four years and used a combination of consultative, actuarial, and item response modeling procedures to develop and validate a scale of teacher competence. In the overall project, more…

Although data driven-decision making has been the mantra of school reform for the last 10 years, school leaders benefit from frequent discussions in how to engage teachers in the process. As a result, the purpose of this paper is to apply Reeves' (2004) framework concerning Antecedents of Excellence in creating a school culture that routinely uses…

A microcomputer can generate reports which allow park managers to better schedule crews, equipment and budget. Historical information on spending trends, man-hour distribution, and equipment useage are useful for reports and for justification of requested funds. Various potential uses of the computer data are described. (MT)

Little is known about students' perceptions of online enrollment processes. Student satisfaction is part of the assessment required for accreditation, but evidence suggests that college administrators are oriented to retention and graduation rates rather than to consumer perception. The purpose of this descriptive quantitative study was to develop…

Decades of research have shown that student collaboration in groups doesn't just happen; rather it needs to be a deliberate process facilitated by the instructor. Promoting collaboration in virtual learning environments presents a variety of challenges. This book answers the demand for a thorough resource on techniques to facilitate effective …

This study explores the centrality of the technology integration to Chinese EFL students' experiences in College English instruction. Students involved in this qualitative and quantitative study described the effectiveness of Web-based instructional environments (WBIEs) facilitated by the WebNing course management systems. Sources that were used…

As a part of the teacher licensure program at the graduate level at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), the M.Ed. Licensure candidate is required to complete an action research project during a 3-semester-hour course that coincides with the 9-semester-hour student teaching experience. This course, Education 590 Culminating…