Historically, conscientiousness-performance relationships have been modest, suggesting the need to examine theoretically-relevant moderating variables. Based on theory and empirical research suggesting that performance variance is maximally predicted in the presence of person and situation variables, we examined the moderating potential of work…

In this article Denise Chilvers and Angela Cole describe a school-based study which is located very much in an action-research idiom. Starting from a questioning, but collegial, stance on identifying positive interventions for children who challenge, the authors illustrate how theory and reflection on practice can lead to significant innovations…

This article presents a critical review of complexity theory in relation to educational research. The "analytical reductionist" approach is one in which the educational researcher seeks to reduce complex wholes to particular factors and to identify correlations between them and desirable outcomes. Complexity theory shows how this approach in…

This response argues that, although evaluation of student learning is required for accountability, high stakes testing is not required and may even be counterproductive. It also questions whether the goals of the "No Child Left Behind Act" are reasonable and contends that, if they are not, there may be no justification for imposing…

The author leads a program that teaches teachers in a public university, most of whom work in struggling urban schools serving students from predominantly poor and minority backgrounds. The courses in her program share a common purpose: to develop understandings about the active nature of children's learning and to use these understandings to…

In 1987, the National Commission on Excellence in Educational Administration concluded that educational leadership preparation programs in the United States were marked by a "lack of collaboration between school districts and universities and lack of modern content." Echoing this concern, scholars have argued for a programmatic change…

Most research on the positive effects of class-size reduction (CSR) has occurred in the elementary level (Word, Johnston, Bain, Fulton, Zaharias, Lintz, Achilles, Folger, & Breda, 1990; Molnar, Smith, Zahorik, Palmer, Halbach, & Ehrle, 1999). Is CSR an important variable in improving education in the middle grades? Can small classes be…

Reforms using market-style mechanisms of parental choice and competition between schools are intended to leverage change by compelling schools to diversify options and increase effectiveness. Yet, some research challenges those assumptions, suggesting that schools in competitive climates are more likely to focus on image management to attract a…

The term "curriculum" has been used almost exclusively in educational circles to refer to plans for the conduct of learning lessons in school classrooms. This paper argues that the concept can be productively expanded to describe learning processes in workplaces, including those in which learning is not the intentional outcome of an interaction.…

Teacher attrition and teacher burnout are among the most serious problems facing urban schools today. With teachers under constant siege, under resourced, and often under prepared, the revolving door of urban teaching has left schools, and therefore children, in a constant state of flux. These dehumanizing and de-intellectualized conditions of…

This paper draws on data collected in a one-year research project focusing on elucidating theory/practice relations in learning to teach. As a teacher educator I grapple with the nature and role of teaching methodology. The notion of method, with its implied order and certainty, is confronted alongside prospective teachers throughout their…

Objective: This study examines the issues influencing psychiatrists' decisions to provide care to the under-served geriatric population. Methods: Community-based psychiatrists who see geriatric patients participated in focus group discussions exploring factors that influence the characteristics of their current practices. Results: Personal themes,…

In a Finnish study of four different academic disciplines, Ylijoki (2000) found that in Computer Science there was a disparity between the conceptions held by undergraduate students and staff about their discipline; students viewed it as being far more pragmatic and results focused than did their instructors. Not surprisingly, here at our…

Despite the wide-ranging benefits of using client-based projects (CBPs) in the classroom, such projects can be overwhelming for instructors, and many shy away from the considerable workload and time commitment often required by CBPs. This article is designed to help marketing educators overcome such apprehensions and provide them with concrete…

There is mounting pressure on business education to increase experiential learning at the same time that budget constraints are forcing universities to increase class size. This article explains the design and implementation of the "Marketing You" project in two large sections of Principles of Marketing to bring experiential learning into the…