In a mixed method study, teacher efficacy and contributing theoretical constructs of teacher concerns and teacher orientation with Intermediate/Senior mathematics preservice teachers from two Ontario Faculties of Education are examined. Data sources include a web-based questionnaire containing two teacher efficacy scales and short answer…

Using longitudinal data of 18-to 20-year-old youths from the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS), the present analysis identified and profiled Canadian postsecondary education dropouts based on the theoretical framework of Tinto (1993). Pertaining to characteristics of pre-postsecondary education conditions, dropouts tended to be male, set low…

This paper explores the increasingly prominent role of research brokering organizations (RBOs) in strengthening connections between education research, policy and practice across Canada. This paper is organized in three sections. First, it provides a literature review of research mediation--exploring terminology, models and empirical work (albeit…

This study was conducted to explore elementary school teachers' uses of reading disabilities research. A modified version of Knott and Wildavsky's (1980) knowledge utilization framework underpinned the investigation. Teachers completed a questionnaire and participated in focus groups which elicited their reported uses of reading…

While the landscape of postsecondary education in Alberta continues to expand and diversify, there seems to be very little written about the organization of postsecondary education in the province over the past 15 to 20 years (Wimmer & Schmaus, 2010). This paper provides an analysis of postsecondary education in Alberta over the past 15 to 20…

Constructing a policy web of relationships is proposed as a useful way to identify and understand complex relationships between policies and their contexts. In Canada, the province of Ontario's "Character Development Initiative" (CDI) and its relationships to student achievement, citizenship education, and safe schools policies provide an…

This qualitative exploration of rural and urban teaching experiences encapsulates the experiences of 8 Western Canadian teachers. A literature review outlines the benefits and challenges of rural and urban education. Stemming from narrative inquiry data, I present the study's results in the form of two composite stories, which depict the lived…

This article describes a recent study that investigated the physical education (PE) beliefs of a particular population of students (i.e., female and male students in Grades 4 through 10 from a single school stream). Through their completion of an adapted survey, students (N = 506) were able to share their PE beliefs in relation to five separate…

In this paper, we consider scholarly work on early career teacher attrition, and retention, from 1999 to 2010. Much of the literature has framed attrition as either a problem associated with individual factors (e.g., burnout), or a problem associated with contextual factors (e.g., support and salary). Some recent conceptualizations consider early…

We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of Struggling Schools, a user-generated approach to Comprehensive School Reform implemented in 100 low achieving schools serving disadvantaged students in a Canadian province. The results show that while Struggling Schools had a statistically significant positive effect on Grade 3 Reading achievement, d = 0.48…

The learning ministries in Ontario have made a concerted effort to underscore Aboriginal learners' needs and preferences in publicly-funded and assisted schools and training services throughout the province. Through a trilogy of policy documents, the Ontario Ministry of Education (OME) and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU)…

This pre-pilot study explored the usefulness of a knowledge utilization framework comprised of Knott and Wildavsky's (1980) seven stages of knowledge use and Stone's (2002) three routes to knowledge use to investigate the gap between reading disabilities research and teachers' self-reported use of that research. Semi-structured interviews of ten…

This article discusses the "lessons learned" from an attempt to establish an interdisciplinary education research group. The growth, development and dissolution of the group are treated as an instrumental case study. Current literature on interdisciplinary collaboration is synthesized in order to provide a frame for analysis. Data was collected…

Teachers play a vital role in the implementation of new programs. This article discusses how best to support teachers in the face of such change. Specifically, we describe the perspectives of teachers who participated in a pilot project of the responsiveness to intervention model. Through focus group data, the researchers explored the barriers…

Global education is concerned with social justice and student empowerment. However, an understanding of the word global as merely international and/or intercultural may fail to challenge existing mechanistic and compartmentalized views of knowledge and curriculum. Such a global education limits students' agency and reproduces the very systems it…