In this final chapter I consider the period of the early 1990s, during my period as Principal Educational Psychologist (PEP) from 1991, up to the time I left the service, after 23 years, in 1995. At this point I took up the inaugural chair in Educational Psychology and Special Needs Education at the University of Warwick. I shall address the…

"Better Evidence, Better Choices, Better Schools," a recent report from the Center for American Progress and the Knowledge Alliance, focuses on the evidence-based research provisions in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). ESSA provisions ask districts and schools to consider various sources of evidence, make judgments about the…

Across the broad spectrum of disciplines and departments within higher education, it sometimes feels like there is little that unites them. They talk about silos, they bemoan divergent and fragmented efforts, and they refer frequently to "them" and "they," regardless of where they are on the organizational chart. However, there is one topic that…

In recent years, colleges and universities in the United States have had an on-again, off-again relationship with Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) units on their campuses. This article discusses the history of how these units came into being and the benefits of having ROTC to the students, the institution, and the nation. While there is…

Women immigrants are an increasing population in the U.S. and in the Adult Basic Education (ABE) system, particularly in English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programmes. The authors argue that their numerical predominance and comprehensive needs are not factored into U.S. ABE policies by reformers who are anxious about the system being…

As educational and research needs have changed, libraries have changed as well. They must meet ever-increasing demand for access to online media, subscriptions to archives, video, audio, and other content. The way a user/patron accesses this information has also changed. Gone are the days of a few hardwired desktops or computer carts. While…

This article proposes that states create low-income targeted voucher programs for 3- and/or 4-year-olds. The basis for this proposal is considerable research demonstrating long-term effects for a number of random assignment and quasi-experimental preschool programs. Benefit-costs rates of return for these programs are between $2 and $16 for every…

This commentary talks about the worldwide health impact of lack of access to potable water. Household water treatment and storage (HWTS) is described as one approach to improving potable water accessibility in which students and educators can make a contribution to alleviate the problem of lack of access. The author suggests that, as chemists,…

Comments on an article by Dunst and Bruder. Twenty years ago, amendments to the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 99-457, 1986) included language that required each state early intervention system to ensure that families had access to a case manager. The article by the authors and the study conducted as part of the Research and…

The quality of the work that paid support staff carry out within services for individuals with intellectual disability is clearly crucial to achieving positive quality of life outcomes for service users. Despite this fact, support staff have been relatively neglected as a focus for research within their field. That is not necessarily to say that…

The author discusses the development and future of distance education, defined as "an effective technology for providing a whole complex of good-quality educational services," in Russia, viewing such education as fundamental in the modernization of education in today's Russia. Studies are cited to demonstrate that it is possible to…

Collective bargaining agreements, by their nature, impact upon the delivery of educational services to California's students. Collective bargaining agreements deal with hours of employment, evaluation of personnel, transfer of employees, leaves of absence and class size. These contract provisions directly impact a district's ability to provide…

There are three reasons conservatives should support making access to a high-quality public education a constitutionally protected civil right. First, a constitutional right to a high-quality public education should not confer a right to sue for individual services. Second, elected governors and legislators, not judges, would continue to make…

This presentation by North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt discusses the need to get students engaged in their communities via service learning. Service learning reverses student disengagement by giving them responsibility for their own learning. This provides real-life contexts for learning, prepares students for citizenship through involvement…

Parent involvement in literacy instruction has a significant, positive impact on children's reading acquisition and family economic success. Much like other place-based family strengthening approaches, family literacy programs are inherently family-focused, designed to address the learning needs of an entire family rather than each separate…