To address a public relations problem faced by a large urban public school district in Texas, we conducted action research that resulted in an audited self-monitoring system for high-stakes testing environments. The system monitors violations of testing protocols while identifying and disseminating best practices to improve the education of…

Social work has evolved over the years taking on the challenges of the times. The profession now espouses a breadth of theoretical approaches and treatment modalities. We have developed a model to help graduate social work students master the skill of integrating theory and social work practice. The Integrative Model has five components: (l) The…

The Artists' Collective for Social Change (ACSC) was established after the success of a multidisciplinary theater-dance project completed in March 2000 at a girls' residential treatment facility, Devereux Deerhaven, in Chester, New Jersey. The uncomfortable nature of this artistic adventure resulted in a model for teaching at-risk and underserved…

There may be forces at work that recently have created barriers and restrictions within primary education. Indeed it could be argued that those forces have reduced the children's education to a more rigid and limiting primary schooling. This article explores the influence of target setting and testing, literacy and numeracy hours, American and…

This study explores the use of video vignettes as a tool for the professional development of teachers. It is postulated that teachers' professional frames prime them to view vignettes through multiple "lenses," and that teachers may not recognize exemplary practice when presented with it. Think-aloud and interview data are collected as 11…

In this article, the authors attempt to employ a pedagogical tool, social perspective-taking, as a way to engage their students in the act of critical self-reflection, from a personal and professional point of view. The use of perspective taking devices, especially around issues of diversity (e.g., race, class, gender, ethnicity, and language) is…

There are dozens of books and hundreds of resources that address the issue of character development in students: how to raise them to be good people, how to teach them to be good citizens, how to help them to make good decisions. Little is written, however, about the character development of principals and school leaders, whose behavior is a model…

Globalization, new technology, and the knowledge economy are transforming the role of community colleges in learning. In an increasingly competitive and global education market community colleges in Canada and the USA are responding by changing their missions, culture, curricula, program delivery models, and organizational structures. This…

A review of the three articles on feminist identity development in this issue indicates that (a) the Feminist Identity Development Scale (FIDS) and the Feminist Identity Composite (FIC) perform similarly and acceptably in psychometric analyses, (b) no research has properly tested whether there are true stages of feminist identity development, and…

The impact of postnatal depression on a child's risk for violent behavior was evaluated in an urban British community sample (N=122 families). Mothers were interviewed during pregnancy, at 3 months postpartum, and when the child was 1, 4, and 11 years of age. Mothers, teachers, and children reported on violent symptoms at age 11. Structural…

The fit of J. L. Holland's (1959, 1997) RIASEC model to U.S. racial-ethnic groups was assessed using circular unidimensional scaling. Samples of African American, Asian American, Caucasian American and Hispanic American high school students and employed adults who completed either the UNIACT Interest Inventory (K. B. Swaney, 1995) or the Strong…

This study tested a partial version of R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, and G. Hackett's (1994) social-cognitive career theory model. Among 204 high school girls who attended science, math, and engineering (SME) career conferences, the authors used a 4-year longitudinal design to predict the choice of an SME college major and SME self-efficacy and outcome…

Many educators contend that standardized assessments coerce instructors into teaching-to-the-test, a method which they claim promotes rote learning, limits academic growth and marginalizes at-risk learners. However, this researcher asserts that when underachieving developmental community college students are instructed with techniques congruent…

The extensive sociological studies of conservation agriculture have provided considerable understanding of farmers' use of conservation practices, but attempts to develop predictive models have failed. Reviews of research findings question the utility of the conceptual and methodological perspectives of prior research. The argument advanced here…

The current paradigm in science education calls for greater emphasis on guiding students in active and extended scientific inquiry. This is supported by research suggesting that using a hands-on approach to learning fosters ownership in the learning process and allows students to gain greater appreciation for the design and implementation of…