Higher education is ripe for innovation. While emerging technological developments such as digital courseware and mobiles apps have made it easier than ever for people to engage with learning resources, significant issues of access and equity persist among students from low-income, minority, single-parent families, and other disadvantaged groups.…

This case study on nine bilingual teachers in Texas during their first year in a graduate education program examines both the development of critical consciousness among the educators and the ways in which critical consciousness shapes how these teachers come to understand their roles as teachers and leaders of a sociopolitically marginalized…

There is considerable variation in how providers of digital education describe what they do, their services, how students access services, and what is delivered, complicating efforts to accurately assess its impact. We examine program characteristics of digital tutoring providers using rich, longitudinal observational and interview data and then…

This case study examined how one instructor navigated between two competing discourses in an intermediate Spanish heritage language (HL) classroom: on the one hand, teaching "Standard Spanish" to help students achieve professional success, and legitimizing home linguistic practices on the other. In addition to expressing both…

This article describes the conditions for establishing an advanced master's degree program that focuses on teacher leadership. The creation of the model is examined from the perspective of nine administrators from Eanes Independent School District in Austin, Texas, and Texas State University-San Marcos. These administrators collaborated to design…

Underachievement of students identified as gifted is a serious problem. Although the literature varies, studies have shown anywhere from 9% to 50% of these students are performing below their ability levels. The purpose of this study was to examine methods to address this problem suggested by such underachieving gifted students. The research…

This chapter explores how Mexican immigrants in a small central Texas town understand their roles and/or responsibilities as citizens in a democratic society regardless of their immigration status in the country. The author interviewed two men and four women about what they thought it meant to be civically engaged, and what--if any--they thought…

We describe the emergence of a new field, "Mind Brain and Education", dedicated to the science of learning, as well as the roles researchers, policy makers, and educators need to play in developing this collaborative effort. The article highlights the challenges that MBE faces and the strategy researchers and educators in Texas are…

This report is part of a long-term collaboration of the Quality Teaching for English Learners initiative at WestEd with the Fort Worth Independent School District. The focus of this report is on comparisons between ninth grade newcomers and other groups of English language learners (ELLs). Analyses compare newcomers to 1) long-term ELLs who were…

This study explored the role of special education teachers of children with significant disabilities during Hurricane Ike. Grounded theory methods were used to analyze interview data of the teachers (n = 4) who were employed in school districts directly affected by the hurricane. The five categories that emerged from the data were "losses for…

Part-time faculty teach approximately 58% of U.S. community college classes and thus manage learning experiences for more than half (53%) of students enrolled in community colleges (JBL Associates, 2008). Often referred to as "contingent faculty," their work is conditional; the college typically has no obligation to them beyond the…

Newcomer students who arrive in the secondary grades face daunting challenges in order to achieve desired academic outcomes such as high school graduation and college access. Besides simultaneously developing conceptual understandings analytical and linguistic practices, newcomers also need to adapt to a new country, a new schooling system, and a…

This work focuses on the importance of teacher leadership in the virtual environment and the role of managers in the workforce. It depicts student expectations of the virtual classroom, specifically the professor's role in this environment. The study on teachers in the virtual environment is compared and contrasted with generational differences in…

This article presents an interview with Robert Mendenhall, president of Western Governors University, who is the 2012 recipient of the Virginia B. Smith (VBS) Innovative Leadership Award. The annual award recognizes his leadership in redesigning higher education delivery for adult students. In the interview, Robert Mendenhall talks about his work…

Last year, when students at Ridgecrest Intermediate School in Palos Verdes, California, were asked to name scientists, their answers--Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Bill Nye the Science Guy--reflected a common perception. Most of the leading scientists they came up with were white, male, or dead. Although women and people of…