University students participated in a research project on communities and conservation on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Students contributed by gathering data with various methods that will be compiled in a GIS. Living in three villages at different elevations on the mountain, students facilitated GPS mapping, a random survey of over 90…

Social escape behavior is a common behavioral feature of individuals with fragile X syndrome (fraX). In this observational study, we examined the effect of antecedent social and performance demands on problem behaviors in four conditions: face-to-face interview, silent reading, oral reading and a singing task. Results showed that problem behaviors…

Late in 2007 New Visions for Public Schools, a New York City reform organization, received a grant from the C.S. Mott Foundation to organize select high schools and community partners into delivery systems that could improve student achievement. New Visions asked Policy Studies Associates, Inc. to provide research support for this effort in the…

This policy brief explores kindergarten readiness observation and its benefits to local and state level stakeholders; highlights efforts by California counties and other states to measure school readiness; and makes recommendations for moving toward statewide use of kindergarten readiness observation tools. Key points include: (1) Early efforts to…

Twenty-six Head Start preschool classrooms participated in a yearlong intervention designed to link the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework with authentic assessment practices. Teachers in intervention and pilot classrooms implemented an assessment approach that incorporated the use of a curriculum-based assessment tool, the development of…

The purpose of the study reported on in this paper was to explore how teachers and students manifest social presence in the web-based synchronous secondary classroom (WBSSC). Data were collected using structured and unstructured observations of twelve online recordings of web-based synchronous classes in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador,…

This article grew out of a participatory research project conducted with support of the Robert Bowne Foundation from January 2003 through January 2004. Six young people who had been participants in Forest Hills Community House (FHCH) programs for eight years or longer agreed to be interviewed in depth about experiences that had affected their…

The work outlined here provides a comprehensive report and formative observations of the development and implementation of hypermedia resources for learning and teaching used in conjunction with the BSCW managed learning environment (BSCWMLE). This is based on the experience from the FISTE on-line course. FISTE is an European project that focus on…

Purpose: The purpose of this action research presentation is to invite discourse on the intersection of race, gender and instructional decisions in the classrooms of student teachers. The purpose of this study is to also examine the thoughts of a university supervisor during clinical observation with respect to her positionality as a woman of…

Based on positive results from a previous evaluation of a summer learning intervention, the current report describes the specific elements of the successful program so it can be replicated, and investigates potential barriers to implementation and replication. The study estimated impacts of the program overall; the authors could not identify which…

In 2001, in partnership with the Waterloo, Iowa school system, the R.J. McElroy Trust, Janice Freeburg-Cannon, Tri-County Head Start, Allen Health System, the University of Northern Iowa and the Regents' Center for Early Developmental Education created a special model for early childhood education that would eventually become The Freeburg School.…

Background: In 2000 the so-called "Reception" class was re-conceived (in curricular terms, at least) as the second and final year of the Foundation Stage, a distinctive educational phase for children aged 3 until entry to key stage 1 at 5 or 6 years old. The "Curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage" endorses a play-based,…

Remediation programs have helped some struggling children learn to read and write. However, they have not been helpful to all students. Educators need to search for more effective ways of reaching even more learners. Recently there has been more focus on preventing early school failure. Researchers agree that if instruction for struggling students…

Background: The behaviours of 24 mothers of children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) with their affected children were examined during planned observations in their homes. The goal of this study was to describe concurrent maternal interactive behaviour and the factors that influence the type and frequency of these behaviours within this group.…

The aim of this report is to present the findings of the second phase in a longitudinal study of the impact of changes in the TOEFL® test on teaching and learning in test preparation classrooms. The focus of this phase was to monitor six teachers from five countries in Central and Eastern Europe as they received news about changes in the TOEFL and…