To succeed in today's economy, students need both proficiency in the "three Rs" (reading, writing and arithmetic) and strong applied skills. Communication skills, team work, and critical thinking have long been at the top of employers' lists of applied skills they seek in employees. States are responding to employers' needs by putting in…

There are two important dimensions to successful second language learning: what goes on inside the classroom and what goes on outside of the classroom. While language teaching has always been seen as a preparation for out-of-class uses of language, much of the focus in language teaching in the past has typically been on classroom-based language…

This article describes an initiative designed to improve the content-area literacy skills of all students at a Massachusetts high school and to demonstrate the important role teacher leaders play in bridging the various elements of school improvement efforts. Meeting students' language and literacy needs within content-area classrooms is becoming…

Chinese students are coming to study in the United States in record numbers, but our understanding as to why is limited. Through interviews conducted with Chinese students who have studied in both China and the United States, we examine why students are making the choice to come to the United States, what they hope to learn, and how they are…

This book combines theory and research from educational and organizational psychology to provide guidance on improving the teacher selection process and, subsequently, educational outcomes for all students. The book identifies the characteristics of effective teachers, analyzes research on selection practices, and examines new approaches to…

The purposes of this study were to examine the effectiveness of cooperative learning approach in reducing foreign language anxiety and to investigate its impact on language proficiency of 40 sophomore students enrolled in EN 211 course in the second semester of 2009 academic year at Bangkok University. Three instruments employed were the…

Increasingly, the broader public, media and policymakers are looking to qualitative research to provide answers to our most pressing social questions. While an exciting and perhaps overdue moment for qualitative researchers, it is also a time when the method is coming under increasing scrutiny for a lack of reliability and transparency. The…

Although many policy documents include equity as part of mathematics education standards and principles, researchers continue to explore means by which equity might be supported in classrooms and at the institutional level. Teaching practices that include opportunities for students to engage in active learning have been proposed to address equity.…

Internationally educated professionals (IEPs) encounter significant barriers to entry to their professions upon immigrating. Obtaining education in the new country is an effective means of improving their positions. While universities emphasize the need to attract and serve adult learners and a more diverse clientele, the specific needs of…

This study examines the issues surrounding "student voice" in a specific Chinese context, and assesses the key elements of leadership that could enhance student voice in that context. It reports the results of a research conducted in a community-based educational centre in Hong Kong that provides after-school educational and social…

Phase II provides a more detailed examination of classroom variables important to achievement in Oklahoma schools. Where Phase I addressed all nine of the Oklahoma essential elements using survey data, Phase II focuses on what occurs in Oklahoma classrooms primarily using data from principal interviews, classroom observations (on-site), and video…

This paper responds to some recent discussions in the Journal about how interview data can be used. While recognising the value of detailed analysis of the discourse employed in interviews to identify its formal features, it is argued that such analysis is not essential for all the purposes for which interview data can be employed in social…

Despite growing attention to the importance of grit and other character traits for achievement, developing them in students rarely finds its way into secondary school curricula. Authors Barbara Cervone and Kathleen Cushman investigate the exceptions, telling the stories of five high schools with a national reputation for infusing rigorous…

In Australia, a significant minority of young people do not complete upper secondary education. Whether procedural or enacted through the agency of students, the failure of the education system to accommodate young people through to completion can be regarded as a form of institutionalised social exclusion and injustice. In response, a growing…

In contrast to a focus on vertical learning experiences where the emphasis is on progression up a scale of complexity, this article explores the value of horizontal learning experiences. These aim to provide learners with a variety of opportunities and spaces to participate, thereby expanding the entry points for them into school science. The…