For 12 years, the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) has researched use of technology to expand opportunities for diverse learners. Universal design principles drawn from architecture and product development are useful for developing effective educational tools that can accommodate students' varied recognition, strategic, and affective…

Equal opportunity is more attainable than universal scientific literacy. Society should instead invest in improved science education for the disadvantaged. Science is a difficult subject. Educators can arouse curiosity and awaken self-interest, but they cannot create lifelong learning by force-feeding a concentrated dose of science. (Contains 15…

Explains how outdoor learning opens new possibilities for expanding educational opportunities. Explores various lifelong skills that can be learned from outdoor environments, and presents ways to expand classrooms beyond the school building. (GR)

Focuses on how the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act has affected homeless children and youths. Proposes that more initiatives need to be taken to enhance educational opportunities for homeless students. Implications for school social work include advocating for housing policy, involving parents in the education of homeless children, and…

In Japan, the necessity of a prestigious academic degree for advancement has led to extreme educational credentialism ("degreeocracy"). Despite the assumption that educational opportunities are open to all and advancement is thus meritocratic, social class inequalities do influence access to opportunities and educational attainment.…

Describes a study conducted by Athabasca University that investigated the use of information technology by First Nations communities in Canada, often in remote rural areas, to help determine their readiness for distance learning opportunities for postsecondary education. Discusses individual technology use and community technology use. (Author/LRW)

The purpose of this article is to report the findings of a study, conducted among Wilderness Education Association Affiliates, aimed at understanding the service-learning options provided. Several definitions and viewpoints regarding service-learning can be found throughout the literature; only a few are presented to introduce the topic. E-mails…

Test adaptation and cross-cultural assessment activities are skyrocketing as the demand for educational opportunities and personnel selection grow both within the United States and across the industrializing world. We chose a qualitative, case study approach to identify central themes encountered by ACT, a not-for-profit organization that has…

There is strong evidence of the correlation between educational under-achievement and social exclusion. Those who do not participate in or benefit from education are more likely to experience early parenthood, homelessness, poor health, involvement with the youth and adult justice systems, poverty and unemployment. In this paper, the author…

Preschool programs for children with and without disabilities housed in public school settings have increased dramatically over the last decade. This study examined the perspectives of preschool teachers about who provides instructional supervision for their preschool programs and the behaviors these individuals use to influence their…

What makes a college a place that stimulates deep learning about the world, that encourages students to discover and explore their own talents and interests in challenging and creative ways, and that assists them to develop the skills to relate effectively with others in social, occupational, or civic contexts? There are, of course, many…

'Intelligence' has long been a problematic concept for educational policy-makers. Sociologists of education concerned to explain social inequalities in educational attainment have suggested that, despite the through-going criticism of the classical IQ concept, teachers continue to maintain practices which ensure that their taken-for-granted ideas…

Education serves the nation and as the nation is challenged, it is expected schools will address the challenges. That is why the curriculum is often more crowded than the highways at quitting time. It is also why the nation's schools seem to weave and veer from one new program to another. This article asserts that most of the landmark decisions in…

This paper discusses the issues raised when delivering professional doctorate programmes to students at a distance. It explores the importance in doctoral study of engagement with a research community, what a "community of practice" might mean within the academic context and the problematic nature of working with students already operating within…

A major shortcoming of macro-spatial research undertaken to date in Israel pertains to the neglect of state investment-related measures and the extent to which they mediate unequal opportunities to learn (OTL) and educational opportunities between localities. In the present study, OTL refer to class size and high-school tracking patterns.…