Suchergebnisse

In December of 2008, the authors were awarded a University of North Carolina at Charlotte fundedcurriculum and instructional development grant based on two innovative ideas for preparing futureschool leaders: (1) the creation and use of wikis to expand and deepen student learning beyond theclassroom, and (2) the creation of a virtual social network to connect current educational leadershipstudents and graduates, providing the opportunity and the means for networking between students andpractitioners, practitioners with each other, and both groups with educational leadership professorsaround the proposition that solving problems of practice (whether in the graduate classroom or in theK-12 arena) can be significantly enhanced by sharing personal knowledge of research-basedstrategies and school-proven best practices.

In the United States, every child has the right to an education and is required by law to attend school.The government provides an enormous number of public schools throughout the country, free of charge,in order to ensure education for all, yet there are families who choose to homeschool their childreninstead. Hill (2010) explains that "homeschooling is not a new phenomenon. In colonial days families,including wealthy ones, educated their children at home, combining the efforts of parents, tutors, andolder children" (p.1). He goes on to mention how colonial rural one-room schoolhouses provided aplace for the children of several families to study together under the direction of a teacher whoimplemented their personal program of instruction.

Empowerment of employees has been a primary concern of business for many decades, under thepremise that involvement of employees in decision making leads to superior performance and results.Acceptance of the practical value of empowerment by colleges and universities is more recent andmore rare, despite the centrality of ideas such as faculty governance and recognition of the faculty'sessential role in the academic enterprise. Empowerment in academe is defined as the processwhereby stakeholders are encouraged and supported in utilizing their knowledge, skills, and creativityto embrace ownership and accountability for the well being of their department and institution. Theprocess requires stakeholders to collaborate in order to establish clear goals and expectationsfocused on the institution's vision and mission but within agreed-upon boundaries. This alignment ofdepartmental and institutional goals is a key ingredient of empowerment, one that Black (1987) calls"enacting the vision" in organizations.

The current study sought to answer the next question, "How are the organizational structures of NorthCarolina school districts determined?" We wanted to understand what factors influenced theorganization of school district.

One of our greatest educational challenges is reducing the achievement gap between successful andless-successful students. The achievement gap is usually discussed in terms of dramatic differences ingraduation rates and the academic achievement between white and minority students such asHispanics (Waxman, Padrón, and Garcia, 2007). Research in this area typically looks at schooldistricts and/or schools that do better than others in reducing the gaps between groups of students.There are fewer research studies, however, that focus on achievement gaps within schools andclassrooms. These "within" school educational disparities often are greater than the differencesbetween schools or school differences (Waxman et al., 2007).

A major challenge of university faculty and adjunct members in teacher education is the logistics of scheduling and observing remote field experience evaluations of candidates. According to National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS.T) (2003), observations require an investment of time, scheduling logistics, and trained professionals to observe and analyze evaluation data. The authors of NETS.T (2003) state, "Put another way, observation opportunities are precious and should be designed to make every moment count" (p. 112). Technology, particularly in the form of videoconferencing, is being used to develop and improve the level of communication when observing and evaluating candidates. This mode of delivery is helping to bridge the three themes of transforming identity, collegial relationships, and cultural responsiveness.

The importance of Mathematics transcends all definitions and the prosperity of any country depends onthe volume and quality of Mathematics offered in its school system. Obe (1996) conceptualisesMathematics as the master and servant of most disciplines and thus, a source of enlightenment andunderstanding of the universe. He further opines that without it, the understanding of national problemswould be superficial. Graeber and Weisman (1995) agree that Mathematics helps the individual tounderstand his/her environment and to give accurate account of the physical phenomena aroundhim/her. To this end, Setidisho (2001) submits that no other subject forms a strong binding forceamong various branches of science as Mathematics, and without it, knowledge of the sciences oftenremains superficial.

One of the main things in a process of teaching-learning consists of making hierarchical contentsof the programs and to determine specific and clearly which are the objectives of the course. It is notalways easy for a teacher to discriminate the relative importance of the program contents. If weconsider that the questions the students do are a reflection of what the teachers consider important, theexams could be considered as an adequate source to know their opinion about the contents that astudent on a topic should know. Nevertheless, more important than the content itself, is the form inwhich is evaluated, that is to say the task demanded.