Marianne Robin Russo

Building a school leadership programme: an American paradox of autonomy and accountability

School districts within the USA face ever-decreasing autonomy in rendering decisions regarding instruction, curriculum and the leading and managing of schools at the local level due to the ever-increasing accountability measures implemented by district, state and federal governments. This study investigates a joint university–school district partnership designed to develop turnaround administrators by exploring the tensions between autonomy and accountability. The findings indicate that mandates force educators to find new spaces that are contextually appropriate and effective in exercising their autonomy and accountability within a conceptual model for partnerships between schools, districts, universities and the governing bodies that regulate them.

A Case Study of Using Peer Feedback in Face-to-Face and Distance Learning Classes among Pre-Service Teachers.

Abstract This study investigated a feedback exchange activity for engaging pre-service teachers and the nature of such feedback in two undergraduate classes, a distance learning (DL) and a face-to-face (F2F) class. The research question asked if the nature of peer feedback was different between F2F and DL class formats. Students’ work samples were collected during class time to examine feedback function ratings. Participants also completed an online questionnaire to examine the nature of expectations of the feedback given. For both the nature of expectations and feedback function ratings, results for chi-square analyses demonstrated no statistically significant difference between the two modes of instruction (F2F versus DL), and the peer feedback categories. However, provision of feedback was significantly favoured in the F2F class over the DL class. Implications for course curriculum and future research are discussed.

Emergency Preparedness: Life, Limb, the Pursuit of Safety and Social Justice

Since 9-11, emergency preparedness has been the focus on federal, state, tribal, and local levels. Although current research describes emergency management response, many barriers may exist that effect response systems, including the role of first responders, social vulnerability, and the way technology interfaces with these variables. Several factors determine the success of emergency preparedness and its ultimate impact on the health and safety of the community, including social media response, Community Response Grid (CRG) and social networks for older adults, emergency Internet and Community Technology (ICT) training within tribal communities and graduate schools, and programs and innovative emergency management policies for ethnically and racially diverse populations. Negotiating these issues, the character and incidence of emergency technology benefits the adult experiencing an emergency by: a) obscuring the constructs of social and class hegemony; b) mitigating future emergency problems when new procedures and policies that depend on ICT are rendered; c) examining barriers that could hinder lifesaving emergency procedures; and d) creating a community identification and a community collaborative bond so disadvantaged communities are responded to in an expedient manner.

Electronic Education and Lifelong Learning

Due to de-institutionalization and open system, it is inappropriate to equate education with youth education. In the new century, education has been delivered electronically to accommodate lifelong learning. It has become a reality that the four walled classrooms have been used to complement and supplement E-learning. No need to argue that electronic education has become the norm for most universities and organizations including governmental agencies. For any providers of education to remain highly competitive, they must engage in electronic education by “breaking down†the four walls of the traditional classroom. Lifelong learning has become the impetus resulting in the extensive and intensive application of electronic education.