Not surprisingly, in an increasingly neo-liberal context of international competition for educational prestige, conversations about teaching and teacher preparation have taken hold across the globe. Further complicating these matters is that ideas about teaching, learning, and learning to teach cannot be understood or analyzed in a vacuum; that…

This qualitative study examines the variance in the ways that four student teachers made meaning of the experience of being observed by their cooperating teachers and university supervisors. Using Kegan's (1994) theory of cognitive development, the study focuses on the differences in the ways the teacher candidates constructed the prospect of…

The transformative power of dialogue has the potential to serve as a healthful alternative to unproductive strategies for problem-solving in many communication contexts (Ryan & Natalle, 2001). Sadly, educational contexts emerge as contexts in dire need of such communicative reconstruction, evidenced by the alarming increase in incidences of…

Special education teachers, especially those that teach students with behavioral/emotional challenges, have high attrition rates stemming from stress, job dissatisfaction, and low motivation. The external factors in the school setting and job contribute to special education teachers' attrition and disengagement. A relationship between motivation…

The Question Answer Relationship (QAR) literacy strategy was integrated into science instruction in a fourth grade classroom. Ten students who struggled with reading, including some who were diagnosed with a reading disability, participated in this study. Significant gains were made in reading by the 10 student participants in comprehending…

In the last two decades, there have been various calls for reform in teacher education programs to address the needs of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and students with disabilities. Consequently, many teacher education preparation programs are reviewing and redesigning their programs to meet the needs of the…

Educational disparities are frequently framed in racial comparisons that are based on data generated by sorting and counting racial subgroups. Our reliance on these data, and the sorting and counting mechanisms entailed therein, is fundamental to debates about racial inequalities. What is largely ignored in achievement gap discourse is how racial…

The economic modernization drive of the 21st century has not only fostered the growth of a market economy but has also created the need for a structural change in education (Zha, 2006). Mok (2009) explains that when the Chinese government realized that the state alone could not keep up with the increasing demand for higher education, it allowed…

The number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning students is increasing in schools. School districts, administrators and teachers need to increase awareness of these students and work to make them feel included and welcomed in a safe school environment, one free from offensive languages and practices. This article discusses some…

In August 2009, the U.S. Department of Education announced opportunities for states and local educational agencies to vie for $3.5 billion in Title I School Improvement Grants targeted at turning around or closing down chronically low-achieving schools. To qualify for a portion of these funds, school districts were required to implement one of…

School choice gives parents greater power over their children's education. But ever since the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme (PEVS) was introduced in Hong Kong in 2007, school choice has become a hotly debated topic. The scheme was introduced to empower kindergarten parents in choosing a school for their children by offering them direct fee…

This article discusses how the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) accountability mechanism of No Child Left Behind makes use of supposedly objective standardized test scores to describe schools in a certain way when the very same results could serve to draw very different conclusions. Examining the proficiency scores of students from a specific middle…

This paper reviews research literature in the area of student engagement to discover curricular and pedagogical ideas educators might successfully use to better engage student learning. Student engagement has historically focused upon increasing achievement, positive behaviors, and a sense of belonging to help students remain in school. The…

The majority of educational faculty from a juvenile justice residential detention facility in rural Northeast Missouri who participated in a learning climate survey of their school seemed to agree that the environment for staff and students was generally physically safe and emotionally supportive; key factors for a positive learning climate. By…

The Accelerated Reader program was designed by Renaissance Learning to increase students' motivation to read and students' achievement in reading; however, a review of the literature reveals inconsistent findings about its outcomes. The Renaissance Learning company reports several research studies on their website that suggest the program is…