The Introduction to Sociology course is usually the first contact that students have with the discipline of sociology. This course can determine whether students take other sociology courses or learn to use sociology in their lives as adults and citizens. "First Contact" identifies important issues facing instructors in introducing students to the…

The current interest in using data-driven decision-making in schools has focused on how best to use student achievement data to meet the demands of current accountability requirements. The purpose of this study was to investigate promising practices specific to school leaders' use of data-driven decision-making for school improvement at two…

New Leaders created the Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) initiative in 2006 to learn from educators driving achievement gains in high-need urban schools. EPIC identifies school leaders and teachers whose students are making significant achievement gains and financially rewards these educators in exchange for sharing and documenting…

This innovation configuration offers a set of quantifiable indicators of instructional excellence in mathematics. These indicators are related to improved achievement in mathematics and can be used to improve teacher competencies. The innovation configuration is offered as a means of evaluating and aligning teacher preparation and professional…

This brief is designed for juvenile justice agencies and professionals (including law enforcement officers, juvenile probation officers, attorneys, juvenile court personnel, and detention facility staff), as well as State Coordinators for Homeless Education and local homeless education liaisons. It provides basic information to help educators…

Background: Despite years of intense criticism of contrastive (intercultural) rhetoric, theoretical debate, and controversy, there has been a recent resurgence in the number of high quality pedagogical studies concerning the teaching of intercultural rhetoric in university writing classes for East-Asian (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) writers.…

Self-authorship, as described by Baxter Magolda (2008), is about trusting ourselves (our internal voice), rather than relying on external voices to guide our lives. Young professionals attempt to navigate new experiences based on prior knowledge and begin to distinguish what others tell them from what they believe and value on their own. The path…

The Downtown Education Collaborative (DEC) is an innovative collaborative which includes public and private colleges working with community organizations in interdisciplinary community service learning. This article reviews DEC's development, from its inception as a shared vision aspired to by its partners, to a functioning collaborative. We…

The dominant approach to research in learning disabilities utilizes experimental and quasi-experimental designs to identify the most effective instructional strategies for students with learning disabilities. Research is always undertaken from a point of view, yet the discourse on "what works?" is generally silent on how theoretical frameworks…

Some school leaders have viewed programs such as Advanced Placement (AP) as an attractive option to resolve the ongoing achievement gap problem. However, the ongoing debate in the field about maintaining the ostensible purity of the AP program versus diluting it with program expansion has hindered the full utilization of AP classes to close the…

Since 2006, 19 institutions across the United States have been trying to figure out how to work smarter through their participation in the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education. Drawing on data from the first year of the study, the robust, mixed-methods study the authors report in this article evaluated growth in the first year of…

Youth today develop within nested systems that either positively or negatively influence their development. Recent research shows that American youth have made tremendous progress: fewer teen births, fewer youth who are heavy drinkers or smokers, and more students completing high school. However, data also indicate that the number of youth living…

This study focuses on the use of the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education and Training information literacy model in a primary school as the basis for the possible establishment of a culture of transfer of information literacy skills. The study used constructivist grounded analysis to interpret data gathered from teachers and principals.…

What would happen if people found agreement around the world on what constitutes high-expertise teaching? For one thing, there would be a set of standards universally embraced that clearly defines core agreements about good teaching and learning. It would be obvious that proficiency in the knowledge, skills, and practices that comprise good…

The purpose of this study was to identify the frequency and seriousness of disruptive student behaviors and the effective strategies used by educators to manage these classroom behaviors. At a mid-sized state university, 228 of 780 faculty members (29.2%) completed a 76-item survey. Results indicated that as faculty members' participation in…