Rising college costs are of increasing concern. At the 12 public universities in Illinois, average increases in tuition were modest, generally in the 4% range, until 1999 when individual campuses begin to increase tuition at double digit rates. In 2002-2003, the overall average increase in tuition/fees more than doubled at 13.79%. In an effort to…

In the United States, the demands of increased federal accountability have dramatically impacted the field of teaching. Teacher certification programs have been taxed with preparing first year teachers to assist increasingly diverse students to pass high-stakes state assessments. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the influence…

This action research study examined the development of a professional learning community (PLC) among 20 preservice secondary teachers as they met regularly during a semester-long, field-based education course to share artifacts of learning from their professional portfolios. The PLC model described by Hord and Tobia (2012) served as a framework…

The International Baccalaureate (IB) programme utilizes an inquiry-based multi-disciplinary approach and focuses on the teaching of critical-thinking skills. The IB programme is growing at a rapid rate within the United States, with the overall number of IB schools having more than doubled in the last five years. The purpose of the present study…

This paper presents a four-year longitudinal study of student teachers' beliefs about language learning and teaching over the course of an English teacher education (ELT) program. The study attempts to track possible changes in the beliefs and to analyze the impact of an ELT pre-service program by taking the program itself as a dynamic variable.…

One increasingly popular way of supporting new teachers is through the use of mentoring. New teachers are often paired with mentors as one of a number of supports meant to aid new teachers as they begin their career. The various types of mentoring range from school based mentors assigned by the school to specialty mentors, such as math coaches.…

This study explored pre-service teachers' perceptions regarding their readiness to teach mathematical concepts and their preparation to integrate mathematical topics in instruction. Participants consisted of pre-service teachers who agreed to participate in a state-wide survey. For the purpose of this study, data was disaggregated into two groups:…

In recent years, economic downturn and changes to Indiana's school funding have resulted in significant financial reductions in General Fund allocations for many of Indiana's public school corporations. The main purpose of this statewide study is to examine the possible impacts of these budget reductions on class size and student achievement. This…

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…

In recent years, a growing political emphasis has been placed upon the development of transformative assessment-driven reform in schools. There is global consensus on the value of assessment activities that are carefully designed to be consistent with desired learning outcomes, and which coherently connect learning theory, the curriculum,…

This study investigated effectiveness of Web-based CALL on listening comprehension. Both students' academic performance and attitudes were examined. T-tests were used to analyze the results of students' academic performance. Descriptive statistics interpreted students' attitudes toward this learning. Students' participation was also recorded.…

A large body of literature documents the central importance of fidelity of program implementation in creating an internally valid research design and considering such fidelity in judgments of research quality. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) provides web-based summary ratings of educational innovations and is the only rating group that is…

The purpose of this study was to examine the role and learning outcomes of three types of classroom observations in a teacher education methods course: video-based CD-ROMS, videoconference-supported observations, and traditional face-to-face observations. It was not the goal of this study to compare the effectiveness of each type of observation to…

This exploratory study tested the feasibility of using the Transcendental Meditation[R] technique to reduce stress and anxiety as a means of reducing symptoms of ADHD. Students ages 11-14 were taught the technique, and practiced it twice daily in school. Common ADHD inventories and performance measures of executive function were administered at…

This paper discusses the role of institutions in the ethical engagement of Canadian youth volunteers abroad. In recent years, researchers and practitioners in the international field have questioned the ethics of volunteering as part of development, with scrutiny on who actually benefits from volunteering initiatives. Since the 1960s, over 65,000…