National and state education reforms are centered on developing higher academic expectations and standards to ensure students transitions into postsecondary options, college and career ready. What does this national emphasis signify for urban school districts that are educating a significant proportion of first-generation students and that…

Decisions regarding school improvement are based on observations of adults. A more accurate picture of institutional assets and limitations emerges when observations of students are also considered. This presentation shows how student polling can help principals enhance conditions of learning and safety. Implications of Cyberbully Poll results at…

Many school leaders seek new strategies from their colleagues and education literature on how to develop and sustain a positive school culture where students feel safe and are able to reach their greatest potential in academic achievement. Leadership books focus on strategies of building professional learning communities and developing capacity…

The purpose of this study was to identify and compare instructors' and students' perceptions of factors that contribute to the effective use of Project-Based Learning (PBL) in Thailand. The sample for the study consisted of 247 electrical technology instructors from Thai vocational education institutes and 161 students who were electrical power…

The focus of this article is about the utilization of student leadership at the University. Based on research, student leadership opportunities at the university have been frequently at a low percentage (Zimmerman, Burkhart, 2002). The researcher identifies practical ways to involve students in various leadership activities. Emphases are placed on…

The role of international students as catalysts for internationalization and related reforms in the UK higher education sector is increasing. With the growing number of international students, administrators and academics are identifying ways to enable international students to adapt to the UK environment and enhance their experiences as students.…

During 2012, the Dance Department at the University of Surrey developed a set of Open Educational Resources with a Creative Commons license (Attribution, Non- Commercial, Share Alike) for dance studies as part of the JISC-funded project Contexts, Culture and Creativity: Enriching E-learning in Dance (CCC:EED) see…

What assumptions about children and childhood are held by government officials and organisation representatives who are influential in policy formation in early childhood education (ECE) in New Zealand? How are assumptions manifested in policy? This article draws on a study carried out from 2001 to 2003, a time of radical ECE policy change in New…

School environments offer a particularly difficult setting for fostering youth-adult partnerships because of the sharp power and status distinctions among students, teachers, and administrators. Drawing on interview and observational data examining 13 student-voice initiatives in northern California, this research examines the type of supports…

Teaching students how to conduct authentic scientific inquiry is an essential aspect of recent science education reform efforts. Our National Science Foundation-funded GK-12 program paired science graduate students--fellows--with secondary science teachers in order to enhance inquiry-based instruction. This research examined the roles of the…

In today's reform context, much attention is placed on policies and outcomes and far less emphasis on understanding the social and cultural processes in schools. Using case-study methodology, I examine relationships between low-income, urban high school students of color, and the school adults with whom they interact. Using grounded theory,…

Background/Context: School closure is becoming an increasingly common policy response to underperforming urban schools. Districts typically justify closure decisions by pointing to schools' low performance on measures required by No Child Left Behind. Closures disproportionately fall on schools with high percentages of poor and working-class…

This monograph discusses how to make England's further education (FE) system genuinely responsive to learner demand, as well as stable, affordable, and of high quality. It looks at how a demand-driven system can be organised and funded, at what is required of governments, and what can be left to learners themselves and to the education and…

This article describes how parent communication across an urban school district was improved through student-led, teacher-supported conferences. According to "This We Believe," student-led, teacher-supported conferences empower young adolescents to accept responsibility for their own learning. Such conferences invite parents into the…

This article addresses the question of the role and function of contemporary higher education in western industrialised nations through a focus on the participation of undergraduate students. The discussion examines some of the dramatic changes brought about by neo-liberal educational policy, in particular the hierarchical division of teaching and…