Moral Frameworks for Leaders of Gifted Programs and Services

Given the complexities of being an educational leader and, specifically, an educational leader of a gifted program or school, should there be a moral guide or framework that can inform the daily practices of leaders within an ever-changing educational context of competing demands? Should leaders of gifted programs employ the same ethos as any leader or by virtue of leading a program of a special interest group, be guided by a different, moral approach? This article posits that leaders of gifted programs and schools should operationalize an integrated approach drawing upon a variety of historical and more current theories of moral reasoning and intuition coupled with theories that draw on distributive, transformational, and situational leadership in order to make their advocacy and leadership more effective.     

Asking queer(er) questions: epistemological and methodological implications for qualitative inquirers

This collection of distinct scholarly essays deliberatively turns to queer experience and theorizing as a resource for constructing vibrant qualitative research designs. Queer theory offers a breadth of epistemological and methodological possibilities for qualitative projects that are too frequently overlooked for many reasons. These reasons include frequently strict association of queer theory with queer research topics and researchers, as well as a concurrent reluctance to interrogate the representational needs of heterosexist culture served by the metaphor of the ‘closet.’ Queer theory also compels inquiry that takes up the unique circumstances of queer subjects. Locating educational inquiry within globally complex socio-historical dynamics and a post-Obergefell/post-2016 election U.S. context, this article poses multiple trajectories through which various scholars explore queer(er) qualitative inquiry in educational studies. These perspectives invite researchers to rethink qualitative inquiry designs through engagement with the queer, inclusive of research topics not initially perceived to be queer.     

Teaching mixed‐mode: a case study in remote delivery of computer science in Africa

In February 2003, RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, commenced delivery of a Computer Science diploma and degree programme using mixed mode delivery to 250 university students in sub‐Saharan Africa, through a World Bank funded project designed for the African Virtual University (AVU). The project is a unique experience made possible by collaboration and co‐operation between Australian and African partners and incorporating a student‐centred philosophy and mixed‐mode delivery. The project also has an ongoing commitment to building African capacity for online development and delivery of courseware through a defined capacity building programme for the University of Dar es Salaam, (UDSM), which will take over the project in 2007. This paper discusses the relevant philosophies of the major partners in the project, outlines the components of the mixed mode delivery strategy and identifies the successes and challenges uncovered in the first year of operation.

Enseignement par méthode mixte : Une étude de cas sur les cours par correspondance de sciences d’informatique en Afrique

En février 2003, l’université RMIT de Melbourne en Australie a réalisé un projet pour l’Université Virtuelle Africaine (AVU) fondé par la Banque mondiale qui a permit à 250 étudiants d’universités de la région sous‐saharienne d’Afrique d’obtenir un grade universitaire en sciences d’informatique en participant a un cours par correspondance. Ce projet est une expérience unique qui a été rendue possible par une collaboration et coopération entre des partenaires australiens et africains et par l’incorporation d’une philosophie orientée sur les étudiants et d’assistance par méthodes mixtes de diffusion. Ce projet à une obligation permanente d’améliorer la productivité africaine du développement en ligne et de la diffusion de matériaux de cours en ligne, ce qui est effectué par un programme d’augmentation de la productivité défini pour l’Université de Dar es Salaam (UDSM), qui va assumer ce projet en 2007. Cet exposé décrit les philosophies principales des partenaires de ce projet, esquisse les composants de cette stratégie de diffusion à méthode mixte et identifie les succès et les défis découverts lors de la première année d’opération.

Unterrichten kombinierter Methoden: eine Fallstudie zum Fernstudium der Computerwissenschaften in Afrika

Im Februar 2003 begann die RMIT Universität in Melbourne in Australien mit Hilfe eines durch die Weltbank gegründeten Projekts für die Afrikanische Virtuelle Universität (AVU) mit einer kombinierten Methode der Wissensvermittlung 250 Studenten aus der unteren Sahara‐Region in Afrika die Teilnahme an einem Fernstudiumsprogramm mit einem Abschluss in Computerwissenschaften zu ermöglichen. Bei diese Projekt handelt es sich um eine einzigartige Erfahrung, die durch die Zusammenarbeit zwischen australischen und afrikanischen Partnern ermöglicht wurde und die die auf Studenten ausgerichtete Philosophie und die kombinierte Form der Wissensvermittlung einbezieht. Dieses Projekt hat die ständige Verpflichtung, die afrikanische Leistungsfähigkeit der Online‐Bildung und die Verfügbarkeit von Kursmaterialien zu verbessern, und zwar über ein definiertes Aufbauprogramm für die Universität Dar es Salaam (UDSM), die dieses Projekt 2007 übernehmen wird. Dieser Bericht erläutert die relevanten Kernphilosophien der Hauptpartner des Projekts, beschreibt die Komponenten der kombinierten Methode der Wissensvermittlung und identifiziert die Erfolge und Herausforderungen, die im Laufe des ersten Jahres erkannt wurden.     

How communication context impacts judgments of a potential peer mentor

Disclosure is a critical element of interpersonal relationships and individuals are often evaluated on what they share with others, whether in personal, professional, or learning contexts. Technology now allows for many different outlets for communicating with other people. We used experimental methods to explore the impact of communication medium (i.e. print diary, online diary, blog, or email) on psychosocial perceptions of a potential peer mentor. Female participants gave more positive mentor ratings on likeability, likeliness to disclose to the mentor, and perceived closeness than did males, but not on judgments of the mentor’s privacy. Participants judged the mentor to be more private when they viewed the print diary than in the online conditions and when reading the online diary than the blog (the least private condition). We also found that women were more likely to reciprocate disclosure when they viewed disclosures in the print condition than in the blog.     

Variability is the norm in performance, but not in beliefs

Do children have coexisting but contradictory beliefs about things like magic? Some patterns of behavior that seem to reflect contradictory beliefs may stem from children's recognition that their knowledge about events is incomplete and therefore things may occur without them understanding how. In addition, children may hold certain beliefs that are inconsistent with the rest of their knowledge in a way that is very much like the premises of a game of make-believe. These beliefs are recognized to be "not really true" but children act as if they were true under specific circumstances. It is concluded that children do not hold contradictory beliefs except in this special sense.     

Reimagining adult education and lifelong learning for all: Historical and critical perspectives

International Review of Education -     

Using learning analytics to assess student engagement and academic outcomes in open access enabling programmes

Curriculum design, teaching methods, assessments and range of academic support need to be inclusive in Open Access Enabling courses. The findings of this study confirm a correlation between student access to online learning materials and a positive impact on grades in science courses. More specifically, students who frequently use the online learning system to access materials have better assessment and exam results.     

Accountability for Quality: One State’s Experience in Improving Practice

South Carolina recently implemented a new initiative to improve the quality of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classrooms in primary schools. This article describes the initiative and examines evidence that such an effort can have a positive effect on early childhood program quality. Data from both classroom observations using the ECERS-R scale, and from teacher surveys, are used to examine the effectiveness of the quality improvement effort. Results indicate that training and support coupled with accountability requirements can facilitate positive changes within classrooms. Examples of positive changes teachers report they made as the result of this process are included, along with changes in ECERS-R quality rating scores.     

Developmental pathways to integrated social skills: the roles of parenting and early intervention

Dynamic skill theory was utilized to explain the multiple mechanisms and mediating processes influencing development of self-regulatory and language skills in children at 14, 24, and 36 months of age. Relations were found between family risks, parenting-related stresses, and parent-child interactions that contribute either independently or through mediation to the child's acquisition of self-regulatory skills even when accounting for the influence of language development. Variation in impacts between control and Early Head Start (EHS) intervention samples was compared to explore the sequence of developmental mechanisms over time. Findings indicate that EHS protects parenting, child language, and self-regulatory development from the effects of demographic risks and parenting stress, and thus supports parents to raise healthy children.     

Remedial Testing and Placement in Community Colleges

Almost half of students who enter college require some sort of remedial coursework. Further, states are increasingly moving the responsibility of postsecondary remediation away from four-year campuses to two-year institutions. Scholars and policymakers have grappled with best practice for successfully filling in academic gaps and moving students forward, and there is variation both within and between states as to the ways in which remediation is defined, determined, and administered (Perin, 2006 Perin , D. ( 2006 ). Can community colleges protect both access and standards? The problem of remediation . Teachers College Record 108 ( 3 ), 339 – 373 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Using a regression discontinuity design, this study seeks to answer the following question on one community college campus: How does placement into remedial services affect student outcomes, in particular, successful completion of an introductory college-level English course? Although this study focuses on a single community college system, the findings have bearing on a wider sector as the developmental placement practices of Harper Community College District are not unlike those implemented by two- and four-year campuses across the country.