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Welcome to
Quaglia Institute for
Student Aspirations
QISA is an independent, nonprofit organization
dedicated to promoting and putting into
practice the conditions that foster student
aspirations in schools and learning
communities around the world.
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Aspirations Research Center
The Aspirations Research Center is a division of QISA focused on collection, analysis and dissemination of data about the 8 Conditions and related content. Data gathered on student and teacher perspectives for each Condition allow educators and researchers to look closely at the 8 Conditions framework at the school, district, state and national level. |
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Newsletter
"Aspirations in Action"
Highlights for September...
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Research Round Up: Research supporting the benefit of fostering Belonging in schools. |
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An article written by a student at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Somerville, Massachusetts. |
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Read More |
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View Archived Issues |
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Subscribe |
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Aspirations Academy
Aspirations Academy is an online community of educators who promote student aspirations through fostering of the 8 Conditions. Members share best practices, and participate in online discussions about student aspirations. |
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Question of the Week
Does your school offer staff training for bullying prevention?
Do you believe the oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in April will continue to be a "teachable moment" this fall?
Seventy-two percent of students say they put forth their best effort in school. If you are getting an A does it matter that you are not giving your best effort?
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Latest News
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The Pearson Foundation has introduced the Million Voice Project, a public interest initiative that is gathering and analyzing the perceptions of one million students in grades 6-12. This student voice project will be the largest single initiative to document and analyze student engagement and to highlight the related variations in academic performance in schools. For more information and to register your school/district, visit millionvoice.org.
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An article titled "Got Opportunity?" has been accepted as the lead article for Educational Leadership's November online issue. This article focuses on closing the achievement gap by addressing three underlying gaps - the expectation gap, the relationship gap, and the participation gap - and provides useful strategies for addressing these gaps in order to improve student achievement. |
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A technical report of the scale development process regarding the use of the My Voice Survey to operationalize the three Guiding Principles, titled The Development of Scales to Measure QISA's Three Guiding Principles of Student Aspirations Using the My Voice Survey, can be found on the ARC section of our site. The My Voice Survey was adapted from the Student Aspirations Survey (Plucker & Quaglia, 1998) and was originally constructed to address both intraindividual and environmental factors that support student aspirations. The three Guiding Principles focus on the intraindividual dimensions of student aspirations; as such, the primary goal of this exploration is to determine whether selected items of the My Voice Survey reliably and validly operationalize each of the Guiding Principles: Self-Worth, Active Engagement, and Purpose. |
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Take 20 minutes to improve teacher education! Jeanne Nakamura, PhD, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, PhD, both professors at Claremont Graduate University and co-directors of Claremont's Quality of Life Research Center, are leading a national study seeking to understand the positive role experienced teachers play in new teachers' early-career development. The study, funded by the Spencer Foundation, should clarify the value of good mentoring in teacher education and can be made available to you. If you are a teacher in the United States and you are 3 to 5 years into your teaching career in a public school, visit www.surveymonkey.com to take the survey. The survey is taken online and takes 20 minutes to complete. If you are an educator who can help us reach early career teachers, visit www.surveymonkey.com to read more. |
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The Aspirations Research Center's (ARC) Advisory Team held its first Aspirations Research Summit. Proceedings are available on the ARC portion of this site. The Aspirations Research Advisory Team members include:
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Leading scholar on motivation and creativity, Claremont University;
Jonathan Cohen - Leading scholar on school climate, Center for Social and Emotional Education;
Anna Craft - Leading scholar on creativity and school improvement, University of Exeter and Open University in the United Kingdom;
Matthew Bundick - Leading scholar on student purpose and meaningful engagement, Pennsylvania State University;
Joseph O'Keefe - Leading scholar on Christian studies, Dean of Education at Boston College. |
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We are excited to announce that beginning January 1st, Matthew J. Bundick, PhD will be joining QISA on a full time basis as the Director of Research. Matt originally joined QISA as a Senior Research Associate for the Aspirations Research Center (ARC). Matthew is a MacArthur Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at The Pennsylvania State University. Matthew's prior work includes his role as Research Assistant at the Stanford Center on Adolescence at Stanford University, as well as Academic Advisor and Director of the Psychology Department Advising Office at the University of Pittsburgh. Matthew brings his expertise in student engagement and a wealth of knowledge in statistical analysis to his work at ARC. |
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Aspirations Unlimited and the Successful Practices Network have developed the iKnow My Class Survey. This new online instrument is designed to assess and address the conditions that inspire students to reach their fullest potential. It provides valuable information and formative assessment to individual classroom teachers, allowing them to make necessary mid-course adjustments. For more information and to register your school, please visit www.iKnowMyClass.com (United States) or www.iKnowMyClass.co.uk (United Kingdom). |
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QISA is pleased to welcome two new Demonstration Sites for the 2010-2011 academic year. We are excited about our three-year partnership with two California schools, Woodside High School in Woodside and Redwood High School in Redwood City, and our collaborative effort to foster student aspirations. |
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QISA president and founder Dr. Russell Quaglia will be serving as a visiting scholar at both Stanford University and the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. |
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