Instability in the factor structure of the Sense of Community Index (SCI) was tested as a methodological artifact. Confirmatory factor analyses, tested with two data sets, supported neither the proposed one-factor nor the four-factor (needs fulfillment, group membership, influence, and emotional connection) SCI. Results demonstrated that the SCI…

Providing a supportive learning environment and engaging students with a variety of abilities in effective learning activities requires a great deal of proficiency that extends beyond knowledge of subject content. Diverse classrooms challenge teachers to understand and accept the existence of academic, behavioral, and cultural diversity. Teachers…

Encouraging students' interest in science has never been more important. Science plays a greater role in everyones lives than ever before, and students who have a solid foundation in science are prepared to pursue a wide range of opportunities in high school, college, and the workplace. Yet many students--particularly girls and students from…

The rise of new public management has seen the role of the social worker becoming increasingly administrative and less about face to face contact with service users. When commissioning managers seek to help people with learning disabilities plan their services, who actually makes the decisions? Direct payments are proposed as the answer for people…

Empowerment evaluation entered the evaluation lexicon in 1993. Since that time, it has attracted many adherents, as well as vocal detractors. A prominent issue in the debates on empowerment evaluation concerns the extent to which empowerment evaluation can be readily distinguished from other approaches to evaluation that share with it an emphasis…

Much has been written in recent years about the concept of empowerment, particularly as it relates to urban youth of color. The author agrees with Bemak et al.'s underlying premise that much of what is written about and practiced with respect to the empowerment of African American youth makes the assumption that counselors somehow empower young…

Writing the article entitled "Empowerment Groups for Academic Success: An Innovative Approach to Prevent High School Failure for At-Risk, Urban African American Girls," Fred Bemak anticipated that there would be mixed reactions, given the unique and non traditional approach to working with a difficult and typically underserved population. The…

The relevance of the teacher to the success of any education innovation is not open to contention. Equally incontentious is the relevance of education and training to the success of the teacher in the attainment of his/her professional goals. It is against this background that this paper examines the continuing education imperatives in the present…

This article examines the pathways to higher education of two working-class Latino students participating in an intervention program at a diverse, metropolitan high school. Using critical narratives from 2 of the 30 student participants, this article exposes several reasons disproportionately low numbers of Latino students gain access to higher…

Following initial scepticism, the growth and developments within distance education in India have been tremendous. This paper records those developments in one of the largest distance education systems in the world with regard to its contribution to national development. The paper also examines curricular programmes, access and equity, media and…

Media literacy is taking its place in the array of literacies increasingly recognised as necessary for participating actively in democracy or, indeed, in day-to-day life. Financial literacy is another current example. "Literacy" is a term now widely used in relation to adults. The Oxford English Dictionary describes it as a…

In this paper, I use principles of civic education and social psychology to identify four main classroom contributors to students' pessimistic appraisals of their ability to improve social problems: authoritarian teaching methods, a culture of "doom and gloom," little attention to solutions to social problems, and no linkage of social problems to…

This work presents questions related to the viability and the requirements for the implementation of a National Policy of Water Resources in Brazil, and identifies the means to bring about active participation by the population in the management of water resources. While social inequalities may be an impediment to the implementation of full…

This article describes midterm assessment techniques that helped students tap into their process as emerging writers, and how the author used this feedback to realign the course at a pivotal time to reach resistant students.

Torey Hayden's style of classroom management in her nonfiction book "One Child" was examined. "One Child" unfolds within the space of a special education classroom for children with severe behavioral impairments and focuses on Sheila, a troubled 6-year-old, who has tied a 3-year-old boy to a tree and critically burned him. Each technique Hayden…