Background: The prevalence of overweight children has reached epidemic proportions, and affects Latinos youth more than other subgroups in the United States. Given the prevalence of obesity and its economic consequences, community health initiatives have shifted toward primary prevention at younger ages. Methods: Data representing all levels of…

First introduced in 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has evolved over time, emphasizing education reform priorities that mirror the changing national education policy conversation. The most recent iteration of ESEA, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), was enacted in 2001. It emphasized improving outcomes for…

A grounded theory study examined senior leaders methods of knowledge sharing with junior leaders in a small commercial mortgage company. The study was designed to develop an emergent theory to explain the cultural elements that influenced the methods leaders used to transfer knowledge to junior people. The study identified a systemic value of…

This study used a design based-research (DBR) methodology to examine how an Instructional Systematic Design (ISD) process such as ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation) can be employed to develop a web-based module to teach metacognitive learning strategies to students in higher education. The goal of the study was…

This article presents the unique approach to university-community partnerships developed and practiced at Michigan State University (MSU). We have established a model of campus-community partnerships that builds a wide-reaching system of networks connecting the university to communities. Our approach is "developmental",…

This article draws on systems theory, complexity theory, and the organizational sciences to engage boundary dynamics in the creation of parent-school partnerships. These partnerships help children succeed through an emergent process of dialogue and relationship building in the peripheral spaces where parents and schools interact on behalf of…

The final rules for the $4 billion Race to the Top competition give states and districts more leeway in how they intervene in chronically underperforming schools, a subtle but important change that raises new questions about whether the push to turn around struggling campuses will succeed in rehabilitating large numbers of them. Under the…

Employees working in residential treatment know from experience that holidays will be stressful and treacherous for the children and youth placed in their programs (and, consequently, for the staff themselves). Using a multiple systems approach, this article examines risk factors for holiday-related stress and crisis in residential settings…

After-school learning, summer learning, and family involvement in learning are major predictors of children's development, educational achievement, and school success. The United States will not achieve its national goals of equal educational opportunity without addressing the importance of and inequities in out-of-school learning opportunities.…

In two consecutive papers, we will be exploring the relevance of taking a complexity perspective on innovation processes. In this first part, we discuss why there is a need for novel perspectives in this research field and why the theoretical and methodological approach of the "complex responsive processes perspective" is relevant in meeting these…

In dealing with Knowledge Management (KM) literature, we have to diagnose three essential points: first, we have detected a lack of comprehensive theoretical models based on "grand theories", secondly, we have discovered an overemphasis of "good" values, like openness and trust, that help organisations to learn. And thirdly, we have to recognise…

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are places where teachers work with intentionality to improve their own craft for the benefit of students. Teachers and administrators study collaboratively and analyze student learning results to improve academic achievement for all students. Administrators working to implement PLCs seek to expand…

Understanding the dynamic behaviour of organisations is challenging and this study uses a model of complex adaptive systems as a generative metaphor to address this challenge. The research question addressed is: How might a conceptual model of complex adaptive systems be used to assist in understanding the dynamic nature of organisations? Using an…

Grounded in the work of W. Edwards Deming, this article describes the basics of systems thinking, viewing a business as a system, and contrasts improving a system with solving a problem. The article uses the human body as a metaphor to describe the various aspects of viewing a business as a system at the concept level and maps the Deming cycle,…

The purpose of this case study was to examine students' perceptions of their learning experiences while working on a real world instructional design project in a performance oriented team in the context of a situated and problem-based learning environment. Participants were 11 graduate students enrolled in a learning-by-doing instructional design…