This paper measures and decomposes socioeconomic-related inequality in mathematics achievement in 15 European Union member states. Data is taken from the 2003 wave of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). There is socioeconomic-related inequality in mathematics achievement, favoring the higher socioeconomic groups in each…

This compilation of articles from NSDC's newsletters and JSD is a comprehensive resource on creating a positive school culture. The collection includes descriptions of healthy cultures and specific information about how district and school leaders can take actions to create more positive environments, beginning with the audits provided and…

Climate change is an area of science that has been studied for many years. The fossil record has taught humankind much about conditions on Earth long prior to our arrival. We now live in a unique time in that our scientific abilities have not only given us a precise age of the planet, but of the universe itself. Yet there are many things we do not…

Few teachers find themselves with the support to purchase all of the materials they ideally need to supply their classrooms. Buying one or two simple, ready-made items can put a serious strain on anyone's budget. However, materials for science in the classroom need not be prefabricated or expensive. By looking at the function and purpose of any…

Newspapers provide an engaging, visual, hands-on resource to introduce young children to a world beyond the one they know and to help them become literate, well-informed citizens. Using newspapers in the classroom is certainly not a new idea, but it is more often seen as a strategy in middle school and high school classrooms than in elementary…

This article focuses on a report by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada which states that four-year public colleges in the United States have significantly more resources for teaching and research than do their counterparts in Australia, Canada, and Britain. According to the report, "Trends in Higher Education: Volume 3:…

The challenges teachers face everyday in effectively teaching ALL students along a pre-determined path, usually with pre-determined curricula, towards a goal of adequate yearly progress is overwhelming to say the least. Classrooms are comprised of more and more diverse students in terms of ability, background and experiences, learning preferences,…

This dissertation presents a conceptual framework to illuminate the conditions that enable professional development (PD) resources to get used by teachers and schools. A theory of instructional resourcing is proposed that extends Feldman's (2004) work on resourcing by situating resource use in a specific context. Four interactive context…

"The Rural Institute Transition Projects E-News" is a quarterly newsletter produced by the Rural Institute Transition Projects. This issue contains the following: (1) Work Experiences and Paid Employment (Norciva Shumpert, Michael Callahan & Ellen Condon); (2) Making the Most of Each Work Experience (Ellen Condon); (3) Emerging Leader Perspective:…

On June 15, 2009, Martha Abele Mac Iver and Douglas J. Mac Iver presented "Beyond the Indicators: An Integrated School-Level Approach to Dropout Prevention." In this webinar (and accompanying paper), they explained how to create an integrated dropout prevention strategy and highlighted an innovated pilot program that yielded results…

Participatory web-based technologies have the potential to change the way scholars engage in scholarship. One reason Web 2.0 technologies, such as online social networking, are not widely integrated in PreK-12 and postsecondary education is the lack of modeling by educators. Their lack of research-based best practices limits the ability to…

Technology skills are crucial for future employment needs. There will be people who identify these crucial skills as software and hardware maintenance and manipulation. Those skills just scratch the surface of future employment needs. Using technology to create a document, manipulate data, and share knowledge is now crucial for more than…

This article reports creative initiatives that 25 U.S. principals employed to support teacher learning in light of their financial resources. Nearly 90 hours of interviews with principals and 60 documents were coded to create narrative summaries and build profiles of how financial resources influenced how the school leaders supported teacher…

For many world faiths, the ongoing development and formation of each person is foundational. Faith communities do not always use the same language as professional educationalists, but the parallels are very clear. Although not always thought of as "education", one approach used in some churches to encourage growth is known as…

The appropriate importation and effective utilization of superior-quality foreign higher education resources are crucial to enhance the level and quality of school administration cooperation with foreign partners because it can not only make up for the shortage in domestic education resources and push forward China's higher education reform but…