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Student affairs and services has a long history in higher education and associations followed suit to assist in the efforts of professionalization. This region differs in that in the US and Canada there are many specialized associations for certain functions in SAS but this report examines the works of four of the most established associations in three countries.

The participants in this study were teachers and students of a large school district located on the east coast of Canada. We distributed surveys to 1,514 teachers across 84 schools and received 1,423 usable surveys for a return rate of 94%. At the time of the second data collection, three years later, 1574 teachers from 78 schools agreed to participate. Teachers' perceptions of their schools as professional learning communities were assessed using 32 items in a 5-point Likert format. The responses to the 2006 survey were factor analyzed using ML estimation. A number of different factor structures were tested, including a single factor model and a second-order factor analysis. In spite of a heavy emphasis by school board leaders and the collaborative development, introduction, and implementation of PLC practices before and during the study period, no significant measurable effect on student learning was identified.

Student affairs and services divisions and the partnerships and collaborations in which they engage with faculty, students, and the community form the structural centre of institutions' approaches to student support. Although past research has identified areas typically associated with the student affairs and services portfolio and factors that influence the organizational structure, little is known about how staff perceive their institutions' organizational structures relative to supporting student success. The purpose of this study was to understand student affairs and services staff members' perceptions of the role organizational structure plays in their day-to-day work supporting student success in colleges and universities in Ontario. Although staff commented on their institutions' formal organizational structures (referring to titles, reporting lines, and breadth of portfolio), their comments focused more specifically on how they saw the nature of their work and changes they have experienced in supporting student success as student bodies become more diverse.

Real classroom events are inherently complex and open to multiple interpretations. Narrative is therefore a vital, but underused, tool in helping future teachers understand this complexity and begin to consider the many issues involved in any one instance of teaching and learning. The author discusses how to choose rich, balanced narratives and how such narratives may be used in teaching educational psychology, concluding with examples of how his own students develop and use more traditional expository knowledge through the analysis and re-visioning of stories from Tracy Kidder's "Among Schoolchildren".

In this article, we report on student teachers' perceptions of their cohort experiences. Using the lens of social capital theory, we analyzed their responses to an open-ended question on a survey and faculty members' responses in focus groups. The structural properties of cohorts--closure, stability, interdependence, and shared ideology--facilitated the development of social capital. Closure and stability promoted social and emotional support while interdependence and shared ideology prompted both positive and negative effects. The cohort model better served some students than others. We found that students were more likely to develop social capital by bonding with their cohort peers than by bridging with those outside their cohorts.

Utilizing an ecological model as a framework, we analyze the role of peers as connectors between an array of microsystems within a student's post-secondary experience. We examine data from 128 student focus group participants from four colleges and eight universities in Ontario, Canada and conclude that peer interactions, both formal and informal, are critical in supporting student success. Respondents articulated that their peers connected them with resources and opportunities on campus, served as coaches and confidantes, co-constructed the environment to meet student needs and served as role models who they wished to copy or emulate.

In its earliest form, Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) focused on recruiting students, but soon included a focus on student success, defined in terms of retention and graduation. Several researchers have noted that developing effective student services, as well as establishing strong lines of communications across departments, are key components of SEM (Bontrager, 2004; Smith & Gottheil, 2009). Gottheil (2015) argues that, based on her experiences, what has been the most critical factor to successfully incorporating SEM into campuses has been "using SEM as a tool to enhance communication, collaboration, and partnerships" (para. 3). Henderson (2014) argued that all aspects of a university ought to support students' academic success and that all-encompassing division-level collaborative approaches to SEM promote institutional ability to support student success from the prospective student stage through to becoming alumni. However, past research (see Seifert, Arnold, Burrow, & Brown, 2011; Seifert & Burrow, 2013 ) found that focus group participants from across Enrollment Management and student affairs and services differ in how they perceive their unit's contributions to student success and the institution's retention efforts. Given the enormous variation in the day-to-day work of these staff members, this seemed highly plausible. This is despite the importance of a whole-campus approach to SEM (AASCU, 2005, cited in Lingrell, 2014; Gottheil, 2015; Henderson, 2014), in which the campus culture promotes staff members' consistent understanding of and commitment to realizing SEM priorities irrespective of employment area. In this current study, the authors explore how staff members' perceptions of their immediate work unit's retention efforts vary by area of employment.

This study examined student affairs and services staff members' perceptions of their work relative to items developed from the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services' (CACUSS's) mission statement (CACUSS, 1989). Using data collected from student affairs and services staff members at English-speaking postsecondary institutions from across Canada, I investigated if differences existed based on professional association affiliation, respondent's employment status, and number of years worked in the field. A number of statistically significant differences based on respondent characteristics were found. These findings suggest CACUSS is modestly successful in educating the field toward the premises for practice espoused in the association's mission statement.

Assessing student learning in ways that offer students, institutions and systems with sound information is a considerable challenge for higher education. Despite demonstrable progress, a disconnect remains between methods used for assessing learning, improvement and accountability. This muddled situation is illustrated through a review of contemporary practice in the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK and New Zealand. To advance research and practice, this paper contributes a structured set of criteria that practitioners can use to evaluate whether an assessment functions effectively across different levels of practice. These technical and practical criteria touch on issues such as sampling, the viability of aggregation, reporting and cost-benefit considerations. The paper tests these criteria by considering their capacity to drive multi-level improvement in education quality. It is contended that the criteria provide perspective and structure for reconciling the quantitative assessment of higher education quality at different levels of practice. (Contains 1 table.)

The rapid growth of information technologies has influenced the way in which education is delivered and experienced. Little is currently known about the impact of distance education experience at the secondary level of the educational system on subsequent educational pursuits in the post-secondary education system. This research utilized archival data to explore the impact of high school on-line education experience on students' performance and persistence in the first year of university. The results of this analysis suggest that first year university performance and persistence is significantly different for students who have previous experience with on-line education experiences and those who do not. (Contains 4 figures and 1 note.)

Previous research has indicated that pubertal development and the transition from middle or elementary school to junior high may present problems for some preadolescents. The effects of these transitions on achievement, psychological well-being, and social relations were examined using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. Children were tracked during a 2-year period and the changes in outcome scores were assessed. Results indicate that psychological well-being was closely related to social relations, and socioeconomic status was predictive of achievement and social relations. However, pubertal development and school transition had a minimal impact on outcome. (Contains 3 tables, 2 figures and 3 notes.)

A study examining causes of work avoidance interviewed 20 work-avoidant students in grades 6 and 7 from 3 schools in Newfoundland (Canada). Students withdrew effort because they were bored, as an expression of hostility toward the teacher, or because of feelings of helplessness. Implications for teacher practice and school policies are discussed. (Contains 54 references.) (TD)

CJEAP has come a long way since it began in 1995: readership now numbers close to 10,000 per month, submissions are numerous, and reviewers' standards have become more selective. But issues remain about where CJEAP should move in the future. In this article, the editors consider these past trends and lingering questions about the future.