Family-school partnerships boost student achievement and school improvement from preschool through high school. With family engagement as a priority and requirement for Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs), family engagement in schools matters more than ever. Four key tips for administrators for creating a welcoming environment are shared…

The digital revolution has created a new ways for society to interact. As technology continues to evolve so does the way culture begins to use it as a channel for communication. Social media has developed as a two way communication tool used by both corporate America as well as individuals. This research begins to look at how Missouri school…

This paper investigates the process of identifying design patterns in international collaborative learning environments. In this context, design patterns are referred to as structured descriptions of best practice with pre-defined sections such as problem, solution and consequences. We pay special attention to how the scope of a design pattern is…

Aligning compensation with performance can help retain effective teachers. Typical district compensation systems, however, do not base compensation in whole or in part on performance, relying on traditional step-and-lane systems that acknowledge years of experience and highest degree attained. In spring 2013, the Tennessee State Board of Education…

This paper serves as an introduction to the special issue of Prevention Science entitled, "Innovations and Applications of Integrative Data Analysis (IDA) and Related Data Harmonization Procedures in Prevention Science." This special issue includes a collection of original papers from multiple disciplines that apply individual-level data…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of communities of practice in organizations and their most beneficial effects for both individual and collective development. Design/Methodology/Approach: Based on a literature review, from the first authoritative texts by Lave and Wenger until the most recent critiques, the paper has…

This article describes an early-stage collaborative partnership between a local community foundation and a regional campus of a major university to increase dialogue on the strategic importance and practical execution of advanced social media best practices for small- to medium-sized businesses. Started through a grant won by the author, an…

Formative assessment is the process by which teachers provide information to students during the learning process to modify their understanding and self-regulation. An important process within this is shared assessment, which refers to student involvement in the assessment and learning practice, a process of dialogue and collaboration between…

The purpose of our research was to explore faculty members' experiences with online mentoring during the dissertation stage of an online doctoral program. During semi-structured interviews, four mentors reflected on their online mentoring of students, specifically the strategies that worked well, challenges faced while mentoring online, and other…

The BHB Theory (Haggis, 2011) is based on an empirical case study that examined teachers' perceptions of what they do in their educational settings to create a positive learning environment for troubled youth in their classrooms. Research--including this study--indicates a need for transformational change in how teachers interrelate with students…

District administrators who want to build capacity for data use in schools may be well-served by starting in the central office. This case study of the Boston Public Schools shows how central office administrators can leverage their own data inquiry cycles to improve the ways they support schools in using data. Using the Data Wise Improvement…

The literature on the teaching and learning of statistics tend not to address issues of cultural diversity. Twenty-nine students enrolled in a statistics course at a historically Black college/university (HBCU) were the focus of this pilot study. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), the study tested models of the effects of writing…

This paper examines the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) "PISA for Schools," a new variant of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that compares school-level performance on reading, math and science with international schooling systems (e.g., Shanghai-China, Finland). Specifically, I…

This article offers 10 guidelines for conducting international group work research. These guidelines include the importance of establishing relationships, conducting a needs assessment, co-constructing the research questions/design, determining the approach, choosing culturally relevant instruments, choosing culturally responsive group…

In response to policy initiatives calling for the implementation of evidence-based classroom practice, instructional coaches are frequently utilized as providers of professional development (PD). Despite the demand for instructional coaches, there is little empirical evidence that coaching improves teacher practice. We address this limitation by…