"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Balancing Act: Achieving a Harmony between…

Every school is confronted with many concerns about improving students' achievement and well-being and enhancing school climate. While the emphasis shifts, there is constant pressure to do more about learning problems; bullying, harassment, and other forms of violence and acting out behavior at school; substance abuse; disconnected students;…

The Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) is a Chicago organization that, since 1997, has conducted a successful in-depth, parent-school collaboration program in nine schools on the northwest side of the city that represent about 10,000 students, or 2.5 percent of Chicago Public Schools' (CPS) total enrollment. It is a high-minority,…

Since SC LENDS started operating in June 2009, more public libraries have come on board. All of this on the back end connects to a Mozilla-based staff client that has distributions for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows, using SSL encryption to keep communications secure and private between remote libraries and the servers hosted at a high-end…

The diagonal line in Arkansas separating academic and economic strivers from those less likely to make the grade--and then land a decent job--runs roughly from Texarkana in the southwest to Blytheville in northeast. "The wealthiest people live above that line," said Dr. James Jennings, a history professor and education department…

Five years ago, Hewetson Elementary School was rated one of the lowest performing schools in Nevada. Yet despite its many challenges, Hewetson was named an Exemplary Turn Around School for the 2009-2010 school year, the highest academic designation for Nevada schools. This success is the result of transforming the school from a low-achieving…

The San Jose State University Electrical Engineering (EE) Department implemented a skill audit exam for graduating seniors in 1999 with the purpose of assessing the teaching and the students' mastery of core concepts in EE. However, consistent low scores for the first years in which the test was administered suggested that students had little…

This paper looks at how a series of conversations contributed to the development of a newly formed role at the University of Victoria--Teaching Assistant Consultants (TACs). TACs act as departmental mentors for teaching assistants (TAs) in their respective departments, charged with providing support in the form of discipline-specific workshops…

Purpose: Special Focus Facilities (SFFs) are nursing facilities designated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to be of chronic poor quality. Relatively few nursing facilities are included in this initiative. The purpose of this research was to examine whether nursing facilities included in the 2007 SFF initiative subsequently…

Talk of "turning around" troubled schools has become synonymous with firing educators, but a nonprofit organization in Chicago with a successful track record takes a different approach. In 2006, Strategic Learning Initiatives (SLI) signed a contract with the Chicago public schools to help 10 schools serving grades K-8. More than 95…

Demand is far outpacing resources in one hot segment of the education innovation market, as districts, schools, and nonprofit organizations pitch reform proposals worth $12.8 billion for competitive grants to be awarded under the federal Investing in Innovation Fund, or "i3"--nearly 20 times what the U.S. Department of Education has available. The…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) -- often called "The Nation's Report Card" -- is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what students in public and private schools in the United States know and can do in various subjects and has provided policy makers and the public with invaluable…

The use of digital technologies is now widespread and increasing, but is not always optimized for effective learning. Teachers in higher education have little time or support to work on innovation and improvement of their teaching, which often means they simply replicate their current practice in a digital medium. This paper makes the case for a…

The importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has gained national attention in recent years, with educators, policymakers, and others advocating for greater participation and enhanced performance in STEM in order to bolster the U.S. economy and provide greater national security. This brief summarizes several pieces of…

Training and technical assistance programs for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have emerged in many states as educators, administrators, and institutions of higher education attempt to address the increasing needs for enhancing the knowledge and skills of educators and disseminating the ever-growing knowledge of educational practices. This report…