This article offers a reflective analysis on how the author came to a deeper understanding of transformative learning while collaborating on a research project with Patricia Cranton from 2012- 2014, resulting in "A Novel Idea: Researching Transformative Learning in Fiction," published by Sense Publishers in 2015. They read six…

This study intended to identify commonalities of fine arts programs at selected private liberal arts colleges and universities in order to ultimately develop an exemplary fine arts program in a similar setting. This study searched for answers to three research questions within the context of art, music, dance, and theatre. The first research…

The "No Child Left Behind Act" has profoundly impacted public schools throughout our country. All school personnel must work together thoughtfully and diligently to address the mandates set forth by this federal law. As reforms are initiated and instructional programs are restructured, this qualitative multiple-case study examines…

This qualitative study examined the amount of time that fourth and fifth grade teachers devoted to literacy instruction within the time allotted to them within the daily literacy block. Prior research of the literacy block focused largely on primary grades (Allington, McGill-Franzen et a1.,2010; Cunningham & Allington, 2003; Morrow, 1992);…

In a 2012 paper for the Center for American Progress, "The State of Evaluation Reform," Patrick McGuinn (Drew University) identified the opportunities and challenges facing education agencies in Race to the Top (RTTT) grant-winning states as they prepared for the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems. The 2012 study undertook…

The intent of this study was to identify and examine the policies and practices of Pennsylvania School Boards, and identify what relationship these might have to patterns of district-level student performance. This study utilized a sequential mixed-methods approach in collecting data. First, quantitative data were secured using surveys sent to a…

This mixed-method study identifies cyber high school graduates' perceptions of the effect of a cyber high school education on successful transition to a traditional university. The study examined students' perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages their cyber education experience contributed to their academic and social transition to…

Response to intervention (RTI) can be both a system for providing early interventions to struggling students and a special education diagnostic tool for evaluating and identifying students with specific learning disabilities. Contributing to the very limited literature on state-level approaches, this report describes how nine states define and…

This study examined secondary principals' perceptions of the phrase "the best interests of the student" as a viable professional ethic for the field of educational leadership. Findings indicate that participants make clear distinctions between the best interest of the student (one) and the best interests of students (as a group). These…

The Penn-Delco School District in Pennsylvania uses a walk-through process focused on looking at student work and talking with individual students. The purpose is to ascertain what those students are able to express about their own learning. At the beginning of each year, a committee of teachers at each of the district's schools meets to identify…

Recent studies have produced conflicting findings about the impacts of local nonresidential land uses on perceived incivilities. This study advances work in this area by developing a land-use perspective theoretically grounded in Brantingham and Brantingham's geometry of crime model in environmental criminology. That focus directs attention to…

Uses interview and telephone survey data to demonstrate that the merger of the vowels in words such as "cot" and "caught," traditionally considered a defining characteristics of the speech of western Pennsylvania, is well established in the mining towns of eastern Pennsylvania. Notes that the data indicate that the merger arose…

The Pittsburgh Public School district is one of many urban school systems across the country that is struggling to boost student performance and regain the respect of its community. Achievement gaps are wide; student achievement is low; and public confidence is fragile. To begin addressing these issues, the Council of the Great City Schools…

In 2002, the RAND Corporation launched a project to understand how educators are responding to the new accountability requirements in California, Georgia, and Pennsylvania--three states that represent a range of approaches, regions, and student populations. The researchers aimed to identify the factors that enhance the implementation of SBA…

To learn more about the Regional Educational Service Agencies (RESA), Research for Better Schools initiated a multi-year study of RESAs in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. This report specifically describes local educators' perceptions about RESA services and the content areas in which RESAs offered help. It also suggests how successful service…