Practicum experiences have been a critical aspect of the education and training of school psychologists at both the specialist and doctoral level. At the specialist level, the National Association of School Psychologists recently updated their standards for practicum, but the content, quality, and length of practicum vary tremendously across…

The renewal of quality in Australian higher education comes at a time of significant change in the external policy framework. Such changes are timely due to the growth of higher education and the emergence of the quality and equity agenda in the context of ongoing decline in public funding. The article provides an overview of current quality…

Youth and adult partners participated in youth asset mapping, a form of action research, to assess community assets and youth involvement opportunities. Qualitative data were analyzed to examine youths' feelings of empowerment and experiences with adult partners. Asset mapping contributed to youth empowerment, especially when adults were engaging…

There is considerable national interest in STEM initiatives, but yet there is little discussion concerning what STEM means in terms of a curriculum concept to be applied to school programming. This article focuses on STEM as a curriculum concept. First, STEM programming is discussed in terms of separate subjects, correlated and broad fields…

Though personal response "clicker" systems can enhance student engagement and learning, little research has examined characteristics which affect learning. In the current study, 151 students reported how their instructor used clickers, their experience of clicker-related hindrances, perceived benefits of using clickers, and their grades. Results…

The valuable social and economic contribution of financial counselors receives little public attention, as discourse related to consumer credit and debt invariably focuses on the impacts of consumer defaults for consumers and the broader community. Policy makers and organizations sustaining the work of financial counselors must ensure they care…

Desegregation marked the beginning of a long period of loss of Black teachers within the profession. First, Black teachers were not hired in desegregated schools, and then as other professional opportunities opened up in society, fewer Blacks entered the teacher pipeline. The purpose of this literature review is to synthesize research relevant to…

This study examines factors affecting students' performances in an Introductory Sociology course over five semesters. Employing simple and ordered logit regression models, the author explains final grades by focusing on individual demographic and educational characteristics that students bring into the classroom. The results show that a student's…

Schools of social work are mandated to train students for policy practice. A new instructional approach is needed so that social workers skillfully engage in policy change to address the growing economic, social, and cultural problems that affect our clients. This article presents the Practicing Policy, Pursuing Change, and Promoting Social…

Although much has been written about the complexity of educational change and reform elsewhere, the educational reform movement in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a relatively recent phenomenon with little systematic documentation as yet; educators are still searching for a clear understanding of their roles. However, it is clear that the…

The research reported here set out to investigate the features in schools and science departments that were seen as effective in contributing to the continuing professional development (CPD) of early career science teachers. Ten schools took part in the study, selected on the basis of their reputation for having effective CPD practices. To gain…

Education is a primary way to equip children with the knowledge, skills, and competences necessary to live a life of harmonious relationships with diverse human beings. The escalating violence in the name of religion and ethnicity in Indonesia and other parts of the world is worrying, and one potential long-term solution is to educate school…

This article presents an interview with Cathy Carnahan, the 2011 MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year. Carnahan makes adult learning a priority to support student achievement at Duniway Middle School in McMinnville, Oregon. She describes her school as a community of learners that is a safe setting for teachers to lead and…

This study approaches inclusive schools by looking at how conditions for participation are expressed for pupils with additional support needs in education policy documents in Sweden and Scotland. By using five dimensions of the environment--availability, accessibility, affordability, accommodability and acceptability--expressions of conditions for…

Background: Curriculum fidelity describes the extent to which a curriculum is implemented faithfully as planned. Curriculum fidelity issues may arise when teachers implement the curriculum inconsistently due to differences in philosophy, barriers in the setting, or other local concerns. Purpose: The study examined challenges that a teacher faced…