The Miami Valley Tech Prep Consortium, headquartered at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, engages a wide range of students in Tech Prep pathways that span high school and college. Students are offered a blend of technical and academic coursework, as well as extensive supports enhanced by a sophisticated professional development system.…

Workshops are currently one of the most popular ways for instructors in STEM fields to learn more about teaching and learning. Yet research shows we often do not know what participants gain from attending. This article suggests ways of measuring impact of instructional improvement workshops that will help not only workshop providers with designing…

The mathematics achievement levels of U.S. students fall far behind those of other developed nations; within the United States itself, the students who are falling behind come predominantly from high-poverty and high-minority areas. This article reports on a series of analyses that followed 4 cohorts of students from 3 such schools through the 5th…

Over the last decade teacher educators have started to systematically study the processes involved in their efforts to improve their teacher education practices. This research by teacher educators (self-study research) has made an enormous contribution to the professional development of the teacher educators involved. Many teacher educators,…

In September 1998, the California State Legislature passed SB 2042, legislation that authorized the reform of teacher recruitment, certification, and licensing in the state. Its provisions are unique in that they represent the first time in California's history that almost all of the standards dealing with teacher preparation and induction were…

Many universities and colleges list the development of lifelong learning skills as a curriculum objective and have adopted laptop programs that may enable lifelong learning. The purpose of this research is to address the effectiveness of a technology-based and computer-mediated learning environment in achieving lifelong learning skills from the…

Interviews of graduate and undergraduate students and faculty members at several urban universities were conducted during a 3-year period. The results suggest differences in satisfaction and performance with respect to temporary versus permanent groups and groups versus teams. Possible explanations for these differences are provided. The article…

The students and teachers at Hoover High School in San Diego, California, have made significant progress in their quest to meet accountability standards and ensure that all students learn to read, write, and think at increasingly complex levels. In 1999, Hoover High was the lowest performing high school in the city of San Diego and one of the…

While many states and territories in Australia were initially a little slow to develop a strong momentum towards inclusive educational practices, this has been addressed quite dramatically in the past ten years. Acknowledging that each jurisdiction in Australia has its own department of education and determines its own educational directions this…

The purpose of this research study was to develop a theory-based methodology for exploring instructional computer use by faculty members in one College of Education (COE) and implementing this methodology at an Anatolian university in Turkey. Rogers' (2003) Diffusion of Innovations theory was used as the theoretical framework in the process of…

In this article, the author discusses five common strategies for making online high school programs effective in one's school district. These are: (1) Prepare students for success; (2) Prepare teachers for success; (3) Use interactive, flexible course designs; (4) Monitor and support teachers; and (5) Monitor and support students. Despite their…

This survey-based study examined the benefits of mentoring for 299 pre-service teachers who voluntarily worked with children at-risk in a nationwide Israeli mentoring project. Results revealed that mentoring taught prospective teachers about the world of children, increased their sensitivity to children at-risk and to children as individuals, and…

Efforts to improve social studies at the elementary level have not fared well in recent years. Federal demands for greater emphasis on mathematics and reading instruction have had a direct impact on social studies instruction--eroding elementary teachers' time and energy for the subject. In spite of this changing context, many states still test…

American students' knowledge of Indian history and culture is woefully inadequate. Montana now requires its teachers to remedy this situation, but it has become clear that, to do so, they themselves must first be re-educated. In this article, the author shares her experience developing an online course that would help teachers meet the…

The "Educational Media and Technology Yearbook" is dedicated to theoretical, empirical and practical approaches to educational media development. All chapters are invited and selected based on a variety of strategies to determine current trends and issues in the field. The 2009 edition will highlight innovative Trends and Issues in…