Raising the proportion of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds progressing to higher education has been a key policy objective for successive governments in the UK since the late 1990s. Often this has been conceptualised as a problem with their 'aspirations,' with the solution being seen as the provision of 'aspiration-raising' activities…

In this paper we report a qualitative case-study of how a primary school Principal enhanced staff belief in their efficacy and practice in relation to children's behaviour. Thematic analysis was used to analyse interviews with the Principal and teaching staff. We identified four main themes relating to their attributions, beliefs and practices:…

Effective transition planning is critical for young adults with disabilities to experience positive post-school outcomes, including employment, living in a place of their choice and engaging in social activities. However, these outcomes are often marred by barriers such as poorly constructed transition plans, low expectations and a lack of…

This national survey of PhD faculty assessed the research preparation of entering doctoral social work students on a wide range of research knowledge and related skills. The prior literature shows that PhD programs repeat much BSW and MSW research course content. This study shows that the trend continues and has perhaps widened. PhD research…

Saul Ramirez, a middle school art teacher and chess coach, who had been an English language learner (ELL) and a former chess champion, knew how chess could change students' lives. His own experiences inspired him to start the Henderson Middle School chess team. Henderson is a low-income school located in one of the poorest zip codes in the United…

Learn how to differentiate instruction while maintaining a rigorous learning environment. In this practical book, rigor expert Barbara R. Blackburn shows that the differentiated classroom doesn't mean extra work for top students and easy work for others; instead, you can have high expectations for all students and provide scaffolding so that…

Effective instructor evaluation is complex and requires the use of multiple measures--formal and informal, traditional and authentic--as part of a balanced evaluation system. The student voice, a critical element of that balanced system, is appropriately complemented by instructor self-assessment and the reasoned judgments of other relevant…

The purpose of this article was to look at some of the issues students have with reading and interpreting their instructors' post-secondary writing prompts. Every student, who attends a post-secondary institution, will at some point in their university/college career be asked to submit a writing assignment of some kind. The most common assignment…

The Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) complements the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). FSSE (pronounced "fessie") measures faculty members' expectations of student engagement in educational practices that are empirically linked with high levels of learning and development. The survey also collects information about…

The purpose of this study was to identify the approaches to learning of the millennial generation and to describe the student's perspective on the relationship that social media and technology has on individual approaches to learning. This study specifically identified the demographic profile of the generational group who were business freshmen…

This study explored the perspectives of primary principals, as they consider the prospect of employing new teachers with a 'specialisation' in mathematics. Structured interviews were conducted with six NSW principals across school sectors. Analysis of the data revealed the nature of 'specialist' roles in a school depended heavily on current…

Across society, the consistent influx of students enrolling in higher education institutions without a comparable increase in degree attainment has produced a heightened awareness and a desire to identify the factors related to influencing college success. This dissertation aims to develop a greater understanding of three potentially relevant…

This study examined undergraduate multilingual writers' disciplinary writing practices by drawing on the academic literacies framework (Lea and Street, 1998), which conceptualizes student writing at the level of social identities, epistemological varieties in disciplines, and institutional power relations rather than at the skill-based level.…

Much of the public discourse on education arguably reinforces the assumption that most stakeholders share the same desires for teaching and learning--desires reflecting a liberal paradigm that stresses individualism, control, and efficiency. But there are other desires, and additional empirical research informed by a Vygotskian sociocultural…

Background: Unlike other types of cancer, skin cancer incidence rates are on the rise and adolescent females are particularly likely to tan indoors, a major risk factor. However, little research has examined the role of media use in encouraging or discouraging this dangerous behavior in this population. Aims: To empirically assess the links…