Reports show Chinese students have lower enrollment, higher dropout rates, and larger gender gaps in secondary schools in poor areas. Research indicates students' perceptions about schooling contribute to their decisions about staying in school. In this study in a poor rural area with high percentages of minority students, the student…

This report explores the factors and conditions that could help more students succeed at school despite challenging socio-economic backgrounds. It does this by studying resilient students and what sets them apart from their less successful peers. Understanding how educational systems can support disadvantaged students and help them "beat the…

Research shows that students' sense of belonging in their school communities is critically linked to academic achievement. This ninth and final book in "The Soul of Educational Leadership" series offers practical strategies for promoting socially responsible school cultures that foster greater student engagement and democratic values. A joint…

The 2011 edition of "Minnesota Measures: Report on Higher Education Performance" reflects a new approach to reporting on the effectiveness of postsecondary education within the state. The report covers key measures of postsecondary effectiveness as in the previous three editions of the report but is grounded in the students' experience…

College completion remains one of the most compelling and vexing policy issues in higher education today. Although access to higher education has increased substantially over the past three decades, student success in college as measured by degree completion has not improved significantly. There is a great disparity in the percentage of low-income…

This book offers ideas that secondary teachers, university content faculty, and teacher educators can use to challenge traditional literacy practices and demonstrate creative, innovative ways of incorporating new literacies into the classroom, all within a strong theoretical framework. Teachers are trying to catch up to the new challenges of the…

Research on early adolescence reveals significant declines in intrinsic motivation for reading and points out the need for metacognitive strategy use among middle school students. Research indicates that explicit instruction involving motivation and metacognitive support for reading strategy use in the context of a discipline is an efficient and…

In most developed countries, research studies that investigate the effects of special education on student outcomes have become conventional practice. However, in developing countries such as the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, there are no studies about the progress and outcomes of students and youths with disabilities. This…

Background: Protective factors associated with positive youth development predict health and education outcomes. This study explored trends in these protective factors and in physical activity among low-income students, and determined the impact of a school-based youth development program on these trends. Methods: This study used a…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the usability (effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction) of e-feedback interfaces. The experiment compares a traditional visual approach with a multimodal approach in order to determine the impact of multimodal metaphors upon the user's understanding, reasoning and engagement with the…

The paper presents the facilities offered by the open learner model maintained in the web-based, adaptive, activity-oriented learning environment SCALE (Supporting Collaboration and Adaptation in a Learning Environment), in order to guide online students who become disengaged and support their reengagement. The open learner model (OLM_SCALE)…

Interactive engagement pedagogies that emerge from a constructivist model of teaching and learning are often a challenge to implement in larger classes for a number of reasons including the physical layout of the classroom (e.g. fixed chairs in an amphitheater-style room), the logistics of organizing a large number of students into small…

This paper proposes that Interactive Technology can help professors enhance communication, attitudes, and interest in the classroom. This paper describes Interactive Technology, how professors can use it, and preliminary findings of its effectiveness. These findings suggest that the use of Interactive Technology can enhance students' attitudes.…

This paper summarizes the results of a survey administered to students enrolled in selected business courses at a Midwestern university pertaining to technology use in the classroom. Students were asked how the moderate or extensive use of technology (such as PowerPoint) would impact the overall quality of a "hypothetical course with the same…

This article highlights significant research about what below grade-level reading means in middle school classrooms and suggests a tested approach to improve reading comprehension levels significantly by using audio books. The use of these audio books can improve reading and academic performance for both English language learners (ELLs) and for…