Restructuring of schools by means of revising the school calendar from the traditional 9-month calendar to a year-round calendar is one reform idea proposed to meet the diverse abilities and needs of students. Considering the sweeping changes influenced by No Child Left Behind and the trend toward excellence in education, this research focused…

Although an established alternative form of American education, the concept of home schooling is just beginning to surface in China. Few Chinese have knowledge of home schooling yet alone consider this form of education. However, graduate students studying in the field of education are aware of this unusual alternative to traditional schooling,…

Context: Improvement of rural health care access has been a guiding principle of federal and state policy regarding physician assistants (PAs). Purpose: To determine the factors that influence autonomous rural PAs (who work less than 8 hours per week with their supervising physician) to remain in remote locations. Methods: A qualitative…

This qualitative study explores the impact of childhood themes on women's aspirations toward leadership as suggested by the Eccles Model of Achievement Related Choices. Using intensity sampling, the research solicits childhood gender-related experiences of women in leadership and non-leadership roles through interviews, focus groups, check lists,…

Results compiled from several studies indicate that college students place significant personal emphasis on matters related to spirituality. Compiling students' responses from the author's 2003 pilot study, subsequent focus group interviews, and the 2004 national survey, along with faculty's responses from the 2004-2005 Higher Education Research…

This article situates geospatial technologies as a constructivist tool in the K-12 classroom and examines student experiences with real-time authentic geospatial data provided through a hybrid adventure learning environment. Qualitative data from seven student focus groups demonstrate the effectiveness of using real-time authentic data, peer…

This paper reports on the needs identified as important to 27 novice elementary mathematics teachers and examines how Connect-ME, an online mathematics community, provides these supports. Qualitative data were collected using two focus groups and 16 telephone interviews. Findings validate the need for alternative teacher professional development…

This paper reports on a locally initiated investigation into the suitability of the Internet in helping to meet the information needs of women in small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the textile industry in Botswana. The background is the stated government policy to encourage the development of SMMEs and the Internet infrastructure. The…

This article reports on an exploratory study of the factors perceived by school personnel to contribute to success in high-performing, high-needs (HPHN) rural schools. It is based on earlier research in HPHN schools that identified 4 key components of success (leadership, instruction, professional community, and school environment) and explored…

Agencies funding early childhood education projects, policy analysts, and research consumers have created a demand for research tools generating data with applied reliability. This paper examines the focus group as a social science research tool which meets this demand. Part 1 defines a focus group as a carefully planned discussion designed to…

This report summarizes findings of a national telephone survey of 1,032 parents of children in grades Kindergarten through 6, supplementary interviews among 375 parents, and focus-group discussions among parents. Included among the sample were African-American, Latino, Asian-American, and White parents. Several findings are elaborated: (1) parents…

The purpose of this project was to enhance a psychology degree program's assessment by the addition of a qualitative measure. Focus groups--simultaneous interviews of small groups of individuals--were conducted over a two year period. The 41 participants were all senior psychology majors enrolled at a mid-size public, liberal arts institution.…

This series of studies focused on the content of television programming about sexual activity and sexual relationships, examining what messages are communicated in the so-called "family hour," the first hour of prime time broadcast television (8-9 p.m. in most areas of the country). First, a content analysis documented the nature of…

Helping school, district, and/or community leaders facilitate discussions with community members about improving schools, this guide discusses how to use informal focus groups to gather information about what is important to people in the school community. The guide helps users gather information in a systematic way, organize what they hear,…

An action research project was conducted at Ohio's Sinclair Community College to review and revise the early childhood teacher education curriculum. First, a modified Developing a Curriculum (DACUM) process was undertaken. Over 800 tasks from 8 validated task lists obtained from early childhood education (ECE) programs at other community colleges…