Engagement is one of the most widely misused and overgeneralized constructs found in the educational, learning, instructional, and psychological sciences. The articles in this special issue represent a wide range of traditions and highlight several key conceptual, theoretical, methodological, and analytical issues related to defining and measuring…

"Growing a Waldorf-Inspired Approach in a Public School District" documents the practices and outcomes of Alice Birney, a Waldorf-Inspired School in Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD). This study highlights how such a school addresses students' academic, social, emotional, physical, and creative development. The study also…

Ho and Reardon (2012) present methods for estimating achievement gaps when test scores are coarsened into a small number of ordered categories, preventing fine-grained distinctions between individual scores. They demonstrate that gaps can nonetheless be estimated with minimal bias across a broad range of simulated and real coarsened data…

In 2015, the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) administered the Digital Instructional Materials Survey regarding state policies and guidelines for the acquisition, vetting, and funding of instructional resources for all 50 states, Guam, and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Based upon this survey,…

This is a survey study carried out in Adamawa State of Nigeria to determine the role performance of the inspectorate division of the ministry of education in inspecting secondary schools. Sixty (60) principals and 60 teachers which were proportionately stratified along five educational zones of Adamawa State, participated in the study. A close…

One of the most important issues in any educational environment is identifying factors that promote academic success. A plethora of research on such factors exists across most academic fields, involving a wide range of student demographics, and the definition of student success varies across the range of studies published. The analysis in this…

Stakeholders in career and technical education declare the value of applied learning through corresponding co-curricular student organizations. However, there is limited empirical evidence to support the notion that student organizations help participants to achieve academic gains. This study examined the levels of engagement in DECA's…

This essay is a personal reflection on the implementation of "Creating Critical Viewers," a national media literacy program sponsored by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), an industry association, in 1995. The television industry's decision to develop a media literacy curriculum in the 1990s was a powerful…

In the behavioral science literature, successful childhood socialization is termed Positive Youth Development (PYD). Young people themselves are active agents in charting their own life course (Jackson, in press). However, the responsibility for socialization begins with families and is shared by neighbors, faith communities, educators, youth…

This paper intends to highlight the issues in thinking skills development and efforts made in addressing these issues in Malaysia. The education system in Malaysia has undergone a huge transformational progress particularly in the field related to the development of thinking skill. Traditionally, thinking skill was not specifically cultivated in…

Undergraduate student perspectives regarding specific factors associated with self-directed learning were collected through eight focus groups. A total of 80 upperclassmen provided input revealing three emergent themes in the focus groups responses: (1) Student-Controlled, (2) Faculty-Controlled, and (3) Administration-Controlled Facilitators and…

This phenomenological study explored 6 new counselors' experiences working in community mental health centers and their experiences of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs-accredited training received in preparation for such work. Three themes from the interviews were identified to provide implications…

As the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development ends, there will be celebrations and the inevitable reporting on activities and outcomes. Countless meetings, events, and sessions have occurred around the world. This opinion piece acknowledges three significant events or outcomes that are shaping the future of ESD within formal education…

This qualitative study investigated the social justice practices of four principals - two from the United States and two from Sweden. The purpose of the study was to enhance our understanding of school leaders' actions as they work to promote socially just practices in different national contexts. Principals were interviewed to examine their…

This study investigated whether Pennsylvania school district superintendents acknowledge the importance of the 2008 ISLLC performance indicators that require collaboration to the same degree they practice them. Superintendents' ratings of importance and frequency were compared across demographic groups. A thirty-two question survey, derived from…