Improving education systems is an elusive goal. Despite considerable investment, international studies such as the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) project of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the McKinsey Report, "How The World's Best Performing Schools Come Out On Top", indicate that improving…

Recent international declarations stress the importance of partnerships between and amongst donors, the state and civil society, in order to improve service delivery and promote qualities of good governance, particularly in key sectors such as education. However, in conditions of state fragility--where high levels of distrust between and amongst…

The Carl D. Perkins Act of 2006 creates a need for secondary school administrators to plan differently for professional development activities for Career and Technical education (CTE) teachers. No longer can professional development activities be comprised of short-term workshops or conferences. The legislation calls for professional development…

The lack of motivation among students is a common challenge in physical education. Studies drawing on the self-determination theory consistently show that perceived autonomy facilitates adaptive motivation in students, which can lead to a wide range of desired educational outcomes. However, instructional strategies designed to support student…

Coaches have always needed to respond to differences in sport and have always been concerned with finding hard-working kids who mesh well as a team. While coaches still try to build team cohesiveness, today's coaches must respond to complex issues related to diversity and are expected to be politically correct. The purpose of this article is to…

This article presents the author's keynote address delivered at the "North Eastern Ontario Education Network 2011 Research Carousel: Evidence in the Classroom--Affecting Student Achievement at the Grassroots Level." In this address, the author first discusses teachers and learning in the literature on adult and professional learning.…

Every two years congressional elections bring a new class of legislators to Washington, DC. The 112th Congress convenes this January and with it, more than 100 new Senators and Representatives, a new majority party in the House and with it new leaders, and in both the House and Senate many new Committee Chairs and legislative staff. The November…

In the face of public controversies, presidents and board chairs are often called upon to resolve difficult and divisive issues. When they are faced with public controversies and other challenges, a strong working relationship grounded in mutual respect and trust can make the difference between meeting the challenge head on and falling behind.…

Colleges survive sometimes because they are able to merge with another institution (a for-profit company, another private college, a state university). The change at the College of Charleston was shaped in the 1970s, when the college did not "merge" with a state institution--it "became" a state institution, which grew.. and…

Formative coaching, an approach that uses student work as the foundation for mentoring and professional development, can help principals become more effective instructional leaders. In formative coaching, teaches and coaches analyze student work to determine next steps for instruction. This article shows how a principal can use the steps of the…

eXtension was publicly launched in 2008 as an online resource; however, adoption rates have been disappointing. The research reported here measured adoption of eXtension, willingness to participate in a Community of Practice, and adoption barriers among Oklahoma Extension employees. The adoption rate was 49%, and 43% of employees were willing to…

In this manuscript, research on treatment compliance and dropout in group therapy is reviewed. A number of variables found to be related to the compliance and dropout are identified including client characteristics, treatment characteristics, and therapist perceptions and behavior. Implications of these results for increasing treatment compliance…

This overview focuses on Europe, a linguistically diverse region and moreover home to a number of minority languages. Over the past five decades, the focus of research on bi- or multilingual education has shifted from an initial emphasis on speakers' identities and their membership of homogenous imagined communities to an interest in learners'…

Over the last three decades, regional minority languages in Europe have regained increased recognition and support. Their revitalisation is partly due to their being taught in schools. Multilingualism has special characteristics for speakers of minority languages and it poses unique challenges for learning minority languages. This article looks at…

Initially drawing from, yet then expanding on the research discussed in this volume, this article discusses specific measures that practitioners, researchers, and policymakers can take to support purpose among youth. Strategies for educators include utilizing practical purpose teaching tools, such as purpose interviews, purpose-related…