The concept of open educational resources (OER) is becoming increasingly prominent in education. However, research circles around defining OER, content and forms of OER, technological features of OER, and the importance of the issue or lack thereof. Vital aspects such as the notion of the adoption of OER by educational practitioners remain…

In efforts to promote equitable access to programs and services for young children and families, concepts and measures of quality rely heavily on the "counting" of both material and professional resources (e.g., facility and curricula, degrees and credentials). However, looking for high-quality practices in unexpected places--with people…

Recently, the large-scale reforms of special education have been carried out in many countries. This study focuses on the latest Finnish reform of special education in compulsory education. As principals lead educational reforms in schools, their role in the implementation of reform is significant. The study explores principals' views on the…

The author is past-president of the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) and past-president of the National Association of Professors of Middle Level Education (NAPOMLE). She is also the chair of the education department at the University of North Carolina Asheville (UNC Asheville). Her current areas of interest are in advocating for…

A large amount of research has been conducted on play and in recent years the disappearance of play has been questioned (e.g., Brown in Kindergartners get little time to play. Why does it matter? 2016; Ebbeck and Waniganayake in Play in early childhood education: learning in diverse contexts, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, 2016).…

Despite demonstrated student benefits from Open Educational Resources (OER), especially those in community colleges, faculty adoption remains marginal. This study is framed by diffusion of innovations theory, which acknowledges that adoption of an innovation must exceed a tipping point to ensure enduring success. The study focuses on community…

This position statement addresses the International Literacy Association's (ILA) advocacy for the right to excellent literacy instruction for children worldwide, which builds on the 10 principles in ILA's Children's Rights to Read campaign: ensuring that every child, everywhere, has access to the education, opportunities, and resources needed to…

Charter schools operate under an independent contract with an authorizer, which allows the school to operate with autonomy related to curriculum, staff, and budget. During the 2017-18 school year, charter schools across the United States served more than 3 million students, accounting for approximately 6 percent of all K-12 public school students.…

We explored how learners' "subjective ratings" of open educational resources (OERs) in terms of how much they find them "helpful" can predict the actual "learning gains" associated with those resources as measured with pre- and post-tests. To this end, we developed a probabilistic model called GRAM (Gaussian Rating…

The Open Textbook Network (OTN)--an organization based out of the University of Minnesota and comprising over 1,000 postsecondary institutions--supports the open education movement by facilitating in-person workshops about, sharing training resources for, and curating a library of peer-reviewed open textbooks. Its efforts are meant to build…

Dissertations present significant challenges to all doctoral students but these challenges are often greater for online students. Research shows that as many as 50% of all doctoral students do not complete their degrees, and this number is likely even higher for online students. One reason for this may be that online doctoral students do not have…

The legislative progress in India to make education inclusive has shown promise over the past few years. However, the process of implementation does not match up to it. The objective of education is to include students with special needs in regular schools where required preparation and support is not enough. Inclusive practices are seen in…

The purpose of this study is to highlight the role and awareness of and barriers to Open Educational Resources (OERs) in Indian higher education, specifically in the State of Uttarakhand. This study further investigates the factors that hinder the progress of OER acceptance in the teaching and learning process of higher education and suggests ways…

This study explores the indicators of university-community engagement and their implications to evaluation. Through an examination of 47 studies, we validate that university-community engagement can unfold in many ways and impact many stakeholders, and that, evaluation focusing only on university perspectives might leave out the community…

Critical thinking is an important life skill that needs to be nurtured in young minds during the primary education years. This study explored pre-service teachers' perception of barriers to their efforts in promoting critical thinking skills in classrooms, and further explored possible solutions to overcome these perceived barriers. The study used…