The purpose of this qualitative, case study was to understand how the four-day school week influenced a school district in Northern Arizona, over five years. Research Questions 1 through 3 addressed district performance including teacher/staff and student attendance, achievement on the state assessment in reading and math, and costs on utilities.…

Understanding the mechanisms of increasing the number of physics teachers educated per year at institutions with thriving physics teacher preparation programs may inspire and support other institutions in building thriving programs of their own. The Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC), led by the American Physical Society (APS) and the…

The common characteristics among Arizona districts and charters with high academic outcomes for student disabilities were identified in a qualitative study involving site visits and interviews. In 2014, the Arizona Department of Education examined over three years of state testing data to identify districts and charter schools that closed the…

Home visitation has the potential to improve parent, child, and maternal outcomes and has become a widely implemented prevention program across the United States. The purpose of this research was to use a randomized controlled trial to assess the short-term effectiveness of the Arizona Healthy Families program across a range of outcomes. Two…

Purpose: This research uses the social science perspectives of institutions, ecological modernization and social movements to analyze the rationale used by the early-adopting universities of fossil fuel divestment in the USA. Design/methodology/approach: Through analysis of qualitative data from interviews with key actors at the universities that…

The educational doctorate (EdD) is being re-envisioned as a distinct professional degree. Today's EdD graduates are envisioned as scholarly practitioners. Given this it may be reasoned these individuals have unique identities comprised of several layers. In this study, we examined how 18 entering students and 17 graduating students from an EdD…

Contrasting studies of foreign language teacher education have become a growing interest among educationists and researchers in different countries (Yoder, 1992; McKay & Montgomery, 1995; Baker & Giacchino-Baker, 2000; Stachowski & Sparks, 2007; Firmin, M. W., Firmin, R & MacKay, F. M., 2008; LaFond & Dogancay-Aktuna, 2009;…

The limited understanding on why Latino parents endorse organized activities is problematic given that these beliefs can help elucidate why they overcome barriers to support their children's participation. In this study, we analyzed interviews from a diverse group of 34 Mexican-origin parents who resided in Arizona. Results of the study indicate…

Data and the use of data to make educational decisions have attained new-found prominence in K-12 education following the inception of high-stakes testing and subsequent linking of teacher evaluations and teacher-performance pay to students' outcomes on standardized assessments. Although the research literature suggested students' academic…

With budgets on the decline, university officials are seeking alternative methods to maintain and increase the type of services provided to students. By incorporating social entrepreneurial competencies in the daily actions of university staff members, staff members will be able to perform their work more effectively and help students acquire…

This study is a quasi-experimental descriptive design, with existing educator-made adaptations evaluated. The goals of this study were to (a) describe how educators develop adaptations and (b) evaluate the effectiveness of educator-made adaptations in facilitating the learning of students with disabilities. Findings suggest that (a) most…

Mentor teachers have a significant impact on pre-service teachers. Unfortunately, mentors are often underprepared for their role, and thus, the potential learning from a student teaching experience is not maximized. Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University provides training to mentors who host pre-service teachers during their…

The significance of teaching the basics of engineering education in middle- and high-schools is generally acknowledged by policy makers, teachers and researchers in the U.S.A. as well as a number of developed and developing countries. Nevertheless, engineering topics are rarely covered by precollege curriculums. A key contributing factor is that…

This article describes the process and role frontline access and public service staff play in needs assessment and evaluation of user services, specifically in understanding the voice of the customer. Information includes how the University of Arizona Libraries have incorporated daily data collection into the strategic planning process, resources…

This study was conducted to examine the relationships between student achievement, as measured by Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards, and teacher-assigned grades within a large, urban Phoenix, Arizona school district. For the quantitative component of the study, a proportionate stratified random sample of 3rd grade students from schools…