Key characteristics of an efficient and effective English language teacher are fundamental pedagogical knowledge and understanding, awareness of meaningful classroom practices, linguistic capabilities, and positive attitudes and skills. Nurturing these traits among preservice teachers is difficult, especially when preservice teachers are working…

Prior research in the area of language policy and planning (LPP) has been focused primarily on macro decision-making and the impact of national, local, and institutional policies in educational settings. Only recently have scholars begun examining the everyday contexts in which policies are interpreted and negotiated in ways that reflect local…

Response to intervention (RTI) involves ongoing evaluation of children's responsiveness to different levels of evidence-based interventions as a basis for eligibility determination. If students fail to make expected rates of progress, instruction is changed and, in most cases, intensified. Based on behavior-analytic models of effective instruction…

Proformative evaluation--first introduced in Scriven's (2006) "The great enigma: An evaluation design puzzle"--"is motivated, like formative evaluation, by the intention to improve something that is still developing, but unlike formative, the improvement is only possible by taking action, hence proactive instead of reactive, hence both, hence…

While the current debate in the evaluation community has concentrated on examining and explicating implications of the choice of methods for evaluating federal programs, the authors of this paper address the challenges faced by the government in the selection of funding mechanisms for supporting program evaluation efforts. The choice of funding…

In an effort to better understand student perceptions of communication in blended (online and traditional) learning courses, a 22 item questionnaire was developed and sent to all students registered for these courses at a large technology-focused college during three quarters of instruction. The respondents were divided into four groups: 1)…

This study compared two configurations of sixth-grade students and core teachers to measure the students' perceived levels of social bonding with their peers, their school, and their teachers. One configuration featured a team of four teachers, each specializing in a core subject area and teaching this subject to all 100 students on the team. The…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe how one US Midwestern university implements quality principles, based on the value added premise in a teacher preparation program that yields accountability, teacher education standards attainment and ultimately improvement of teacher candidates and overall programs. Design/methodology/approach:…

Purpose--What is required of job design and production planning, if they are to result in a work group taking a self-starting approach and going beyond what is formally required of it? This paper aims to contribute to group research by testing a theoretical model of relations between job design on the one hand (captured as completeness, demand on…

Mathematical knowledge can be categorized in different ways. One commonly used way is to distinguish between procedural mathematical knowledge and conceptual mathematical knowledge. Procedural knowledge of mathematics refers to formal language, symbols, algorithms, and rules. Conceptual knowledge is essential for meaningful understanding of…

Argumentative activity has been found beneficial for construction of knowledge and evaluation of information in some conditions. Many theorists in CSCL and some empiricists have suggested that graphical representations may help in this endeavor. In the present study, we examine effects of type of ontology and of synchronicity in students that…

The role of explicit and implicit acquisition of grammatical rules in second language learning was examined by assessing high school students performance after several years of study on the correct use of the Spanish verbs "ser" and "estar". These two verbs are essentially equivalent in use to the English verb "to be," but there is a complex set…

This issue highlights seven distinct studies. The first helps us understand how children use language in a computer-supported learning environment. The second investigates the longitudinal outcomes associated with the provision of bilingual education. The third is a case study that examines young boys' beliefs about second language acquisition.…

Students have different learning style strengths and preferences in the ways that they take in and process information. Some students tend to focus on facts, data, and algorithms; others are more comfortable with theories and mathematical models. Related to all of this and situated as the focus of this article is the fact that mathematics…

This paper identifies several areas of database modeling and design that have been problematic for students and even are likely to confuse faculty. Major contributing factors are the lack of clarity and inaccuracies that persist in the presentation of some basic database concepts in textbooks. The paper analyzes the problems and discusses ways to…