Purpose: The paper describes the purpose of and strategies for conducting post-occupancy evaluations (POEs) as a method for assessing school building performance. Set within the larger context of global efforts to develop and apply common indicators of school building quality, the authors describe research conducted within the newest generation of…

Recent years have seen the emergence of Web2.0, in which users are not only passive recipients of the featured content, but actively engaged in constructing it. Sites such as "Facebook" and "Myspace" are typical examples of this, as are blogs that allow users to present themselves online, to write about their daily lives or even to establish…

Purpose: The No Child Left Behind Act laudably brings social justice and equity issues to the forefront; however, the act's threat- and sanction-driven methods are not only increasing stress levels but potentially causing a rigid response, especially in the growing population of schools labeled "program improvement" (PI). Specifically,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present details of a study investigating learning styles differences of Thai students in England compared to local students in England and Thailand. It also discusses key issues in using learning styles in multicultural and international education, given their wide availability online.…

This research investigation, was utilizes data from a larger qualitative study (Ockerman, 2006). This study explored the influence of a Midwestern school counseling and wellness center on the lives of the urban high school students. The purposeful sample was comprised of 16 urban high school seniors (i.e., 12 females and 4 males). The qualitative…

This article highlights the perspectives of young women who have participated in dance for many years. Their viewpoints reveal the unique multimodal nature of embodied learning; in dance classes, teachers and learners communicate through a variety of modes: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, spatial, musical, tactile, gestural, and linguistic. The…

This paper is a documentary account of a project currently under investigation. The project engages pre-service teachers in a self-study about their participation in community based literacy activities with elementary school children and their families involved in after school programs. Participants in the study are members of a student volunteer…

Poland subscribes to an abstinence-only model of reproductive health education called "Education for Life in the Family." The aim of this study was to determine if the perceptions of adolescent mothers could be used to improve delivery of the Polish model of education. This study was conducted using focus group interviews with fourteen…

This report is an analysis of the role of assessment portfolios in teacher learning. Over 18 months, 19 experienced science teachers worked in grade-level teams to design, implement, and evaluate assessments to track student learning throughout a curriculum unit, supported by semi-structured tasks and resources in assessment portfolios.…

This study qualitatively examined the social-ecological stressors that youth experience during the first year following an HIV diagnosis. Thirty HIV-positive youth (16 males, 14 females) between the ages of 16-24 participated in either focus groups or individual interviews. All sessions were transcribed and themes were identified through…

There is a need for effective prevention programmes aimed at reducing risk behaviour among South African adolescents. HealthWise South Africa is a school-based programme designed to reduce sexual and substance use risk behaviour, and promote positive use of leisure time among high-school learners (students). Based on successful programmes in the…

This study investigated the performance of graduate students enrolled in introductory statistics courses. The course in Fall 2005 was delivered in a traditional face-to-face manner and the same course in Fall 2006 was blended by using an online commercial tutoring system (ALEKS) and making attendance of several face-to-face classes optional. There…

Using a critical race theory framework, this study examines the ways in which race and racialized ideologies are manifested in high-stakes college admissions, the debate over affirmative action, and the college choice behavior of Black high school students. This study allows for the voices of Black high school students in California to describe…

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence African American parents' involvement in their children's middle school experiences. Two focus group interviews were conducted with African American parents. While the participants viewed parent involvement as important, they reported that family structure and socioeconomic…

Recently, there has been much media coverage about cell phone and personal music player usage in schools, including in the Toronto and Whitton regions. However, there is little literature on how students and teachers view rules on the use of such electronic devices. Using data gathered from focus groups with students in Toronto and Whitton and…