When done reliably and efficiently, measuring school climate can help improve schools' vital signs and help state boards of education realize their goals and objectives for the system as a whole. Moreover, because it is as consequential to schools as checking heart rates and blood pressure are to humans, schools should always use climate measures…

This study examines the physical environment of school buildings and the effects it has on teacher morale, sense of belonging, and work ethic. Within this mixed-method study, four New York State schools were given the researcher developed School Environment Survey, and multiple school stakeholders were interviewed to determine the extent of these…

"iMOOC101: Mastering American e-Learning" is a Coursera-based, free, massive online course aimed at preparing non-U.S. students to succeed in regular, for-credit, online classes in American universities. The course is also intended to help foreign-born professionals integrate into virtual work environments in U.S.-based companies. The…

We describe how a practical instructional development process helped a first-year assistant professor rapidly develop, implement, and assess the impact on her Analytical Chemistry course caused by three changes: (a) moving the lab into the same semester as the lecture, (b) developing a more collaborative classroom environment, and (c) increasing…

This study explored the perceptions of teacher-student relationships and personal student safety differences between Caucasian and African-American middle school students. The research was conducted using a survey in a suburban middle class school on Long Island, New York. Twenty-eight of 176 Caucasian students were chosen through random sampling…

Coming from a critical youth studies perspective, this article sketches a participatory action research project designed by youth and adults in New York City to evaluate the impact of neo-liberal public policies on young people. Through telling the counter-story of the Polling for Justice (PFJ) project, we propose that re-considering…

Resilience is an important social justice concept that has important implications for educators working with exceptional youth in rural underserved communities who may suffer from the consequences associated with economic hardships. This multi-school qualitative study examined resilience among exceptional youth living in rural poverty through the…

This article describes a study of teaching and learning in the first--or "foundation"--year of art college. As a multiple embedded case study informed by systems theory, the following cases are described: art colleges, foundation programs, professors, and students. The data were collected through surveys, interviews, classroom…

The purpose of this study was to investigate school administrators' perceptions of teachers' adherence to the highly effective critical attributes of the four domains of Charlotte Danielson's "Framework for Teaching" (Planning and Preparation, The Classroom Environment, Instruction, and Professional Responsibilities) in kindergarten…

The psychological, social, and emotional aspects of education have enjoyed increased attention in recent years as often termed "non-cognitive factors" and "soft skills" have gained traction in research, policy, and practice circles as major drivers of student achievement. This renewed attention represents an important shift, as…

This study examined how peer relationships contribute to young adolescents' adaptation in the face of exposure to community and family violence. It tested hypotheses about peers' role in processes relating exposure to behavioral and psychological outcomes, specifically, aggression and anxiety. Data were collected from 667 middle school students,…

Community-based interventions to promote healthy weights by making environmental and policy changes in communities may be an important strategy in reversing the obesity epidemic. However, challenges faced by local public health professionals in facilitating effective environmental and policy change need to be better understood and addressed. To…

This issue of "Bank Street Occasional Papers" explores the value of time outside of school. Educators have given relatively little scholarly attention to young people's nonschool lives. Ignored or valorized, nonschool spaces show up in educational research only as a backdrop, implying that school learning is the yardstick by which to…

This article connects the theoretical perspective of Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed with the teaching and learning styles of teachers and students at Central Park East Secondary School (CPESS) in East Harlem, New York. It examines some of the ways the Freireian model has worked within the public school system and considers some of the…

The concept of school climate has been an important variable in research on quality of school life and student learning. One of the challenges in such a research effort is to develop instruments that could effectively and efficiently measure the construct. The purpose of the current study was to examine the factor structure and reliability of an…