One of the most significant factors, determining effectiveness of any organization is an optimal management of the system, which is perceived as a social organization. Otherwise strategy errors in management potentially undermine the whole system of the organization. Assuming that management based on authoritarian relations may illusionary create…

Serving as a vehicle for raising the profile of and thereby gaining recognition for the important research and development work being conducted in Canada in support of children and families, the "Research Connections Canada" series compiles research and/or development papers as well as background papers, analytical literature reviews,…

This qualitative research paper reports on Latina students in single-gender and coeducational secondary-level special education placements for students with mild to moderate learning disabilities. Classroom observations and interviews were conducted with nine Latina special education students. All participants were in their first, second, or third…

The focus group method has rapidly gained credibility among researchers in many fields, including public health researchers. The increased use of focus groups by public health researchers has underscored the demonstrable need for the capacity to apply this method of research among populations with limited abilities in or cultural resistance to…

This paper analyzes the academic success of 30 low-income African-American high school students. The 20 females and 10 males were participants in the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) program, a high school program that places previously low-achieving, low-income, and minority students in a special class that offers them academic and…

This qualitative study explored the presence of community voice in a newly structured inner-city elementary school in Santa Ana (California). Nearly every family at Pio Pico Elementary School lives below the poverty level, and Spanish is the primary language of 90% of the residents, with most families being of Mexican or Central American origin.…

This manual, which is intended for vocational education and training (VET) providers, does the following: explains fundamental market research concepts; highlights situations where market research can help VET providers with their planning and policy development; and illustrates the uses of market research in VET institutions. The following topics…

This study compares the results of Australian and Taiwanese Grade 10 students (N=2959) on the Students' Perceptions of Teacher Knowledge (SPOTK) questionnaire. The purposes of this paper are to quantitatively compare the mean scores of each item in the two countries and to use qualitative research methods involving classroom observations and…

The 11 papers in this volume were presented at the 1996 American Statistical Association (ASA) meeting in Chicago (Illinois), August 4 through 8. This is the fourth collection of ASA papers of particular interest to users of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) survey data published in the "Working Papers" series. The…

The failure of major educational reform efforts to acknowledge the multicultural needs of tomorrow's teachers illustrates the marginal status that issues of multicultural education and multicultural teacher education typically receive. This paper examines the literature on multicultural teacher education. The review suggests that teacher education…

This paper reports the outcomes of a study that utilized descriptive, qualitative methods and a series of case studies to investigate how students are diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorders, specifically Asperger syndrome under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The study focuses on students attending elementary schools in…

This book includes: a theoretical summary of the various facets of motivation, an examination of how the theoretical insights can help classroom practitioners in their everyday teaching practice and practical recommendations on how motivation can be researched and assessed. The following chapters are included: "Main Challenges of Motivation…

A study explored the lives of families and successful readers within "at-risk" environments. This inquiry sought to identify and understand the home and family characteristics that enable children to defy the myths and become successful readers and literacy users, when individuals and institutions would suggest they would fail. Through…

This study evaluated the communicative, social, and emotional development of 22 deaf Swedish pre-school children with cochlear implants over a 2-year period. Video-recordings (every 3 months) and observations of the children in natural interactional settings at home and school as well as interviews with parents and teachers provided the study…

Based on collaborative learning theories, this qualitative study describes seven adult students' experiences of learning in a context of synchronous computer-mediated communication within a distance education environment. The setting was an 8-week, Internet-based undergraduate/graduate sociology course sponsored by Indiana University Purdue…