The Southern Regional Education Board's (SREB's) case study series highlights best practices High Schools That Work (HSTW) network schools and districts are implementing to better prepare students for further studies and careers. Lee's Summit West (LSW) High School near Kansas City, Missouri, boasts of a 99 percent graduation rate; 93 percent of…

School discipline has been a subject of national attention both inside and outside the field of education for years. Efforts to improve how schools and communities work together to address student discipline have shown the potential for creative and effective solutions that provide better outcomes for all--students, families, educators, and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors contributing to a successful transition into the role of a new superintendency in Texas. A triangular designed mixed methodology with a convergence model was employed. The setting was urban, suburban, and rural school districts in Texas. The participants were superintendents of public school…

The teaching of programming and problem solving has been a challenge and has excited much debate in the literature, so too has been the use of learning management systems (LMSs) to facilitate teaching and enhance learning. In this case study we explore students' perceptions and expectations of the effectiveness of using a constructivist approach…

The discussion on how to improve students' academic performance has a long and rich history in the U.S. Although it has been a national priority, the debate has centered on the best method to accomplish this goal. Bernhardt (2003) and Shen and Cooley (2008) recognized the importance of teachers, principals, and data, deployed together, as critical…

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships among teacher immediacy, professor/student rapport, and student self-regulated learning among selected undergraduate students in a college of agriculture. The independent variables for this study were verbal and nonverbal immediacy and professor/student rapport. The dependent variable in…

Written to accompany the second edition of Todd Whitaker's best-selling title, "What Great Teachers Do Differently," this study guide can be used by facilitators and participants in seminars, book study groups, or other professional development events. The variety of activities and strategies in this book will help teachers engage in critical…

How do college students "really" conduct research for classroom assignments? In 2008, five large Illinois universities were awarded a Library Services and Technology Act Grant to try to answer that question. The resulting ongoing study has already yielded some eye-opening results. The findings suggest changes ranging from simple…

All too often, a student's lack of success is blamed on his or her background, and/or the parent or the parent's educational level. Many factors such as socioeconomic conditions, student behaviors, attendance, and teacher demographics can directly or indirectly affect class environment, classroom management, interaction with students,…

The primary purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the question: "How do principals facilitate or inhibit the development of a culturally responsive learning environment?" A second question asked, "What is the principal's role in developing a culturally relevant learning community?" The criteria for purposely…

There is considerable research on effective schools, but there is very little research on the impact community crime has on schools and the academic achievement of students. Within the framework of neighborhood effect theory and 90-90-90 schools, this study aimed to determine what adults in effective schools in low-income high minority schools in…

Our education system is in desperate need of innovation. Despite radical advances in nearly every other sector, public school students continue to attend school in the same buildings and according to the same schedule as students did more than a hundred years ago, and performance is either stagnant or worsening. One of the most important…

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of students enrolled in noncredit workforce education programs as preparation for ongoing education. Ten students enrolled in a noncredit welding class were interviewed and the interview transcripts were subjected to analytic induction. Notable findings indicate that students were…

This article draws from data collected as part of a 3-year ethnographic study that followed two groups of Latino/a students through their final years of high school, the college application process, and for some, the inception of their postsecondary studies. Using Latino/a critical theory as an analytical framework, this article provides insights…

For youth, schools are simultaneously sites of production, socialization, and development. At school, students learn about race, social values and norms, power, and positionality (Noguera, 2003, p. 443). This "hidden curricula" reinforces social inequities and influences how individual students experience the process of schooling as well as come…