With the introduction of a growing number of private schools in the third world, several organisations and groups are endeavouring to examine the effects of such schooling systems on poor pupils. Professor James Tooley, the client, has collected data from seven regions internationally (three in India, three in Africa and one in China). For this…

High school instructors need to focus on engagement, not just motivation to inspire student learning. Based on the author's experience working with the toughest students, at-risk kids, struggling students, and drop outs, this book offers teachers strategies that work to harness students' interests and creativity. This book includes techniques and…

Northern Thailand is home to many hill tribes, who have lived for hundreds of years as subsistence farmers or nomadic hunters. In the 1940s, communist insurgencies drove many hill tribes from China, Burma, and other nations south into northern Thailand. Uprooted from their native lands, the hill tribes left behind ties to economic resources and,…

Preservice teachers often enter English language arts teacher preparation courses with untapped fears of writing and teaching writing due to null or bad experiences as K-12 students. In this article, I follow two preservice elementary teachers through a semester long methods course and reveal how they developed positive, clear images of themselves…

This study uses a production function approach to identify the impact of student, parent, teacher, and school policy variables on student performance as measured by test scores. Our statistical analysis is conducted in a comparative institutional context that includes government, private, and non-governmental organization schools. We find that, at…

Building upon a historical discussion of general and special education reform, this book gives suggestions on how to optimize learning for a diversity of students. The chapters in the book are: (1) "Practices in General Education: Past and Present" (Jennifer J. Coots, and others); (2) "Services for Students with Disabilities: Past…

This digest summarizes studies that provide evidence that youth with multiple and severe risks in their lives can develop into confident and competent adults; and discusses the critical role schools can play in this process of development. Resilience is the term used to describe a set of qualities that foster a process of successful adaptation and…

The literature on the extent to which knowledge, skills, and attitudes learned in one area transfer to another was reviewed for the purpose of identifying issues that policymakers and providers of vocational education should consider when planning programs to prepare students for further education and life. The review focused on the following…

Children from four elementary schools in Illinois were participants in the implementation of a project intended to improve their self-esteem through adult role-model intervention. The objectives of the project were to demonstrate that: (1) the adults in children's lives play a significant role; (2) an individual's sense of belonging and acceptance…

This book is a critical ethnography of the Native Education Centre (NEC) in Vancouver, British Columbia. It presents an intimate view of the center, focusing on the people that work there--First Nations students, board members, teachers--and revealing their beliefs about First Nations control of education and how they put those beliefs into…

This book examines the school failure and success of Chicano students from a wide variety of perspectives. It attempts to promote further understanding of what constitutes, maintains, and helps shape school failure among Chicano students, and to present research and policy agendas that may help to realize Chicano school success. Five sections…

Small towns and rural places face numerous barriers to development. In response, the four Regional Rural Development Centers serve as regional and national networks to catalyze, initiate, facilitate, and evaluate research and educational programs that have potential to improve rural economic and social well-being. Such programs focus on developing…

The middle school concept provides for establishing schools which link the early adolescent years between elementary school and high school. This guide provides practical tips and techniques as a means for middle school teachers to meet the demands of the middle school classroom and to learn about this age group. In addition, it helps explore…

This study examines whether students' constant focus on meeting teacher expectations might cause students to see themselves as producers of products for someone else, rather than as learners. Four researchers asked elementary, middle, high school, and university students to describe their experience of classrooms, listening for patterns that would…

As a practicum project, a developmentally appropriate training model was designed and implemented in a day care facility with 6 staff members, serving 40 children. Following documentation of the problem areas that inhibited application of developmentally appropriate practices in the particular day care setting, appropriate actions were…