Researchers focusing on parent involvement continue to concentrate their efforts on the relationship between involvement and student performance in isolation of the school context in which involvement occurs. This research outlines an ecology of involvement and how this social context affects parent involvement and student performance. Relying on…

The Walton Family Foundation was at a pivotal point in early 2015. After investing $1.3 billion in K-12 education over the previous two decades, executive and board leadership were reflecting on past work, and charting a course for the Foundation's strategic direction based on key learnings from their investments in education. The Walton Family…

This paper reports on research conducted on the effectiveness and relevance of authentic assessment in a Mobile Application Development course, answering the research question "How practical is authentic assessment in Digital Media courses?" To facilitate this research, students were provided a set of tasks that consisted of developing a…

This article presents a case study that examines the link between leadership's competencies and exemplary performance of Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program's leaders by analyzing opinions and perceptions of fellows who attended U.S. universities from 2005 to 2012. Since 1979, fellows have participated in the program sponsored by the U.S.…

Education has a long-standing practice of turning worthwhile learning goals into lists of bits. One might even say that this practice is the original sin in curriculum design: take a complex whole, divide it into small pieces, string those together in a rigid sequence of instruction and testing, and call completion of this sequence…

The author began working with preschool-aged children long before becoming a professor, and nearly every element of the author's approach to teaching in higher education is rooted in early childhood theory and practice. In addition to provocations, he seeks to activate the "whole student," promote peer supports, and incorporate…

Performance-based assessment clearly represents an indispensable approach for assessing gifted student learning. Challenging performance tasks allow gifted learners to reveal their considerable intellectual capacity and energy. Through performance tasks, teachers gain insights into a gifted student's true level of capability in a domain of…

This paper explores the challenges and opportunities of the English Language Learner (ELL) components of Illinois' new principal preparation legislation [Illinois Public Act 96-0903]. In 2011, Illinois passed Illinois Public Act 96-0903 creating new rules for principal preparation programs requiring institutions or organizations certifying…

Direct behavioral consultation is an extension of traditional behavioral consultation and focuses on assessment and training in the classroom during ongoing classroom activities. This study evaluated direct behavioral consultation services in two elementary alternative classrooms referred following a program evaluation in which data suggested…

The demand for STEM trained workers continues to increase not only in the United States, but globally. Reports have indicated that the United States is not doing a good job encouraging students to pursue STEM oriented degrees. In particular, it has become increasingly important to emphasize STEM connections at an early level in order to encourage…

As many universities have recently undergone curriculum review and renewals to better prepare students for their work and life in the changing world, renewed interests are being directed to what students should learn and how that learning can be best supported. In recent research, learning has been reconceptualised as processes where learners…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), passed by Congress in 2015, provides an important opportunity for states to broaden their definition of student success. As states begin to implement their ESSA plans, it is timely for them to reflect on ways they can include measures of social, emotional, and academic development; school climate; and related…

Distraction is a typical component of any classroom environment. For effective instruction and learning to take place, it is critical for students to eventually return to task and maintain task vigilance (i.e., returning to the task at hand) when a distraction occurs. Students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), by definition,…

This mixed methods study examines one teacher preparation program's use of Danielson's 2007 "Framework for Professional Practice," with an emphasis on how different stakeholders in the traditional student teaching triad rated student teachers, called residents, and justified their ratings. Data sources include biannual self-assessments…

This research investigated the relationship between online students' behaviors in a learning management system and their learning performance, as measured by their final grades. Four online information technology classes in a major U.S. library and information science program were studied. The course sites' log data, as well as the students' final…