Recent technological, geophysical, and societal forces have fundamentally altered the structure and functioning of human environments. Prominent among these forces are the rise of the Internet; rapid rates of global environmental change; and widening rifts among different socioeconomic, racial, religious, and ethnic groups. The present article…

This article examines the role material culture and making items can serve in establishing a sense of place or informing place-based educational practices. It is arranged around six principles that, if used in a learning context, connect material from a place to an enhanced comprehension of a sense of place. A critical component in making the…

In this article, Fairbanks, Crooks, and Ariail followed Esme Martinez, a Spanish-speaking Latina, from the sixth grade to the eleventh grade, focusing on her perspectives of schooling and her shifting identities related to home, school, friendships, and future. Drawing on the construct of artifacts, a sociohistorical concept that understands…

This author became intrigued by the idea that her generation, who had grown up reaping the benefits of second-wave feminism, might differ from previous generations in their attitudes toward women. What was unclear was how this period of progress might have combined with feminist backlash in affecting subsequent generations' responses to typical…

Sociocultural theory is increasingly popular as a paradigm for research in education. A recent member in this family of theories is introduced--cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT)--that shows much promise to complement and invigorate the field of educational change, a large, multi-faceted, and persistent problematic. In particular,…

When the authors taught Walter Dean Myers's postmodern young adult novel "Monster" to ninth graders, they assumed the students would like the text, as its format and style resemble that of popular television crime shows. The authors also assumed the students would be savvy readers of the text, capable of understanding and integrating postmodern…

Community college presidential leadership is more taxing than ever; leaders face unprecedented economic declines, increased expectations, and the immediacy of media reporting. The smallest of rumors can escalate into campaigns for good or ill within minutes via the Internet, social media (such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook) and electronic news.…

Journal publication is an important indicator of research productivity for individual researchers, as well as academic institutions. However, for novice faculty members, the publication process can appear equivocal and daunting. If the academic does not actively engage themselves early in this process, then her or his career becomes an uphill (and…

The role of federal involvement in education has, in recent years, become more and more prevalent. Such an involvement was not part of the historical origins of education at virtually any level. Whether it was for economic reasons, defense of the nation, the accountability of American taxpayers, or the pursuit of better civic-minded individuals,…

Fiscal disparities within school districts may be the next area "ripe" for litigation. Equity and adequacy litigation have largely focused on between-district fiscal disparities. Research suggests that within-district disparities may be as unfair to high poverty schools. When the school funding pie is not growing, remedying…

Transfer of training has been of vital concern for training effectiveness. However, even though a variety of studies have been conducted on transfer of training, little research has focused on action-oriented interventions to facilitate transfer. The purpose of this paper is then to suggest strategies to enhance transfer of training based on…

Migrant remittances from the United States to Mexico have grown at an impressive rate in recent years. Using a decomposition technique, I attribute the growth in remittances, for the 1990-2004 period and subperiods within it, to a migration effect, a remitting propensity effect and an average amount effect. Results show that while migration growth…

In an effort to better understand learning teams, this study examines the effects of shared mental models on team and individual performance. The results indicate that each team's shared mental model changed significantly over the time that subjects participated in team-based learning activities. The results also showed that the shared mental…

Study of the weekly Methodist newspaper "Christian Advocate," from its inception in 1826 to 1832, reveals that Methodist women came to assume important, public, and rarely acknowledged rhetorical roles. More precisely, women moved beyond the confines of the newspaper's "Ladies' Department," the back-page space to which "women's concerns" were…

The analysis of convergent and discriminant validity is an integral part of the construct validation process. Models for analyzing the convergent and discriminant validity have typically been developed for cross-sectional data. There exist, however, only a few approaches for longitudinal data that can be applied for analyzing the construct…