A study examined how pedagogic work in Queensland (Australia) schools could be reformed to meet the educational needs of low-achieving students from working-class and unemployed Samoan/Pacific Islander communities. Interviews were conducted with 39 primarily Anglo-Australian teachers and 35 Samoan/Pacific Islander parents and community members…

This guide is intended for school leaders acting to involve families in the education of their children. A common concern is the amount and kinds of family involvement that lead to a positive school climate and higher student achievement. To address this concern, strategies are outlined to help school leaders in deciding upon the kinds of family…

This paper summarizes the first 2 years of a school improvement effort in a low-performing rural school district in southern Virginia that involved developing a balanced K-12 curriculum aligned with the state's standards of learning. Project evaluation focused on changes in the school environment and in teaching and learning that resulted from the…

In this paper, an overview of children's psychological processes is presented within the context of adoption, foster care, or other type of placement which requires the child to develop the coping skills necessary to continue toward optimal growth psychologically, cognitively, and socially. Findings from a research review indicate that children…

Critics of bilingual education have cited the high Hispanic dropout rate as evidence against bilingual education. Since most bilingual education programs are Spanish-English, it is concluded that bilingual education must be responsible. Research shows some factors predicting dropout rates, including low English language ability, poverty, length of…

Biogeography examines questions of organism inventory and pattern, organisms' interactions with the environment, and the processes that create and change inventory, pattern, and interactions. This learning module uses time series maps and simple simulation models to illustrate how human actions alter biological productivity patterns at local and…

Cross-cultural studies of Asian and American children suggest that the superior performance of Asian children in school settings is related to cultural and educational differences beginning in the home. In an effort to understand why Japanese children make a smooth transition from home to school, this study examined the home language environment…

In order to provide teachers and students with electronic learning environments that support mentoring and collaboration through electronic means, the authors developed software that supports same time/different place educational collaborative activities over the Internet. These activities focus on teaching students how to organize and systematize…

This paper examines the viability of journal writing as a distance education teaching technique designed to provide deeper understanding and mastery of curriculum content in graduate level education courses. In creating optimal learning experiences, four different types of journal writing can be utilized in various types of distance learning…

This case study investigated the impact of an institutional mission to internationalize on the daily educational experiences of higher education faculty and students. A secondary purpose of the study was to investigate the role of international students in the internationalization process. The study was conducted in two selected departments of a…

A science classroom was used to study the effects of a shared intranet environment on students' problem-solving ability and metacognitive reflection skills through shared contextualization. Subjects were first-time 9th- and 10th-grade biology students from three public high schools. An evaluative analysis of the CourseInfo software (Blackboard,…

"Policy Matters" is an initiative of the Center for the Study of Social Policy. The "Policy Matters" project is designed to develop and make available coherent, comprehensive information regarding the strength and adequacy of state policies affecting children, families, and communities. The project seeks to establish consensus among policy experts…

Healthy, properly nourished students who feel safe are better able to concentrate on their work, attend school on a regular basis, and perform well in class and on tests. Despite such research findings, however, discussions about improving student achievement often occur separately from discussions about schools' roles in addressing health and…

In every school system the education of mentally handicapped children presents serious problems. In the larger cities where such pupils may be gathered from the various classes in the school and placed in one room in charge of a specially prepared teacher, the problems are somewhat simplified. In the country schools where children cannot be so…

This paper explores the nature and role of those forms of tertiary education that have been variously described as "transition", "foundation" and "bridging" education. It argues that much of the relevant literature is grounded implicitly or explicitly in technicist and liberal functionalist discourses. It then reviews…