Every year, millions of high school graduates seek ways to finance the rising costs of a college education, at times falling prey to scholarship and financial aid scams. To help students and their families, on November 5, 2000, Congress passed the College Scholarship Fraud Prevention Act of 2000 (Act) to establish stricter sentencing guidelines…

Countless reports have analyzed the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 on teacher quality and student achievement. What many of these reports truly leave behind, however, is the reality that state governments--not the federal government--have the strongest impact on the work of America's 3.1 million teachers. With that in mind, three…

This study examines eight exemplary pre- and in-service principal development programs. The programs were chosen both because they provide evidence of strong outcomes in preparing school leaders and because, in combination, they represent a variety of approaches with respect to their designs, policy contexts, and the nature of partnerships between…

Texas Instruments has undertaken a research program with the goal of producing scientifically-based evidence of the effectiveness of graphing calculators and the "TI-Navigator"[TM] classroom networking system in the context of a professional development and curriculum framework. The program includes a two-year longitudinal study. The…

"The Opportunity Gap" aims to shift attention from the current overwhelming emphasis on schools in discussions of the achievement gap to more fundamental questions about social and educational opportunity. The achievement gap looms large in the current era of high-stakes testing and accountability. Yet questions persist: Has the…

The purpose of this study was to compare traditional classification training for a set of abstract concepts with multiple-relations training consisting of inference practice and the use of a content diagram. To examine this, 200 undergraduate and graduate psychology students completed a Web-based tutorial covering the abstract concepts of a…

In this paper, we analysed teachers' characteristics described in the literature on classroom media use to identify those factors, which can explain teachers' use of new media in classrooms with some degree of validity. Using this literature as a basis, in this paper we develop a theoretical model which describes both positive and negative…

Online degree programs are continuing to gain popularity among institutions of higher education as indicated by "U.S. News" who recently listed 263 accredited online graduate degree programs on its Web site (U. S. News and World Report, U.S. News Online, n.d.) As the access afforded by distance education increases the number of students…

Many English tests based on Western culture are inappropriate for regions where English use differs from that of Europe and North America. In these non-Western settings, it is desirable that English assessments be based on real-world English use. Therefore, identifying tasks of non-Western English language use is a beginning step in developing…

The purpose of the following article is to discuss the integration of computer mediated communication into a French writing course and to report on the assessment methodology used in order to gather students' perspectives. The online course component was introduced in the Fall of 2003 in order to enhance students' learning by introducing…

Online learning courses are generally text-based. Particularly for students who are learning multimedia skills, these courses can be problematic because demonstration and hands-on activities are important in the field of multimedia authoring. This study uses action research techniques and describes the application of onscreen-action-capture…

Recent explosion of online teaching has brought unique challenges for libraries as they strive to provide access to necessary resources and services for distance learners. These challenges are increased by the desire to provide the same level of library services to distance learners as to their on-campus counterparts. In response, many libraries…

This report is intended to give the reader an overview of the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) data for the school year 2003-04 through tables of estimates for public, private, and BIA-funded schools and their staff. The tables contain estimates from schools, teachers, principals, districts, and school library media centers for public, private,…

In 2004, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania contracted with Pennsylvania State University to begin a longitudinal study of rural Pennsylvania school students to understand their future aspirations, the factors influencing these aspirations, whether their plans change as they age, and if they attain their goals and plans. The main research questions…

Canada has a national network of over 150 colleges and institutes in over 900 communities in all regions of the country. These institutions are mandated to support the socio-economic development of the communities and regions. Colleges and institutes develop education and training programs to meet employer needs with direct input from business,…