This paper reviews school inspection systems in small states and territories (SSTs), indicating tensions, challenges and sensitivities that relate to their small size. A qualitative case study is presented of the new school inspection system in Macau, a post-colonial, small territory facing issues experienced in other SSTs. Macau's inspection…

A continued increase in US disaster losses suggests that there is still much to be learned about hazards. Hazards education, therefore, remains an important facet of preparedness. This paper investigates the science and social studies academic standards for 10 Southeast states to reveal the extent to which hazard topics are covered in grades K-12.…

An increased emphasis on multiculturalism in the United States has necessitated an awareness of culturally responsive pedagogy in physical education teacher education (PETE) programs. Practica in such programs along with reflection on these experiences are methods by which pre-service teachers can better appreciate the diverse nature of their…

Competitively allocated research funds, from both public and private sources, constitute an increasing share of university revenues. The article investigates empirically, using data on the Italian university system, whether structural and strategic features of universities--such as size, age and especially the importance that they assign to their…

Literature on leadership and change suggests that leaders help drive and sustain first- and second-order change and that they help to motivate people towards a vision based on common values; therefore, leaders do need to be prepared for significant responsibility. Leaders should ask, what "grand narrative" are today's leaders, this…

This review considers both the content and methodologies of 5 single-subject and 2 group experimental design studies investigating the effects of cognitive strategy instruction on the mathematical problem solving of students with disabilities, using quality indicators proposed by Horner et al. (2005) and Gersten et al. (2005). Findings indicated…

In this article, the authors investigate Mexican education reform and decentralization and how the state of Jalisco focused in the early twenty-first century on developing a sequential curriculum for teaching civics in grades 1-6. The authors use the term "educacion civica" because in Mexico the curriculum emphasizes the acquisition of…

This study compared the impact of three different facilitation approaches on elementary teacher candidates' interactions in an asynchronous discussion board as well as their satisfaction with an online educational technology course. These participants were enrolled in three different sections of the same online course. In the first section (Group…

In response to the growing number of sustainability policies being enacted at higher education institutions, this article examines the relationship between policy and pedagogy, asking how policy texts can both enable and impede the implementation of sustainability pedagogy in higher education. To explore this question, we have undertaken a case…

This article describes the design and implementation of external support to low-performing schools using data from Chicago and California. Using the literature on external support, instructional capacity, and policy strength, the study gathered data from interviews, observations, document review, and surveys. The findings suggest that the model of…

This paper studies the social talk of high school students in online discussion forums. On-task talk has generally been assessed as valuable discussion because it contributes directly to productive learning. Off-task conversation, on the other hand, is often regarded as useless and a waste of time. Should this social talk indeed be regarded as an…

Important home and community-based issues in the lives of older adults and caregivers relate to end of life. It is well documented that education on end of life, including curricula and textbook content for health and human service professionals, is lacking. This study analyzed another aspect of education: continuing education sessions offered at…

Background: Little is known about surrogate healthcare decision-making for individuals with intellectual disability (ID). This study examined healthcare decision-making by residential-agency directors to learn their process and the extent to which the individual is included. Method: Content analysis of qualitative data from a mailed survey of…

States are working to improve their graduation rates, in part because of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) high school accountability requirements. This is taking place at the same time that 26 states have implemented exit examinations to determine, in part, whether a student has gained the knowledge and skills to earn a standard diploma and be prepared…

Drawing on my experiences as a former classroom teacher making the transition to teacher education, this study examines how my vision of teacher education developed over the course of my first three years as a graduate teaching assistant in a social studies education program in the United States. A qualitative self-study methodology was used to…