This study was designed to investigate how pre-service, beginners, and advanced art teachers in Kuwait viewed their teacher preparation program by describing and evaluating its effectiveness. To examine the issues of art teacher training and current teaching, this study used quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The study included a…

In this provocative volume, two experts with very different points of view address the growing concern that student loan programs are not a sustainable solution to the problem of mounting college costs. They argue that the time has come to reform the financial aid system so that it is more effective in promoting college affordability, access, and…

The Assessment of Afterschool Program Practices Tool ("APT"), developed by the National Institute of Out-of-School Time (NIOST), is an observational instrument designed to measure the aspects of afterschool program quality that research suggests contribute to the 21st century skills, attitudes, and behaviors youth need to be successful…

Correctional programs that respond to female offenders with young to school-aged children are growing in number. Girl Scouts Beyond Bars is one of these programs. Research and evaluation of female-specific programs in corrections is limited. This study examined the experiences and individual perceptions of female offenders while participating in…

The laboratory plays an important role in teaching engineering skills. An Electrical Engineering department at an Australian University implemented a reform to monitor and improve student satisfaction with the teaching laboratories. A Laboratory Manager was employed to oversee the quality of 27 courses containing instructional laboratories.…

In this study, researchers developed a survey to determine student perceptions of readiness prior to entering an educational leadership program. The researchers analyzed and established the reliability and validity of the survey created to understand student readiness as they enter the program. The information garnered from this survey will help…

Working from the view of schools as a system, and of school improvement as an ongoing journey (Hallinger & Heck, 2011; Jackson, 2000), this study investigated the perspectives of teacher leaders and principals from four metropolitan Catholic grade schools engaged in efforts to improve their school science programs. Built upon existing…

Each day, in schools across America, teachers willingly embrace the often daunting task of educating the nation's youth. Students who share little more than a common birth year are placed together with a teacher who is expected to take them from wherever they happen to be academically at the beginning of the year to where they simply must be by…

The Peace Corps "Programming, Training, and Evaluation Guidance" (PT&E Guidance) will assist field PT&E staff to optimally support trainees and Volunteers to build the capacity and contribute to improving the lives of people in their country of service. The PT&E Guidance consists of four parts. Part 1 of this guide provides…

Given global threats to the continued functioning of ecosystem services that sustain us all, educators would be wise to embrace the task of redefining our individual and collective orientations to the natural world. Since the inception of the modern environmental education movement in the 1970's, outdoor education at residential camps has…

An old saying about learning that has been passed down from generation to generation in Vietnam states, "The success of learning is determined by intelligence but the passing of an examination is determined by luck." Whether this idea is simply to comfort those who fail or not, it sheds light on the Vietnamese psyche on learning as well…

Children living in poverty face many obstacles outside the classroom that can hinder their success in the classroom. Unaddressed health care needs interfere with learning and cause low attendance. Inadequate and inconsistent housing may deprive students of a safe and quiet place to study. The advent of accountability-based school reform has pushed…

The federal government has had a long-standing commitment to ensuring access of English Learner (EL) students to a meaningful education. As early as 1968, the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" ("ESEA") contained provisions for supporting the education of EL students and in its 1974 landmark decision, "Lau v.…

This paper introduces blended learning as a pedagogical approach, which was explored through the European project InnoEd and the way InnoEd undertook by using the on-line InnoEd VRLE. European educators in the InnoEd project have utilised a range of learning activities to help to improve Innovation Education. A mixture of lectures, visual…

The Center's policy and practice analyses have shone a light on how school improvement efforts deal with the various factors interfering with students having an equal opportunity to succeed at school. Unfortunately, the picture that has emerged is rather bleak. Given the continuing difficulties related to reducing dropout rates and closing the…