In recent years, educators have begun to use learning portfolios as a means of evaluating student learning in higher education. Research indicates that learning portfolios can help students understand better the learning process as well as enhancing learning outcomes. They promote reflection on the learning experience and encourage students to…

Much has been written about the problems associated with reliance on extrinsic rewards and punishment in controlling behavior and motivating students. This study explores the use of extrinsic rewards and punishment by prekindergarten-grade 3 teachers in Missouri. The purpose of the study was to (a) determine the most common motivational practices…

Effective teacher education should guide preservice and practicing teachers in comprehending and facilitating educational concepts and pedagogical practices that examine and promote equity for all learners. Teachers and young learners benefit from sundry opportunities to recognize their self identities and to celebrate both individual and shared…

This research is the result of time spent on school campuses, working in classrooms, observing lunch areas and student quads, and interviewing students. We tried to determine how or whether English learners had opportunities to learn with and from native English speakers, as well as whether both groups were aware of the presence of each other on…

Like most states, Pennsylvania has a state accountability system that is aligned with the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and requires that students reach adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) in reading and mathematics at the end of grades 3, 5, 8, and 11 in…

In October 2002, Sebastian River High School in Florida developed a literacy system that includes all faculty and staff members. The literacy system identifies roles, responsibilities, and actions for everyone, including daily literacy-related nonnegotiables for all teachers. Now, students who have a history of failure are posting gains of one…

School-based professional development has been promoted by the government in England through its Continuing Professional Development Strategy (DfEE, 2001), however, the context and culture of the school in which the learning takes place is highly influential. Particularly important in teachers' professional development within secondary education…

The overarching aim of this research in the proposal was the following: In a number of early childhood centres and early years school classrooms that have already begun to explore in this area, to investigate effective pedagogy designed to develop five learning competencies over time. This project was developed in response to curriculum reform in…

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

Interest in case-based teaching is growing in both teacher preparation and inservice training programs. This volume presents 13 cases, set in inner-city schools in San Francisco and Los Angeles (California) and Phoenix (Arizona). The student population in these areas is enormously diverse, encompassing an array of races, cultures, and languages.…

Active learning has been championed in academic circles as the pedagogical fix to boring lectures typically found in introduction to information systems courses. However, the literature on active learning is mixed. In this paper, we critically examine active learning research and discover a misplaced emphasis leading to paradoxical findings in…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the use of specifically-developed, inquiry-based learning materials for Computing and Forensic Computing students. Small applications have been developed which require investigation in order to de-bug code, analyse data issues and discover "illegal" behaviour. The applications…

This document presents the proceedings of an annual educational research forum held at Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) on December 10, 2003. A table of contents and 31 research studies of high school teaching are included. The following studies are included: (1) No, Seriously: Humor Use by High School Social Studies Teachers…

This article suggests that a genuine reform endeavor towards the "Science for All" paradigm should adopt a holistic approach. There are several countries around the world that adopted the "Science for All" paradigm at the beginning of the 21st century. However, while looking closely at the amount of change that took place in…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the newly developed elementary school (grades 1 through 8) mathematics curriculum by considering 5th grade students' and classroom teachers' views. The analysis of the curriculum was realized in three dimensions; (1) Classroom management--classroom physical and emotional environments, teacher and student…