Using evidence from a series of studies carried out over 20 years, this article explores ways of developing schools that are effective for all children and young people. The argument developed is intended to challenge those leading school improvement to return to their historical purpose, that of ensuring a sound education for every child. The…

Gettysburg College President Janet Morgan Riggs and Board Chair Robert N. Duelks are both members of the Gettysburg class of 1977, but did not know each other as students. As a member of the college's board of trustees, Duelks chaired the presidential search committee that selected Riggs as Gettysburg's 14th president in 2009. Then, one year after…

As out-of-school programs--and the expectations for them--grow, the field is struggling to identify the kind of training staff members need to meet those expectations. A variety of efforts have sprung up across the country to define and improve the quality of after-school staff, some of which bear resemblance to the quest to improve the…

As a well-known advocate for promoting wider reading and reading engagement among all children--and founder of a reading program for foster children--Pam Allyn knows that struggling readers often face any printed text with fear and confusion, like Max in the book Where the Wild Things Are. She argues that teachers need to actively create a…

Today's reform landscape transcends instructional leadership and data-based decision-making skills. This is not to say that those behaviors are not essential to a principal's success, but they no longer suffice. Principals do not need to be curriculum experts, but they do need to lead their schools with full knowledge of the Common Core State…

What relevance does John Dewey have for students and teachers of the 21st century? Can his educational philosophy be reconciled with "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) and its emphasis on accountability and high-stakes testing? In this article, the authors discuss Dewey's ideas about the child and the curriculum; delineate how teacher…

The current standards and accountability regime describes effective teaching as the ability to increase student achievement on standardized tests. This narrow definition of effectiveness can lead principals to create school cultures myopically focused on student achievement data. A "laser-like focus on academic achievement," if employed…

As institutions of higher education adopt more global learning initiatives to improve global competencies and increase global citizenship among their students, the creative implementation of intercultural exchanges is critical. This article is a reflection on the experiences of implementing a virtual classroom linking students at Kennesaw State…

Schools everywhere are facing a difficult conundrum. Parents and the government continue to ask them to educate more children at higher standards with less time and less money. On top of that, students must master a whole new set of skills--digital age skills--if they are to succeed. What's a school to do? This article presents strategies and…

The field of industrial arts education endured with little change for over half a decade. It was during this time that a group of like-minded individuals attended a meeting in Cleveland, Ohio and decided to form an association with the common purpose of promoting the profession and field of industrial arts education: the American Industrial Arts…

Response-to-intervention (RTI) models incorporate a screening process to identify students who appear to be at risk for learning disabilities (LDs). The purpose of this position article is to incorporate what is known about screening into a flexible, yet comprehensive screening system to help school psychologists and other school administrators in…

A hearing loss of any type has the potential to adversely impact development leading to language, literacy, social, and academic delays. Currently, approximately 87% of students who are deaf or hard of hearing spend at least part of each day in a general education classroom. In order to optimally benefit from receiving educational services in the…

This paper explores how 20 African teachers in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, construct their identities in the light of inclusive education, and how they negotiate the tensions and contradictions emerging from the process of becoming inclusive practitioners. Central to this discussion is the understanding that teachers' identities are…

As teachers continue professional development throughout their careers to better serve the educational needs of students who are gifted, it becomes apparent that one of the goals is to strive to increase self-awareness of ethical and moral professional decisions and actions. Often, this requires intentional reminders and deliberate work to…

The study presents a case of a teacher education college which took upon itself the role of providing teachers with an opportunity to study their work as part of their professional development studies in three different frameworks. The objective of the study was to examine the role of the college as promoting research carried out by practicing…