Creative Partnerships (CP) commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research to research the sharing of practice generated through CP within and between schools locally. Based on 93 interviews with teachers and CP staff, the research explored the relationship between the dissemination of the work of CP and the more informal means by…

This brief identifies the features of high-quality after-school settings that have emerged from the research and are reflected in program quality tools. It also examines key research linking program quality to positive developmental outcomes; it reviews current practice in program quality assessment; and it offers considerations for policymakers…

How many people reading this brief believes they could financially survive in a household of four people on $19,784 a year? Yet, this was the official poverty threshold as determined by the federal government for 2005. During this same year, 17% of children under 18 lived below the poverty line, of which 14% were white, 11% Asian, 28% Hispanic and…

Secondary teachers increasingly face student differences in ability, background, socioeconomic status, and language. One method designed to prepare future teachers for dealing with these challenges is the teacher work sample (TWS), which has been widely adopted by colleges of education as part of performance-based accreditation requirements. A…

After reviewing the state of student retention research and practice, past and present, the author looks to the future and identifies three areas of research and practice that call for further exploration. These concern issues of institutional action, program implementation, and the continuing challenge of promoting the success of low-income…

ROSE (the Relevance of Science Education) is an international comparative study on the factors which influence learning in science. For this study, the interests, opinions and attitudes of young people were polled by using a standardised questionnaire. Initial data, empirically gathered from 1247 students at the end of lower secondary level in…

The purpose of this paper is to measure and compare the effectiveness of a Web-based course delivery system to a traditional course delivery system. The results indicate that a web-based course is effective and equivalent to a traditional classroom environment. As with the implementation of all new technologies, there are some pros and cons that…

This article summarizes findings from a recent study of 451 Career Technical Education (CTE) and non-CTE students as drawn from seven high schools supported by an area career technical center. One aspect of this study examined each group's academic standing and their socioeconomic status, including the household living arrangements and the family…

This action research study (ARS) describes teacher perceptions of various career guidance instruments in one high school and their impact on high school students in career decision-making. The paper also discusses the teacher ranking of the career guidance methods and ways in which counselors and teachers can work together to assist students to…

In South African educational literature and educational research, the influence of the home and family environment on school achievement has not received the attention it deserves. The study under review shows that parents who play an active role in the homework and study programmes of their children contribute to their good performance in…

Multi-class teaching is a common phenomenon in small schools not only in Fiji, but also in many countries. The aim of the present study was to determine the teaching styles adopted by teachers in the context of multi-class teaching. A qualitative case study research design was adopted. This included a school with multi-class teaching as the norm.…

While a large body of research has focused on the effects of teachers' educational standards and/or expectations of different types of pupils related to pupils' ability, race/ethnicity, gender, and/or social class, there has been much less research on how such standards/expectations are formed by teachers' institutional structure. Previous…

Schools of education (SOEs) are experiencing increased pressure to prepare teacher candidates for the effective and innovative integration of technologies. Lack of both ubiquitous on-campus access and effective modeling by SOE faculty are two often-cited barriers to reaching this goal. The Academic Technology Initiative (ATI) at a large…

This article outlines a study conducted in Finland and Portugal into the reasons why International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) students choose particular Experimental Science (Group 4) subjects. Its findings suggest that interest, enjoyment, university course and career requirements have most influence on students' choices.…

Diversity in environmental institutions is of increasing concern to scholars and practitioners. The author examined student perceptions of the importance of 20 diversity and equity factors in their decisions to accept a job. A national sample of 1,239 students in 9 environmental disciplines (biological sciences, geosciences, natural resources,…