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The current study aims to use bioecological theory to examine the effects of different contextual factors such as husbands’ desire for children, visit by a family planning worker, media messages, and province level on women’s use of contraception in Pakistan. Two cross-sectional data sets were taken from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys (PDHS), conducted in 2006–07 and 2012–13, which included 3,811 and 4,871 currently married, lower socioeconomic status (SES) women aged 15–49 years, respectively. Using logistic regression, the results showed that women’s perception of a husband’s desire for children and visit by family planning workers were significant predictors of women’s use of contraception in both periods (i.e. PDHS 2006–07 and PDHS, 2012–13). Specifically, those women who had a desire for children similar to their husband were more likely to use contraception than those who either were not sure about their husband’s desire for children or whose desire for children was less or more than their husband. Moreover, those women who had at least one visit from a family planning worker during the 12 months prior to the survey were more likely to use contraception than their counterparts.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate power and its influence on the teaching assignment process and school-based decision making.

Qualitative interpretive design and thematic analysis were used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers and administrators.

Both teachers and administrators discussed power and social capital as components of the teaching assignment process. Teachers viewed the origins of their social capital differently than administrators and felt social capital was evident in school-based decision making and the teaching assignment process.

Participants were demographically rather homogeneous. Further studies with a diverse sample could examine race and gender as factors in the teaching assignment process.

This study demonstrates a need for administrators to examine how they consider social capital when distributing teaching assignments and involving teachers in school-based decision making. Administrators’ actions may result in teacher tracking, disadvantaging marginalized and at-risk student populations.

There is a clear disconnect between administrator and teacher understanding of the purpose and practice of teaching assignment distribution. Administrators were unaware of their own power, how they wielded it, and the effect it had on teachers.

Few studies have examined teacher–administrator power relations or the teaching assignment process at the secondary level. This study connects the teaching assignment process to social capital and power.

Purpose – The purpose of this work is to explore ways in which parents of children with disabilities actively seek to create a place for themselves and their children within supportive communities of others – despite structural and attitudinal barriers.

Methodology – Semi-structured, interactive interviews were conducted with six mothers and six fathers of older teens and young adults with severe impairments. Interview transcripts were analyzed for themes related to barriers to social participation and strategies used to create and sustain communities of supportive others.

Findings – Results suggest that, while there are indeed many barriers to social participation, these mothers and fathers have successfully utilized a variety of strategies in order to create a sense of community for themselves and their children including: garnering support from family; creating enclaves of “wise” individuals; and active social networking. Findings also suggest that children with disabilities can provide opportunities for parental community involvement in unexpected ways.

Limitations, implications and value – The sample is small and selective and the study used retrospective interviews to examine parental memories. Despite these limitations, the narratives of these parents provide a provocative look at the potential role of personal agency in the community experiences of parents of children with disabilities. The stories told by these parents clearly suggest that it takes concerted effort to construct a village in the face of significant barriers to social participation. Once created, however, that village of supportive others can provide life enhancing support for children with disabilities and their families.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the long-term impact of participating in school-based lesson study on mathematics teachers' professional community.

A study was conducted with six mathematics teachers, from two post-primary schools in the Republic of Ireland, following up on their participation in school-based lesson study over the academic year 2012/13 (see Ni Shuilleabhain, 2016). Qualitative data were generated through one-to-one, semi-structured interviews with the participating teachers and analysed using an empirical framework for teacher community formation (Grossman et al., 2001).

Analysis of the interview responses suggests that the mathematics teachers in both schools, Doone and Crannog, had developed a mature professional community during their participation in lesson study in 2012/13. Furthermore, the research finds that, in the absence of any other professional development intervention, both teacher communities have been sustained at this level six years later. These findings suggest that a lesson study may serve as a potential structure to foster the development of sustainable professional communities within subject-based teacher groups.

While a lesson study has been shown to support the development of teacher professional communities, previous research has not addressed the sustainability of the communities which emerge. This study, therefore, adds to the existing literature by investigating teachers' perceptions of the long-term impact of lesson study participation on their professional community.

This study aims to examine whether peer victimization predicted disordered eating behaviors during emerging adulthood, and if this relationship was mediated by perceived stress.

Participants included undergraduate females from a diverse university in the Southwestern USA who reported on their experiences of peer victimization, perceived stress and eating behaviors.

Mediation analysis revealed that perceived stress partially mediated the association between peer victimization and perceived stress. Peer victimization significantly predicted eating behaviors even after controlling for perceived stress. An exploratory analysis of the EAT-26 subscales was also conducted.

The present study adds to the literature on peer victimization, eating behaviors and stress by allowing researchers to understand the complexity of these relationships within an emerging adulthood population. The present results can assist individuals working with this population in interventions to prevent instances of victimization, reduce stress and provide psychoeducation for eating disorders.

The present study adds to the literature on peer victimization, eating behaviors and stress by allowing researchers to understand the complexity of these relationships within a college population.

It has been well documented that the successful use of technology in K-12 education improves student achievement. However, both K-12 schools and higher education institutions have not been able to systematically provide preservice and inservice teachers with adequate training and support. This chapter will examine the K-12 school–university partnership literature, and identify critical support elements that are necessary for successful change related to technology both in higher education and the K-12 classrooms. Additionally, we will introduce two characteristics from the NCATE Partnership Standards and how schools and universities can use them to guide relationships and how they approach the school technology reform process.