This research report presents the final year results of a three-year research project on computational thinking (CT). The project, funded by the National Science Foundation, involved training teachers in grades four through six to implement Scalable Game Design and LEGO® EV3 robotics during afterschool clubs. Thirty teachers and 531 students took…

This mixed-methods study explored the use of an augmented reality, location-based, iPad game to enhance the learning experience of young elementary history students. Utilizing the ARIS platform and a design-based research approach, researchers and teachers built a customized game experience that was inserted into a school's traditional second…

School construction or renovation projects can have a profound affect on students, faculty and administration. The negative impact on the ongoing educational programs is a stressor for many administrators. The possibility that rural school administrators would experience more stress producing problems than would suburban and urban school leaders…

This paper presents a family of three hierarchical analyses of trends in the distribution of experienced teachers among schools. The analyses were used to assess whether implementation of key provisions of the 2004 contract between the Philadelphia School District and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) led to a more equitable…

School construction or renovation projects can have a profound affect on students, faculty and administration. The literature revealed that continuous communication is essential for a smooth process. This research identified bureaucratic issues and school climate to be leading factors of concern during construction projects. Analysis of this study…

Approximately 100,000 teachers representing over 4,000 Pennsylvania schools responded to a forty-seven item Pennsylvania Educational Quality Assessment Teacher Questionnaire. Teacher responses were gathered during the regular state assessment activities conducted from 1978 to 1981. The survey included questions dealing with the degree of teacher…

As the public clamors for better educational approaches to enable a diverse student population to meet newly designed academic standards, provide for more creative and innovative pedagogical strategies, and render a feasible option to regular public education, charter programs offer a viable alternative. Viewed as a venture capital investment,…

This paper provides an update on how some new charter schools have fared during the first year of operation under Pennsylvania's charter school legislation (PA Act 22, June 1997). Data should facilitate an examination of the degree to which the legislation supports or inhibits the entrepreneurial school reform practice of charter schools. Twenty…

The purpose of the study reported here was to design a model for the development of a human relations program in selected racially mixed public schools. The following efforts were undertaken: (1) an examination of the literature to obtain the rationale for school desegregation, (2) an identification of a national sample of desegregated school…

The interests of two different at-risk populations in Pennsylvania are compared. Both urban minorities and rural youth participated in programs designed to motivate them to continue their education. Participants (52 rural and 30 urban middle school students) completed an interest survey as part of the program orientation. Although the rural youth…