This article had four goals. First, the authors identified a set of general challenges and questions that a life-span theory of development should address. Second, they presented a comprehensive account of their Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development. They integrated the model of optimization in primary and secondary control and the…

In recent years, there has been a revival of interest in financial incentives to encourage students to attend school and to improve their academic achievement, graduation rates, and other outcomes. Conditional cash transfers programmes in developing countries, especially PROGRESA in Mexico, have found positive effects on attendance in large-scale…

Effective, efficient, and sustainable ID/DD organizations: are they possible in today's world of dwindling resources and mounting demands for more and better services? Yes--with the practical tools and strategies in this lifeline for ID/DD leaders. Developed by two of the most trusted authorities in the disability field, this innovative business…

Key to introducing information and communication technologies in museums is to support meaning-making activity in encounters with artefacts. The study presented in this paper is exploratory in nature and investigates the use of social and mobile technologies in school field trips as a means of enhancing the visitor experience. It is anchored in…

In this rejoinder to Mazoue ("J Comput High Educ," 2012) article, "the deconstructed campus," we react to his arguments regarding the replacement of face-to-face teaching on college campuses with computer-supported approaches, including on-line learning, intelligent cognitive tutors, and open-ended learning environments where, rather than being…

The purpose of this work is to provide higher education lobbyists with empirical evidence to support their arguments for better funding in today's tight budgetary times. This work explains two primary factors that contribute to the largely false impression of higher education's wastefulness which, unfortunately pervades both legislatures and the…

This Evidence Based Education (EBE) response describes characteristics of graduation coach initiatives in three states (Georgia, Alabama, and California). Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast has received over 19 requests for information on various initiatives, programs or research related to improving graduation rates. For example, the…

The practice of paying students to earn good grades either in class or on standardized achievement tests has touched off a storm of controversy. Praised by some educators as a way of linking economic rewards to school performance, it is being tested in a number of large cities, such as New York, Baltimore and Chicago, as well as some smaller…

The principal's desk is a crowded place at the end of the year. Memos from the superintendent, school board meeting minutes, parent messages, and reports on many aspects of the school and its functions make the desk appear to be the school's dumping ground. Among these reports is the librarian's annual report--a summation of the year's goals,…

Schools are beginning to offer an increasing number of courses in social and emotional intelligence, teaching students how to better understand their own emotions and the emotions of others. It sounds warm and fuzzy, but it's a trend backed up by hard data. This article discusses what new studies reveal--that teaching kids to be emotionally and…

Research libraries traditionally have focused their efforts on building local collections to support the research needs of their organizations and providing for the discovery and use of resources within these collections. The emergence in recent years of disciplinary and institutional digital repositories presents new challenges for research…

Evidence-based practice (EBP) has contributed substantially to the advancement of knowledge in the treatment and prevention of adult mental health disorders. A fundamental assumption, based on documented evidence of effectiveness with certain populations, is that EBP is equally effective and applicable to all populations. However, small sample…

Today's classrooms are more diverse than ever. In fact, research shows that there will be a steady increase in Hispanic, Asian Americans, and African American students in the coming years. Therefore, differentiated instruction may be the panacea that educators are searching for. This paper commences with an introduction and then segways into a…

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and the Foundation for Excellence in Education have embarked on a well-funded campaign to spread selected Florida education reforms to other states. These reforms include assigning letter grades to schools, high-stakes testing, promotion and graduation requirements, bonus pay, a wide variety of alternative teacher…

This report examines the postsecondary majors and teaching certifications of public high school-level teachers of departmentalized classes in a selection of subject areas by using data from the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), a sample survey of elementary and secondary schools in the United States. SASS collects data on American…