Virtually every Government programme for children and every Government Department in the UK is expected to involve children and young people in its policy development and service delivery (Children and Young People's Unit, 2001). It is the new orthodoxy. Yet, hard questions are often avoided when reciting the mantra of participation. Why bother?…

This report examines effects of structural and process features of professional development programs on teachers' knowledge, practice and efficacy. It is based on four recent (2002-2003) studies undertaken through the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme, designed to enhance teacher quality. The total data set for the survey study…

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become basic ingredients of, and competitive tools in, the information-intensive tertiary/higher education sector. Their increased and specialised use in teaching and learning, research, academic administration, institutional management and information provision translates into greater access…

Despite large investments by higher education institutions in technology for faculty and student use, instructional technology is not being integrated into instruction in higher education institutions including medical education institutions. While the diffusion of instructional technologies has reached a saturation point among early adopters of…

A variety of barriers relating to resources, institutional and administrative policies, skills development and attitudes can hinder the effectiveness of technology professional development resulting in underutilized technology resources and lack of integration of those resources within instruction. Multiple methods were used to evaluate the…

The curriculum of the Life Orientation (LO) learning area forms an excellent basis for equipping learners to respond positively to social demands, assume responsibilities, and optimise their life chances. I report on a qualitative study that focused on the extent to which schools and LO teachers succeeded in achieving the outcomes of the…

For the past 15 years, economist Ronald Ferguson has investigated the myriad factors that combine to create racial disparities in academic performance. Beginning with his analysis of the impact of test scores in predicting racial wage gaps, Ferguson has explored how rates of progress in narrowing gaps have varied over the recent decades, the roles…

Living in an age of communication, literacy is an extremely integral part of our society. We are impacted by literature during our infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. "Literacy for the New Millennium" includes information from specialists in the field who discuss the influence of popular culture, media, and technology on…

This paper presents a primer on building a scientifically oriented teacher evaluation instrument. It stresses the importance of accurate measures and accepts the presupposition that scientific approaches provide the most accurate measures of student teacher performance. The paper discusses the scientific concepts of validity and reliability, and…

This paper reports findings concerning the identification of gifted and talented students from low socioeconomic groups, based on research at a Catholic school for gifted students in Rome, Italy. It reports that social and cultural family disadvantage, lack of education, and poor nutrition decrease IQ scores by 15 to 20 points. The category of…

This report highlights four research studies related to the Enrichment Triad Model, which encourages problem finding and problem solving in gifted students. The first study, "Academic Underachievement among the Gifted: Reversing School Failure" by Linda J. Emerick, identified six factors which influenced the reversal of the…

In general, studies investigating sex differences in mathematics performance have empirically analyzed students' responses from standardized tests. This paper reports a study to extend the investigation of sex differences related to mathematics performance by examining cognitive and motivational factors as well as standardized test scores. Boys…

What is the job of guidance program staff leaders? Specific, practical support is provided for bringing guidance and program staff together for successful implementation of programs and advocating for them outside the department. Part I, "School Guidance Program Staff Leadership: Evolving Concepts and Practices," addresses overall program…

Activities to develop proposed performance standards and measures for programs receiving funds authorized by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act are described in this report. Two sections of the act are considered: Section 221 authorizes programs for single parents, displaced homemakers, and single pregnant women;…

Students graduating from early childhood programs at a southeastern urban university in June 1992 and June 1993 completed the Educational Attitudes Inventory and the Teacher Efficacy Scale upon entry to the program, before entry to a practicum experience with kindergarten students, and upon completion of both the practicum experience and a student…