This study examined the tensions surrounding the implementation of a technology-rich educational innovation called Quest Atlantis (QA) in a local public elementary school. Three qualitative case studies of three classrooms implementing the innovation and a subsequent cross-case analysis were undertaken to illuminate: 1) the reasons why teachers…

In presenting this case study of an innovative school building in Scotland, the author describes its unique design features, conveys the viewpoints of the users, client and design team, and reveals the lessons learned. Dalry Primary, North Ayrshire Introduction Dalry Primary School in North Ayshire is the latest case study featured on the Scottish…

Both the charter school and universal pre-K movements have grown substantially during the past 10 years. Nearly 5,000 charter schools now exist in 40 states and the District of Columbia, serving some 1.6 million students--up from 2,300 schools serving 580,000 students only a decade ago. The growth in state pre-kindergarten enrollments has…

From October 21 to 23, 2008, The Heritage Foundation, supported by the McCormick Tribune Foundation, convened leading education and national security experts as well as private-sector representatives to discuss methods for strengthening America's competitiveness by improving its performance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics…

States have taken a "standards-based" approach to education during the past two decades; however, as reported in the Hunt Institute-sponsored study by the National Research Council, that approach has fallen short of its lofty and admirable goals. A comprehensive and integrated system of standards, assessments, curriculum, instructional materials,…

This paper examines "Fresh Start," a New Labour flagship initiative to raise education "standards" in a radical and innovative way. Drawing on a qualitative study of a comprehensive school in England, I argue that the initiative added to the problems faced by the "failing school" and promoted rather traditional ways…

Hong Kong has been actively promoting a student-centered approach to teaching since the 1980s. Despite this effort, students in Hong Kong still tend to be traditional learners who rarely experience and gain from real student-centered learning. While teachers hold a "quantitative" concept of learning and focus on transmitting declarative…

Establishing an innovative school requires a great deal of planning effort, human power and resources. Nevertheless, many innovative schools suffer a process of regression toward the mean and lose their innovative zeal. Based on the life cycle approach, which claims that part of this trend of regression is embodied in the planning phase, and on…

In this article, the authors discuss podcasting and provide ways on how to create podcasts. A podcast is an audio or video file that is posted on the web that can easily be cataloged and automatically downloaded to a computer or mobile device capable of playing back audio or video files. Podcasting is a powerful tool for educators to get students…

Purpose: The purpose of this self-reflective paper is to focus on practical efforts to combat inequality and foster intercultural dialogue in education. It introduces "knowledge alliances", a type of social practice open for education technologies. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is structured in a theoretical and an empirical…

What will the profession of school principals look like a decade from now? What trends in society and education will affect how principals work? Since 2006, NAESP has been attempting to answer those and other questions. Looking ahead to 2021, the year the Association will celebrate its 100th birthday, NAESP spent 18 months examining trends in…

This article draws on outcomes of a study which explored changes in teachers' literacy pedagogies as a result of their participation in a collaborative teacher professional learning project. The educational usability of schemas drawn from multiliteracies and Learning by Design theory is illustrated through a case study of a teacher's work on…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of creative drama-based instruction on seventh graders' science achievements in the ecology and matter cycles unit and their attitudes toward science. The study is an experimental study carried out in one of the public elementary schools in Turkey during 2005-2006 schooling year. An ecological…

This article explores how organizational cultures shape workplace learning for those learning to be educational leaders. The discussion is illustrated with the data from an ethnographic case study which explored the workplace learning of five school leaders. The findings suggest that workplace boundaries were constructed in response to perceptions…

In this study we report the results of survey research that collected responses of an identical sample (31 beginning mathematics and science teachers, elementary and middle school level) that graduated from a reform-based mathematics and science teacher preparation program, the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation (MCTP). Our aim was to…