The stimulus for this article came from two developmental tasks that Barbara Trapani was set during the course of her initial teacher education programme: planning her first historical enquiry and bringing the work of an historian into the classroom. Trapani chose to tackle the two tasks together, using Susan Whitfield's accounts -- both of…

The raising of Henry VIII's warship, the "Mary Rose," from the sea bed set in train an extraordinary programme of interdisciplinary research, relentlessly pursuing the clues to Tudor life and death provided by the remains of the ship, its cargo and crew. In this article Clare Barnes offers fascinating insights into the way in which this…

Background/Context: Mixed methods research conveys multiple advantages to the study of complex phenomena and large organizations or systems. The benefits are derived from drawing on the strengths of qualitative methods to answer questions about how and why a phenomenon occurs and those of quantitative methods to examine how often a phenomenon…

This study reviews recently published scientific literature on the use of robotics in schools, in order to: (a) identify the potential contribution of the incorporation of robotics as educational tool in schools, (b) present a synthesis of the available empirical evidence on the educational effectiveness of robotics as an educational tool in…

The article argues that science assessment should change from an item-driven to a construct-driven practice and pay more attention to disciplinary scientific reasoning. It investigates assessment scales developed from a novel theoretical rationale, describing scientific reasoning as three fundamental practices (hypothesizing, experimenting, and…

An important recent development in evidence-based policy is the federal government's use of a "tiered evidence" approach to allocating funding in grant programs such as the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation Fund (i3). A central feature of this approach is that the largest grants are awarded to fund large-scale…

This exchange represents a follow-up to an article on the effects of state high school exit examinations that previously appeared in this journal (Warren, Grodsky, & Kalogrides 2009). That 2009 article was featured prominently in a report by the National Research Council (NRC) that evaluated the efficacy of test-based accountability systems.…

This article explores how school-based counselling might impact young people's capacity to study and learn. Previous research has indicated that counselling in schools has an indirect positive impact on academic achievement. A mixed methods approach, using a semi-structured qualitative interview and a brief rating scale, was employed with 21 young…

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to present evidence on the impact of enterprise education on young people still at school in London, UK. The study was designed to measure the effect of participation in a Young Enterprise (YE) Company Program on young people's attitudes toward starting a business, and on their enterprise potential.…

Purpose: The prevailing theory of action underlying accountability is that holding schools and students accountable will increase educational output. While accountability's theory of action intuitively seemed plausible, at the point of No Child Left Behind's national implementation, little empirical research was available to either support or…

Can mentoring and coaching really improve professional practice? How can research and inquiry improve mentoring and coaching practice? "Mentoring and Coaching in Schools" explores the ways in which mentoring and coaching can be used as a dynamic collaborative process for effective professional learning. It demonstrates how the use of practitioner…

Purpose: The overall purpose of the European Union-funded Leadership Improvement for Student Achievement (LISA) project was to explore how leadership styles, as conceptualized in the developed dynamic holistic leadership framework, directly or indirectly affect student achievement at the lower secondary level of education in seven European…

The use of educational technology in K-12 classrooms has been gaining tremendous momentum across the country since the 1990s. Many school districts have been investing heavily in various types of technology, such as computers, mobile devices, internet access, and interactive whiteboards. Almost all public schools have access to the internet and…

"Charter Schools in Eight States" uses longitudinal data from eight states to evaluate the effects of charter schools on achievement, attainment, integration, and competition. The findings are mixed. "Achievement": The study examines seven jurisdictions and finds insignificant effects on reading and math performance in five,…

This paper focuses on transition programs for youth to postsecondary education, broadly considered. It addresses the following questions: (1) What models or programs of transition exist? (2) On what basis can we say one transition program is more effective than another? In other words, how is successful transition defined? (3) How are…