Community colleges enroll nearly half of the students enrolled in public undergraduate programs and a disproportionate number of first-generation, low-income, underprepared and minority students. The new national completion agenda has brought both visibility and pressure to these open-access institutions, which have completion rates of less than…

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative action-research study that explored how one group of district-level school superintendents conceptualized their role as they built their own learning community. Data analysis yielded four elements that supported the participants' efforts: (a) using a process as an entry point, (b) aligning various…

Assumptions about a child's competence to voice an opinion often inhibit efforts to find effective methods for participation. Answers to questions are sought from the significant adults who surround a child [Morris, J. 2003. "Including All Children: Finding Out about the Experiences of Children with Communication and/or Cognitive…

This paper reports on a year-long research project that investigated the value of experiential engagement with "alternative" communities which derive a high degree of self-reliance from working closely with their own local natural resources. Opportunities for higher education students to explore these communities were developed and the…

Using a liquid approach, the authors analyze the intercultural discourse of Taiwanese students who had taken part in a short term exchange program with a Malaysian university. The four participants were graduating in Mandarin Chinese in their home institution and were following a Chinese program in multilingual Malaysia. Data were collected…

Curriculum sequencing is central to promoting a coherent student experience. Yet in the higher education context, the concept and practice of curriculum sequencing have not been fully explored. This research examined how seven programme teams approached the issue of sequencing across two Irish higher education institutions. A phenomenological…

Although governments and universities worldwide recognise the value of study abroad as a means to prepare graduates to live and work in a globalising world, there is a wide gap between the rhetoric and reality. The reasons for this are complex, but one factor, not often discussed, is the role academics play in study abroad. This paper explores…

This article explores how ethnography allows for an understanding of the way children are empowered through the use of popular culture during sociodramatic play. The study discussed was conducted in an inner-city Primary school in regional New South Wales, Australia. The participants were a composite fifth-to-sixth grade class, and the research…

This research consisted of a case study of an active network for teacher inquiry. Specifically, I investigated how an organization dedicated to teacher inquiry had provided the structure, leadership, and resources to sustain, maintain, and expand the network. The group studied was the Mid-Ohio Writing Project, a teacher inquiry network affiliated…

This mixed-methods research study investigated medical students' perspectives of professional mentoring through a web-based survey/needs assessment. The participants are fourth year medical students from three large urban research institutions and two regional branch campuses. The web-based survey/needs assessment was created, peer reviewed, and…

In December 2014, the National Center for Education Research (NCER) in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education convened a technical working group (TWG) of experts in the field of rural education to provide input on research needs in this field and how research could be more relevant and useful to rural…

A three part experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of coaching as a support for special education teachers, and the impact that coaching has on teacher behavior. First, 6 focus group dyad interviews were conducted utilizing a coach and special education teacher, for a total of 12 participants. The purpose of the focus group was to…

Authenticity is seen by many as a key for good learning and education. There is talk of authentic instruction, authentic learning, authentic problems, authentic assessment, authentic tools and authentic teachers. The problem is that while authenticity is an often-used adjective describing almost all aspects of teaching and learning, the concept…

This study focuses on elementary and secondary teacher candidates' perspectives of how their clinical experiences influence their preparedness in becoming effective culturally responsive educators. Clinical experiences in urban schools embedded within teacher preparation programs have the potential to develop students' ability to become culturally…

This analysis considers the complex ways that attempts to create a liberal, democratic Guatemalan national identity through policy-driven curricular reform were taken up, engaged with, contested and transformed at the local level by Indigenous social studies teachers. While post-conflict education initiatives aimed at civic reconstruction…