National education policy reforms often do not translate into changes at the classroom level. This paper presents a conceptual framework developed for Sub-Saharan Africa to assist policy-makers in bridging the gap between school practice and national policies. It also describes how the framework was applied to current school-improvement efforts in…

Approximately 600 teachers in 32 public elementary schools and secondary schools from 1 urban southeastern school district participated in a study conducted to identify prototypes of school climate concerning decisional participation cultures. A 19-item decisional participation measure was used, and the median score of the teachers at each school…

This book offers a model of value sharing in organizations concerned with Catholic higher education and backs it up with statistics and narrative. It summarizes the core values of five Catholic colleges and universities (Barry University, Trinity College, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Santa Clara University, DePaul University) as found in the…

A classification scheme for multimedia interaction is described based on the degree of control and type of cognitive engagement experienced by learners in prescriptive, democratic, and cybernetic independent learning environments. Reactive, proactive, and mutual levels of interaction and their associated functions and transactions are discussed.…

Beginning in the mid-1960s, thousands of small alternative schools sprang up across the United States and Canada. These schools varied widely in programs and policies, but common factors among them were a disenchantment with conventional schooling, a desire to reform education, and (frequently) the belief that schools should be controlled by the…

Because of the inability of public schools in eastern North Carolina to understand cultural and racial diversity, many students do not receive an education that prepares them for the future. Eastern North Carolina is a culturally diverse area. Unfortunately, the limited cultural perspective of the region's schools can contribute to student…

This document presents criteria that are designed to help a media reviewer examine professional presentations of middle-level education, gauging how closely a presentation reflects prevailing educational philosophy. Ten key features of middle-level schooling are highlighted, and a Likert scale is provided for each. The 10 features include varied…

This book explores the U.S. gang problem, based on the author's 35 years of experience as a high school and junior high school teacher, principal, and community organizer in Oakland and Los Angeles (California). Chapters discuss the subculture of gang worlds, reasons why youth are attracted to gangs, how educators can reach out to students, the…

College faculty and administrators can seek a multicultural campus and create a multicultural context by creating new meanings out of the varieties of exposures involved in liberal education. In order to do this the key challenge is to develop in students an understanding of and thirst for constant learning through an emphasis on pedagogy in…

The 15 chapters of this book address issues related to the continuing test score gap between black and white students. The editors argue against traditional explanations which emphasize differences in economic resources and demographic factors, and they urge that more emphasis be put on psychological and cultural factors. The book suggests studies…

This study investigated student use of commercial note-taking services as a predictor of class attendance and examined the effects of their use on academic performance in science courses. The study draws upon results of a survey distributed to 1,874 undergraduate students (response rate 58.2 percent) enrolled in two large-lecture chemistry courses…

This report is the third in a series of research reports on a 4-year study of private and public school-choice programs in San Antonio, Texas. Two choice programs are the focus of the study. The first program is the Children's Educational Opportunity Foundation, which provides partial scholarships to low-income children for use in private and…

This paper begins by presenting a case study of a ten-year-old special education student to demonstrate protective factors that help develop resiliency in children with disabilities. The definition of resiliency is then discussed, and risk factors that affect children with special needs are identified, including family problems associated with…

This guide is intended to help parents and practitioners utilize natural settings to meet the developmental and health-related needs of infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities. The mission statement of the Connecticut Birth to Three System is summarized and the term "natural settings" is elaborated on. Federal…

This study used grounded theory methodology to investigate the institutional and departmental climates of women engineering faculty. Seven female engineering faculty from two universities completed semi-structured interviews that were coded for common themes. All the participants indicated that they had had a natural interest or talent for science…