Research has begun to show that certain schoolwide characteristics--such as student-centered learning environments, leadership, and safety--can be important for improving student outcomes. In keeping with these insights, school improvement efforts around the country are becoming less narrowly focused on the performance of individual students and…

A regional University in the United States implemented an AQIP (Academic Quality Improvement Program) Action Project with a goal of developing processes for effective leadership communication. An MBA (Masters of Business Administration) class conducted a university-wide communication audit to assist with the AQIP project. Quantitative and…

While teaching auditing using cases is regarded as an effective approach, spatial separation of students and teachers in online contexts can restrict the application of case teaching. This study examines an undergraduate auditing course implemented to address this challenge by integrating case teaching with ePortfolio assessment. Students' written…

Undergraduate education incorporating active learning and vicarious experience through education outreach presents a critical opportunity to influence future engineering teaching and practice capabilities. Engineering education outreach activities have been shown to have multiple benefits; increasing interest and engagement with science and…

Previous research has illustrated the importance of acquiring knowledge from authentic contexts; however, without full engagement, students' learning performance might not be as good as expected. In this study, a Team Competition-based Ubiquitous Gaming approach was proposed for improving students' learning effectiveness in authentic learning…

Part of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE) research series titled "Teachers' Time: Collaborating for Learning, Teaching, and Leading," this case study looks at the Santa Monica Alternative School House (SMASH), a K-8 public school in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD). It is a school of…

This paper reports on a novel approach to providing undergraduates with feedback on STEM writing assignments via an otherwise untapped educational resource: university alumni and employees who normally play no role in the institution's educational mission. In the Volunteer Expert Reader (VER) approach, students are paired with volunteers whose…

When it comes to professional practice, getting a clear picture of how you're teaching in the classroom is easier said than done. The instructional coaches and teachers whom the author interviewed as part of a study on using video in professional development were, in almost all cases, surprised by what they saw in a video of them teaching. In many…

Emerging technologies are providing opportunities for designing new learning environments, especially environments in which students can learn by putting their skills into practice. Knowledge about the development of these experiences needs to be accumulated and processed so that they can be integrated effectively into training programmes. In this…

Following the classic systems model of inputs, processes, and outputs, this study examined the influence of three input factors, team climate, work overload, and team leadership, on research project team effectiveness as measured by publication productivity, team member satisfaction, and job frustration. This study also examined the mediating…

Lisa Nyberg believes the education of science core ideas and practices must begin as soon as possible with children. She imagines never teaching letters, words, sentences, or reading skills to young children, and then handing a book to a fifth grader who is expected to read, understand, and perform immediately. With the current language arts and…

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) have become increasingly popular in schools. PLCs are groups of teachers, administrators, parents, and students who collaborate to improve their practices and focus on results (DuFour, 2004). Grade-level and department teachers participate in regularly scheduled collaborative team meetings; however, many…

This multiple-site case study examined distributed leadership practices of three middle school principals, using observations, interviews, and document analysis. Findings disclosed that the principals built on the interdisciplinary teaming structure to develop empowering organizational structures that promoted democratic governance. Employing…

This project addresses the challenge of preparing educational leaders for future roles in administration in K-12 schools. Through a project-based learning scenario set in a 3-D virtual world, graduate students in school administration and instructional technology worked together in simulated school teams to develop proposals for integrating…

This paper presents the first results of a large-scale research project on the child protection services in Tenerife, Spain. In Study 1, the professional beliefs and practices of 152 child protection workers, as measured by a Professional Beliefs and Practices Questionnaire, were correlated with their scores on the Maslach Burnout Inventory.…