Research has begun to create a consensus about the essential characteristics of professional learning opportunities that impact teachers' knowledge and practices. These key characteristics include duration, teacher collaboration, active learning, a content knowledge focus, and a connection to school goals. A recent national study (Darling-Hammond,…

In Patrick County Public Schools in Patrick County, Virginia, in 2007, one of the goals that developed for the school district was to increase the opportunities for students to enroll in dual enrollment programs. The dual enrollment model is not new to Virginia's secondary educational program. This model has been available to Virginia students…

Parental involvement has different interpretations and applications within the school and home settings. Traditional parental involvement involves such activities as an Open House, parent-teacher conferences, extracurricular activities, and teacher requests regarding academic, attendance, and discipline issues. Parental involvement also occurs…

Higher education has expanded to a remarkable extent in many countries in recent decades. Although this has led to high levels of participation, inequalities not only persist but are also strengthened. The persistence of inequalities is partly the result of policies for the widening of participation having been accompanied by institutional…

Virginia's LEAF Program incorporates educational opportunities with heritage experiences and technology to advance forestry education in the Commonwealth. Statewide heritage-based outdoor classrooms use an integrated outdoor learning system to provide both formal and informal education. Online learning modules are coupled with the classrooms to…

South Africa's democratic state has been clouded by various social and economic ills like joblessness, skills shortage, poverty and crime. These are a result of various complex issues which include the apartheid legacy, misdirected education system and poor planning for long term national priorities. This article looks at the lost opportunities to…

In too many places, community members have abdicated their collective responsibility for education, thinking it only happens in schools. But if their role as citizens is to wrestle with tough problems together, and education is a primary societal function, then it stands to reason that educational accountability focused solely on schools would…

Two studies examined the relationship between precollegiate advanced/enriched educational experiences and adult accomplishments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In Study 1, 1,467 13-year-olds were identified as mathematically talented on the basis of scores [greater than or equal to] 500 (top 0.5%) on the math section…

In September 2000, building upon a decade of major United Nations conferences and summits, world leaders came together at United Nations Headquarters in New York to adopt the United Nations Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets--with a…

Researchers, policy officials, and the wider public in Japan and abroad often hold different views about the quality of Japanese education. Whereas Western researchers are attracted by the academic performance of Japanese students in international assessment studies, Japanese university professors launched a public debate in 1999 about declining…

To fulfill their religious and educational missions, PS-12 Christian schools should properly equip teachers to design and deliver instruction of the highest quality that incorporates sound pedagogical approaches. Research indicates that a key element for making this happen in classrooms is to offer professional development opportunities that…

Every instructional process involves a strategic assessment system for a complete teaching leaning circle. Any assessment system which is seriously flawed, should call for a change, a rethink or a repackaging for sustainability, and to be a part of teaching and learning. Assessment should be meaningful to both the assessors and the assessees. The…

The recent missions to Mars have produced a mass of data and information in all forms and have forced the minds of many people world-wide to rethink their own perspectives on life itself. This drama unfolding about 35 million miles from Earth, and digitally on our TV screens, is offering a growing reservoir for teachable moments. The curiosity and…

For nearly two centuries, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have provided educational opportunities to millions of students who were disenfranchised from traditional higher education institutions. HBCUs have provided African Americans and international students of color with a sense of self-worth and accomplishment. However,…

Learning in the library should present opportunities to enrich student learning activities to address concerns of interest and cognitive complexity, but these must be tasks that call for in-depth analysis--not merely gathering facts. Library learning experiences need to demand enough of students to keep them interested and also need to be…