In 2003, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) provided Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) with a $3.5 million grant to design and implement a faith- and community-based program for incarcerated juveniles. Florida's experience developing a completely new program has provided valuable lessons regarding…

The Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) Initiative, funded by the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice, is an ambitious federal effort to improve the health and well-being of children and adolescents. The Initiative focuses on integrated prevention and treatment programs, strategies, and services designed to…

Theory and research suggest the critical role that formative assessment can play in student learning. The use of assessment in guiding instruction has long been advocated: Through the assessment of students' needs and the monitoring of student progress, learning sequences can be appropriately designed, instruction adjusted during the course of…

When a classroom is opened to inquiry-based learning, teachers can no longer rely solely on traditional end-of-unit tests. "Seamless Assessment" is a one-stop guide to strategies that mirror the investigatory spirit. Working with the popular 5E model as an instructional framework, the authors have designed methods for embedding formative and…

A general overview of the SI model is provided, including the SI philosophy, essential components of the program, program structures, key roles, outcomes, and evaluation. A review of what we have learned about the importance of planning SI sessions, providing ongoing training for leaders, conducting regular SI program assessments, and implementing…

This paper focuses on research into the student experience as participants in the development of an international online community. The background context for this is an international master's programme and the specific context for the research is a module on Digital Media Applications (DMA), which are outlined. The programme design emphasises…

Scenario writing is a method to promote creative thinking and a proactive approach to dealing with the future. ATEE's Research and Development Centre "Curricula in Teacher Education" has adapted this method for use in teacher education. A Comenius funded course on Scenario writing was run over five days with teachers, teacher--educators,…

The issue of student evaluations of faculty has been a source of debate in higher education for many years (Arden 2002; McKeachie 1979; Ory 2001; Trout 2000). Nevertheless, this author believes that student evaluations can be a valuable source of feedback for improving the quality of instruction. Therefore, she decided to initiate the practice of…

The purpose of this article is to trace development of the National Healthy School Program (NHSP) from a global concept to implementation at the local school level in England with a view toward clarifying and, more importantly, determining if implementation is proceeding as planned, as evidenced by the presence of process evaluation. The NHSP is…

Background: One of the major problems that confronts most educational systems concerns the need for developing a valid personnel evaluation system based on a strong theoretical framework. Unless the criteria for evaluating teachers emerge from tested theories on teacher and school effectiveness, evaluators cannot readily be accountable for how…

The premise of this special series is that evidence-based interventions and systems change are key foci for building capacity to serve children. In this article, we preface the series by introducing issues relevant to understanding the interplay of these foci and by describing the articles and their contributions. Common elements across these…

Objective: In support of the UK Government's teenage pregnancy and sexual health strategies, a certificated programme of professional development for school nurses and other community nurses was developed to provide support for personal, social and health education (PSHE) work, including sex and relationships education (SRE), for young people.…

For educators interested in engaging in critical literacy work with families and schools, the efforts can be both exhilarating and exasperating. Reflecting on a two-year family literacy project, we consider the possibilities and pitfalls of the projects' design and implementation. The work described in this article takes a stance that is both…

The author explores current efforts by educators and policy makers to harness the power of educational technology for both assessment "of learning" and assessment "for learning" in K-12 classrooms. (Contains 1 figure.)

Social studies education has been endangered for a long time, with no aspect more threatened than the elementary program. This situation is problematic in itself, but its effects on the total social studies program are also pernicious. In this article, the author discusses the problems and challenges in social education, particularly in elementary…