Under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, every school is subject to the controversial mandates for annual test score gains contained in the federal law. The law represents a profound change in the relationship between the federal government and state and local education agencies regarding who controls education and has direct implications for…

This article reports on an investigation into the motivations of a cohort of pre-service teacher education students, undertaking a five-year, full-time combined undergraduate and initial teacher education degree program at the University of Sydney, Australia. Participants completed an extensive questionnaire which sought to gather data on the…

The School of Education of a mid-Atlantic region, graduate-only Christian institution sought to build a cohesive, indigenous conceptual framework to assure that school instruction and scholarship were aligned with university and school foundational documents, especially the mission and vision statements. A visiting professor was engaged to…

Since the end of the 1980s, education in Russia has been characterized by changes that were qualified as "reform" at first and then, later, as "modernization." These changes have been going on against the background of the profound transformation of society, one aspect of which is the transition from a relatively cohesive…

The mission statement for the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) states that one of its goals is "to influence the professional growth of educators and others who are committed to the needs of children." Professional growth is vital for educators at all levels. In this article, the authors present a teacher educator and a…

A carefully developed, comprehensive professional development plan takes time, energy, and coordination of resources, but when it's done well, it can seem as effortless as a perfectly pitched curve ball. Seven steps, each with a set of guiding questions, can help planners meet the goal and create a program that produces results. [Appended to this…

Can community colleges make better use of data to improve student outcomes? That's the fundamental idea behind "Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count," a bold initiative launched in 2003 by Lumina Foundation for Education to help community college students succeed--particularly, low-income students and students of color, who have…

This qualitative report examines a successful public university program funded by the Avon Foundation to provide scholarship and support services to non-traditional female community college transfer students. Female commuter transfer students often manage multiple roles of parent, student, and employee while attending college. This article…

This study investigated the effect of self-regulated learning, as indicated by academic self-concept, motivation and learning strategies, reading attitude and family based prerequisites on reading ability. Students (n=4018) in the eighth grade answered the IEA reading literacy test, the self-regulated learning questionnaire and a student…

Trends dating from the 1970s show that males are significantly less likely than females to attend college and to remain in higher education once enrolled. Although this gender imbalance is undisputed, there is little agreement about the causes of the disparity and even less solid research to guide policy. Educators nowadays still wonder why young…

The challenge of providing effective treatment services for the growing population of HIV-positive individuals who are also dually diagnosed with substance use and mental disorders has only recently been recognized as an important public health concern affecting both HIV treatment and prevention. This article describes a treatment model that was…

A project was undertaken to increase retention in a health education telecourse by incorporating a competency-based orientation to distance learning and learner-centered instructional strategies into the telecourse, and by using multiple media for content delivery and interaction. A general orientation to distance learning was developed that…

This manual has been primarily developed to assist child care center staff who are involved in the process of the recognition of the qualifications of overseas workers within the child care industry in Western Australia. The information and practical exercises provided aim to increase staff's level of awareness and acceptance of cultural…

A project to develop curriculum materials geared to the immediate, specific language needs of limited English speaking foreign students at Douglas College (British Columbia, Canada) is reported. The materials designed were intended for orientation and acculturation, containing cultural content that could be integrated into the college's…

This guide, designed to foster self-determination in youths with disabilities, provides a detailed definition of self-determination, a discussion of the skills traditionally identified with self-determination, specific strategies for educators to use in fostering a self-determining environment, and a resource list. Key skills discussed include…