This study drew on data from two different initiatives in which groups of participants were asked to work together to build knowledge. In the first initiative school students were asked to discuss ethical issues in science, using a moderated online discussion board and in the second, researchers in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL)…

This study examines the usage and contexts of "wellbeing" in New Zealand's curriculum, a formal statement of education policy enacted by a democratically elected government. The analysis is guided by a current model of student wellbeing rooted in seven, interdependent domains: "Having," "Being," "Relating,"…

This study investigated the perceived factors that enabled an Alabama School Assistance Team (ASAT) to be effective in helping improve a low performing school. A case study was conducted with the ASATs and the Local Education Agency (LEA) site they served. Data were collected from interviews, documents and observations. The perceptions explored in…

This article provides a retrospective review and analysis of New Labour's policies in relation to lifelong learning. New Labour's plans to promote social inclusion through lifelong learning resulted in a focus upon participation in terms of increasing the numbers of students involved in formal learning and increasing their participation in…

Starting in the fall of 2009, ELL (English-language learner) instructional coaches began to provide workshops to ELL and general education teachers in a northwest American city. This article aims to analyze the differentiated instruction provided in the workshops. Data in this study include observational field notes, interviews, and documents.…

Leaders have increasingly focused on the importance of mission statements in promoting organizational vision and purpose. Given this focus, this research involved content analysis of mission statements from 108 elementary schools. Specifically, the researchers analyzed the mission statements of Exemplary (n = 58) and Academically Unacceptable (n =…

On the weekend of December 13, 2008, 4,000 House Meetings in our nation convened to plan service events. In Jacksonville, Florida, four such House Meetings were held. Of the four, two became official links in Organizing for America, President Obama's grassroots organization. Of the two, one strove to become a learning organization. At the heart of…

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that schools should employ professionally prepared Registered Nurses, to conduct and supervise school health programs which address the variety of health problems experienced by school children. NASN recommends a formula-based approach with minimum ratios of nurses-to-students…

The University of Florida (UF) established a Strategic Communications Planning Committee in May 2009 to coordinate a campuswide effort to promote strategic communications planning, strengthen the university's brand, unify key themes and messages, maximize use of available research and resources, and identify and propagate best practices and…

Most agree that schools have a special obligation to study the effectiveness of their educational programs and seek ways to improve student learning. Derek Bok, the former president of Harvard University, has persuasively argued that schools must envision themselves as "learning organizations." Like hospitals and businesses, Bok writes,…

The president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Randi Weingarten, is putting the sensitive issue of due process on the education reform table, with a pledge to work with districts to streamline the often-cumbersome procedures for dismissing teachers who fail to improve their performance after receiving help and support. She has also…

Nearly thirty years after the Cold War era commission's report titled "A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform," educators and historians must evaluate its relevance and its contribution to the shifting educational paradigm in the United States.

A framework for urban public high school reform is presented for managing site-based change through re-envisioning, reculturation, restructuring, and remoralization. The four Rs for reform framework is elucidated through a qualitative study of a low-performing urban public high school that was transformed into a new more successful school. The…

In extant research, the concept of student engagement refers to individual behavioural patterns and traits. Recent research indicates that engagement not only should be related to the individual but also should be anchored in the social context. This ethnographic field study of students and teachers in a Danish vocational education and training…

High stakes testing in Australia was introduced in 2008 by way of the National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). Currently, every year all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are assessed on the same days using national tests in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation) and Numeracy. In 2010 the…