Ideological assumptions about childhood play into the production and selection of children's literature. Various ideologies proclaim that children should be happy and free from stories of evil, children's literature should help children encounter the joys in life, it should be filled with bright colors to keep children's attention, and it should…

In today's educational environment, schools struggle to meet the academic needs of every student. Many schools are challenged by the use of a response-to-intervention framework in which too many students need strong interventions. This article details a data-driven, decision-making response-to-intervention reading team model in which teachers,…

Using data from the National Center for Educational Statistics research spanning fifteen years, researchers examined the impact of national educational policy implementation on the role of social studies in elementary schools. Specifically, with the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2007 and the continuation of federal-mandated…

Choosing an ideal master's thesis or doctoral dissertation topic is probably one of the most important decisions students will make while in graduate school. Some graduate students may spend a year or even longer looking for potential topics before finally selecting one for their thesis or dissertation. There are a number of successful strategies…

Celebrating original voices, highlighting what might otherwise be lost--the "Library Journal" book editors try for a list of best books that they think will make a difference in everyone's reading lives. In other words, they had rather offer readers a sharp, interesting list that challenges than a list no one could complain about--or discuss. A…

It is a truism that giving people multiple reasons to engage in some activity will increase the chances of that activity--that two reasons are better than one. It is another truism, in the developed, Western world, that more freedom brings more well-being, and that more choice brings more freedom. In education, these truisms have led to the use of…

The authors developed and implemented a project for high school geography students that modeled the processes in a site selection analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). They sought to explore how spatial thinking could be fostered by using the MyWorld GIS software that was designed specifically for educational uses. The task posed…

Adaptive preferences are both a central justification and continuing problem for the use of the capability approach. They are illustrated here with reference to a project examining the choices of young people who had rejected higher education. Jon Elster, Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum have all criticised utilitarianism on the grounds that a…

In recent years, using video as a learning resource has received a lot of attention and has been successfully applied to many learning activities. In comparison with text-based learning, video learning integrates more multimedia resources, which usually motivate learners more than texts. However, one of the major limitations of video learning is…

The purpose of this project was to establish criteria necessary to evaluate a mentoring policy for beginning principals. This study found that most mentor programs for first year school leaders lack expectations for selection and assignment of mentor principals. This process began with a multi-faceted approach to researching best practices.…

This dissertation studies consumer search behavior in markets where buyers have incomplete information about available goods, such as markets with many sellers or frequently changing prices. In these markets, consumers engage in costly search in order to collect information necessary for making a purchase. Our method of investigation combines…

Scope and Method of Study: Qualitative research to collect data from two sources: (1) Face-to-face interviews with school board members representing four Oklahoma School Districts; (2) Newspaper articles. Findings and Conclusions: Data from the study indicate that time availability and personnel expertise are determining factors in the decision…

Despite increasing accountability requirements and a national call for transparency in public policy, Mid-Atlantic Region state education agencies indicate that they have little information about what instructional materials districts adopt. This report describes first-year results of an ongoing project to generate and share information on core…

Our paper focuses on the role that the gender composition of the leaders of American colleges and universities--trustees, presidents/chancellors, and provosts/academic vice presidents--plays in influencing the rate at which academic institutions diversify their faculty across gender lines. Our analyses make use of institutional level panel data…

The search for and retention of good faculty is one of the most important tasks undertaken by a university; nothing is more discouraging than when a new faculty member leaves after only a few years. In today's climate of decreasing resources, a college or university must be clear and intentional about its search processes. This essay discusses…