In this article, we describe and model the language classroom as a complex adaptive system (see Logan & Schumann, 2005). We argue that linear, categorical descriptions of classroom processes and interactions do not sufficiently explain the complex nature of classrooms, and cannot account for how classroom change occurs (or does not occur), over…

In a perfect academic world, every college course would be reviewed and analyzed by its instructor, perhaps in conjunction with an instructional supervisor, upon completion of each semester to determine which techniques and strategies were most useful in helping students to learn course content. Those activities and strategies that were successful…

In this article, we suggest that communities must explore alternative leadership ideologies, actors, and venues to make meaningful academic and social improvements in our cities. We examine how themes from Paulo Freire's critical ideology can help expand our conceptualizations of educational leadership and facilitate pragmatic responses to complex…

Male prison rape and sexual assaults remains a serious and sensitive issue in many countries. Human rights groups claim that sexual assaults among male prisoners have reached pandemic proportions and need to be stopped. Researchers for many years have studied the causes of male sexual assault in prison and offered numerous recommendations on its…

The Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20, 2010, and the subsequent release of oil into the Gulf of Mexico created an ecological disaster of immense proportions. The estimates of the amounts of oil, whether for the amount released per day or the total amount of oil disgorged from the well, call on numbers so large they defy the capacity of most…

Connectivism is receiving acknowledgement as a fresh way of conceptualising learning in the digital age. Thus, as a relatively new instructional framework, it is imperative that research on its applicability and effectiveness in a variety of educational contexts is advanced. In particular, a high premium should be placed on context-specific…

This article presents a historical description of and research related to the development, validation, and combined use of the multiple editions of the Bracken Basic Concept Scale and its companion curriculum, the Bracken Concept Development Program. In tandem, the scale and curriculum were designed to assess and teach more than 300 basic language…

In 1995, the National Science Foundation (NSF) contracted with principal investigator Iris Weiss and an evaluation team at Horizon Research, Inc. (HRI) to conduct a national evaluation of the Local Systemic Change for Teacher Enhancement program (LSC). HRI conducted the core evaluation under a $6.25 million contract with NSF. This program…

Modern zoos serve as tourist attractions and recreational facilities, while providing educational outreach programs in ecology, conservation, and animal needs. However, in the 21st century, there has been a negative backlash of people associating zoos with animals being shut away in cages or pits. This case study included an examination of the…

For more than half a century, child development has endured as one of the main components of teacher education. But if children do develop, as developmentalists claim, what precisely is it that develops and how? Traditionally, within education, answers to these questions have drawn heavily on the theories of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Piaget…

Collective, comprehensive and cohesive are the words Gene Wilhoit uses to talk about education reform that involves multiple levels of the education system--states, districts, and schools. Today it is widely accepted that education leadership is crucial to improving student performance, and Wilhoit, executive director of the Council of Chief State…

The system office for community college institutional research (SOCCIR) plays a role in the drama of higher education that states must orchestrate to help community college systems operate effectively and efficiently over the long term. But how exactly does the SOCCIR enable a state to accomplish what the separate institutional research (IR)…

This largely theoretical paper will argue the case for the usefulness of applying network and complex adaptive systems theory to an understanding of action learning and the challenge it is evaluating. This approach, it will be argued, is particularly helpful in the context of improving capability in dealing with wicked problems spread around…

For at least two decades, politicians, academics and other stakeholders have advocated cooperation across sectors, administrative layers and other institutionalised boundaries to achieve objectives of what are called "learning regions" and the "lifelong learning perspective". Boundaries between geographical, institutional and sectors are becoming…

This paper offers lessons learned about what it takes to successfully leverage technology for school improvement based on a cross-case analysis of eight award-winning secondary schools/districts around the United States. The researchers analyzed data from 150 interviews, 30 focus groups, and more than 300 hours of observation in 150 classrooms,…