To provide a deeper understanding of issues related to collaborative reconstruction and simultaneous renewal, the author provides a historical perspective of professional development schools (PDSs) and an overview of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education PDS standards and assessment process, with a focus on inquiry and…

The authors sought to determine whether teacher and collective efficacy beliefs predict commitment to the teaching profession. The participants were 26,257 teachers and 6,711 principals who responded to the public school teacher and principal questionnaires of the 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey (U.S. Department of Education, 2005). The…

Researchers and policy makers have questioned the efficacy of family-involvement interventions. They believe that more studies are needed to compare outcomes of students whose families received a partnership intervention with those who did not. The author used data from the state of Ohio to compare student attendance in elementary schools that…

The authors report the results of a study in which they sought to determine the effect of the race of a book's primary characters on the reading motivation of 3rd-grade students in Mississippi. Students (N = 35) from 2 3rd-grade classrooms chose books with covers that depicted main characters who were either Black or White. The authors sought to…

Parent involvement (PI) in education is associated with positive outcomes for students; however, little is known about how parents decide to be involved in children's education. On the basis of the K. V. Hoover-Dempsey and H. M. Sandler (1995, 1997) model of parent decision making, the authors examined the relationship among 4 parent variables…

This article presents an interview with Dr. Gerald W. Bracey, author of "Reading Educational Research: How to Avoid Getting Statistically Snookered." During the interview, Bracey explains why he considers the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) as a "weapon of mass destruction" and that he sees nothing to suggest that NCLB has improved schools.…

The authors conducted design or classroom experiments (R. Gersten, S. Baker, & J. W. Lloyd, 2000) at 2 sites (Pennsylvania and Florida) to test the effectiveness of schema-based instruction (SBI) prior to conducting formal experimental studies. Results of Study 1 conducted in 2 3rd-grade, low-ability classrooms and 1 special education classroom…

Accountability is a high priority in the U.S. education system, and principals play an important role in student achievement. The author examined the means by which superintendents focus on characteristics identified in the literature on effective principals and student achievement when hiring building administrators. The author questioned whether…

The authors examined whether gender differences in language achievement were related not only to gender differences in attitudes toward schooling but also to the attitudes toward schooling of peers (i.e., peers in classes and in schools). The authors used multilevel analysis on data compiled from a longitudinal research project in secondary…

The authors critiqued the M. K. Lovelace (2005) meta-analysis of the Dunn and Dunn Model of Learning-Style Preferences (DDMLSP). The conclusion that Lovelace reported in her meta-analysis that learning-style instruction is a beneficial form of instructional delivery is unjustified because of critical conceptual and practical problems. Those…

The authors identified factors affecting problem finding depending on degree of structure of problem situation--either ill or moderately structured. Fifth-grade students (N = 115) were randomly assigned to 2 groups: Group 1 (n = 60) accomplished the ill-structured task; Group 2 (n = 55) performed the moderately structured task. Results indicated…

The quality of physical education (PE) programs in primary schools has been questioned in the literature because of the difficulties that classroom teachers experience when teaching PE. The authors used a mixed-mode method to investigate teachers' insights into ways in which the quality of primary school PE can be improved. Questionnaire data were…

Over the past four decades, there have been numerous discussions on student achievement and school failure. Within this time, the debate over the causes and consequences of racial differences in achievement has been at the heart of the nation's social and political life. The author discusses the major developments in achievement research over the…

In physical education, the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) pedagogical strategy has attracted significant attention from theoreticians and educators for allowing the development of game education through a tactic-to-skill approach involving the use of modified games. However, some have proposed that as an educational framework, it lacks…

The author discusses the evolution of ideas about the relationship between national and international development and educational change since World War II. He critically reviews relevant literature in comparative and international education, focusing on the concept of teachers' work. The analyses draw on theories of postcolonialism. The author…