Teachers' social networks can play an important role in teacher learning and organizational change. But what influences teachers' networks? Why do some teachers have networks that are likely to support individual and organizational change, while others do not? This study is a first step in answering this question. We focus on how district policy…

In this article we examine how social capital affects the creation of human capital. Specifically, we study how college students' peers affect academic performance. Building on existing research, we consider the different types of peers in the academic context and the various mechanisms through which peers affect performance. We test our model…

Remix is touted as one of the most important practices within the field of open educational resources (OER). But remixing is still not mainstream practice in education and the barriers and limitations to remix are not well known. In this article we discuss the design and development of a print and web-based booklet created to introduce the topic…

A professional learning plan is the navigation system for the comprehensive professional learning system. Professional learning plans establish short- and long-term guidance for professional learning and its implementation. This workbook offers information and tools to walk educators through seven planning steps--from data analysis, to setting…

The increased demand and need for continuous learning have led to the introduction of open, distance, and e-learning (ODeL) in Kenya. Provision of this mode of education has, however, been faced with various challenges, among them infrastructural ones. This study was a survey conducted in two public universities offering major components of ODeL,…

This paper reports on secondary analysis of TIMSS 2003 data, based on a sound conceptual model, aiming to explain differential science achievement in South Africa from the perspective of educational effectiveness research. The conceptual framework was developed by refining existing school effectiveness models and including factors related to…

Response to Intervention (RTI) is an initiative first outlined by the federal government in the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) and the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (2004). The purpose of the model is twofold: to address the needs of struggling students with research-based interventions and regular progress monitoring and to…

In recent years, interest has spiked in data-driven decision making in education--that is, using various types of student data to inform decisions in schools and classrooms. In October 2008, the Council of the Great City Schools and American Institutes for Research (AIR) launched a project funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that focused…

Grounded in the best current knowledge, this book shows how to implement response to intervention (RTI) in middle and high school contexts. Detailed guidelines are presented for teaching reading comprehension, vocabulary, and other aspects of literacy across the content areas, and for providing effective interventions for students who require…

The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) is committed to providing the highest quality of education to its students. One way to provide a quality education is with an effective curriculum that reflects high standards and expectations. Thus, DoDEA has developed rigorous content standards aligned with national guidelines and standards.…

From the inception of public education, the curricula of schools have been debated. As early as 1893, higher education and governmental committees sought to establish what, when, and how cognitive level curricula would be taught. In times of national need, as when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the educational system was called upon to help…

This case study focuses on a four-district collaborative that shared services for more than 15 years in an effort to retain rural schools and thereby to preserve community identity. With population losses in the four districts and suburbanization in the largest, the collaborative made extensive use of distance education in addition to itinerant…

This qualitative study in a Midwestern US city examines how school and community-based organizations support homeless students' connections to education-related resources and relationships. Drawing from organizational brokerage theory, which delineates how individuals' chances to thrive are shaped by the organizations in which they participate,…

Online learning has steadily become a more integral strategy for schools and districts in their efforts to offer students greater access to the courses they need. Where in the past, much of the online learning activity happened at the state level or regional level, more and more schools are exercising greater control over their online and digital…

"Efficiency in Higher Education" is a sub-system within the total education system in a country. Higher Education contributes a major role in the national development, enriching the human potential. At the same time, climbing on the pinnacles of higher education and enjoying its benefit is not an easy task to achieve for a large number…