How can we approach professional development in a thoughtful way, keep teachers motivated, and make the process worthwhile? It's a truth that school leaders can't deny: teachers tend to think of PD as a distraction from the "real work" of the classroom--as something to get through instead of an opportunity to engage, learn, and grow as…

A growing body of evidence has demonstrated the negative impact that punitive discipline has on children and youth. To make changes in school discipline, it is important for all stakeholders to know about the latest research, understand the local impact of punitive discipline on systems and youth, and coordinate a collaborative response. One…

This descriptive study investigated the challenges related to implementing gifted education services in preschool centers. Participants completed a researcher-created survey to examine the perceived challenges of providing preschool gifted education services. Ninety-five percent of the centers had no formal policies or practices, and eighty-six…

Grief is widely defined and covers a plethora of losses that involves a range of sometimes easily discernible emotions. While grief can be the result of loss in general, it can be either prolonged or temporary and indiscriminate of age or gender. Children are no exception. When considering the loss of a significant individual such as a parent…

Through a previous review of high impact practices at our institution, we identified that health science students have very few opportunities to engage in experiential learning (EL) in the current curriculum. This paper describes our work to transform an existing volunteer opportunity at an allied health clinic, into a meaningful, student-driven,…

Both of the participants in this dialogue are professors of German, and both were involved in recent efforts to develop Global Studies programs at their institutions. While one teaches at a small, private, liberal arts college and the other at a large, urban, public research university, both participated in these projects with the pragmatic desire…

In 2016, UNESCO developed recommendations to address homophobic and transphobic violence and bullying, including guidance for the development of classroom resources. According to UNESCO, the effectiveness of interventions depends on inclusive, if not affirming, representations of sexual and gender diversity in learning materials, as well as…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the phenomenology of the female high school band director (FHSBD). In order to achieve a sample for regional maximum variation, one FHSBD from each county in the state of Connecticut was interviewed. After gathering data from a series of three interviews, I used Moustakas's modification of the Van Kaam…

In Latvia the implementation of the new National Curriculum is oriented towards a competence based approach that focuses on learning by doing and is based on theoretical constructs of constructionism and social constructivism. For the first time since Latvia gained independence in 1990, the new National Curriculum will provide a unique opportunity…

Liberal education as a form of higher education is increasing globally even as it struggles for support and legitimacy in the USA. Its emergence and spread are only partially attributable to the growth in the tertiary sector worldwide: although the sharpest spike has been in Asia, new programs have opened in Western Europe, Russia and the Middle…

How do you create an innovative and equitable classroom experience that prepares elementary students for jobs that don't yet exist while placing a critical focus on mathematics and science content and practice standards-all while meeting the demands of high-stakes testing? The answer to this question is Step into STEAM, by Sarah Bush and Kristin…

This dissertation examines the history, funding, structure, efficacy, and challenges of dual enrollment programs in English (and more specifically in First-Year Composition, FYC, courses) that provide access to higher education for high school students prior to graduation, as these programs have developed and currently operate in the United…

In this paper we investigate the impact of a statewide program aimed at better aligning K-12 to higher education and improving college readiness. We replicate an earlier study focused on the effects of this program at one campus by employing detailed administrative data on the census of California students that enroll at all twenty-three campuses…

The authors introduce the Preparation in STEM Leadership Program at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. This NSF-Funded program and research study creates a centralized training program for peer leaders that includes a battery of assessments to evaluate peer leaders' content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, communication skills, and…

Studies have shown that doping behavior emerges from contexts. Educational research would therefore be enriched by explorations of the situatedness of athletes' activity and its dynamics of development inside sporting life courses. The principles can be summarized as (a) the connection between antidoping and athletes' time-specific and meaningful…