Race to the Top's success ultimately must be measured by its long-term impact on student learning. Because simultaneous change in multiple systems takes time, it is too early to make that determination of success now. However, it is not too early to learn from the positive achievements of and challenges faced by Race to the Top states. This report…

Race to the Top's success ultimately must be measured by its long-term impact on student learning. Because simultaneous change in multiple systems takes time, it is too early to make that determination of success now. However, it is not too early to learn from the positive achievements of and challenges faced by Race to the Top states. This…

To effectively address teacher turnover, Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grantees need to follow an approach that entails aligning the tracking, diagnosing, and intervening processes. Unfortunately, too often retention strategies are implemented without regard to the various types of teacher turnover and specific data about the causes of turnover.…

This mixed-methods study examined four STEM communities (BioQUEST, Project Kaleidoscope, the POGIL Project, and SENCER) in order to better understand the roles of these communities in advancing the goals of scaling STEM education reform. The project explored three key questions: (1) How do members and leaders of communities of practice (CoPs1)…

The potential use of computer-based assessments has raised concerns from educators, policymakers, and parents about information technology infrastructure in school districts and the preparation of staff and students to use new technologies for assessment purposes, and the potential impact of testing activities on core school functions,…

The main purpose of the present study was to implement an experiment to explore the effects from coaching based leadership on goal setting, self-efficacy, and causal attribution. The study comprised of 20 executives and 124 middle managers at a branch of a Norwegian Fortune 500 company who all voluntarily participated in an experiment over a…

Student academic success is an important issue in South African (SA) higher education (HE). The transition from school to HE is a critical time that a student must successfully negotiate in order ultimately to succeed at university. Tinto (1993) identified the first phase of the transition process as the separation phase during which the student…

Extension educators are often considered influential community leaders. Still the question remains--how do educators motivate themselves to success? Does this contribute towards their self-leadership perceptions? Specialists from three universities administered a survey to look at the "self-leadership" of Extension educators. Results…

Our study used the construct of congruence to conceptualize the degree to which transgender individuals feel genuine, authentic, and comfortable with their gender identity and external appearance. In Study 1, the Transgender Congruence scale (TCS) was developed, and data from 162 transgender individuals were used to estimate the reliability and…

Strides at the federal and state levels are being made to improve the overall climate for gay rights and relationships across the country. However, despite greater acceptance, legislative victories and visibility of gay rights and relationships, homophobia is still widespread in American society (Fone, 2000; Jenkins, Lambert, & Baker, 2009;…

In American public education today, a school can become successful or unsuccessful based on leadership. In this age of school reform, it is only appropriate to determine common leadership characteristics among successful educational leaders so that appropriate leadership training and development can be part of school improvement. This dissertation…

Research on the influence of relationship education on marital satisfaction over the last decade has demonstrated positive outcomes for both high school and premarital programs within the general American population. Yet few studies have examined relationship education as a factor of marital satisfaction specifically within the North American…

Everyone acknowledges the importance of leadership in good schools, but sometimes a leader's influence extends into unexpected areas. Getting admitted to and succeeding in college is certainly the result of hard work on the part of individual students and their families, but for many kids, particularly those from impoverished backgrounds or from…

Student cohorts have been regaining popularity among graduate programs over the past few decades because they offer numerous advantages for students and can be molded to fit programmatic needs. The format of these cohorts range from open to closed according to the inclusion or exclusion of additional students during the life of the program.…

Teachers' knowledge of mathematical content and children's mathematical thinking have been identified as critical elements related to teachers' ability to effectively teach mathematics (Fennema & Franke, 1992; Kazemi & Franke, 2001; Ma, 1999; Peterson, Carpenter, & Fennema, 1989). Literature on teachers' knowledge…