This qualitative evaluation of Emory's Oxford Summer Experience Program examined rural students' college aspirations. Educational and economic barriers hinder rural students' college enrollment and degree attainment (Adelman, 2002; Byun, Meece, & Irvin, 2012; Means, Clayton, Conzelmann, Baynes, & Umbach, 2016). Because of these barriers,…

Phenomenological analysis was used to explore Georgia rural school principals' lived experiences of effective school leadership preparedness. Four overarching themes were found: productive/favorable leadership preparation program culture, bridge theory and practice in educational leadership preparation program, multicultural competencies for…

Involvement with the 4-H program during youth has been empirically shown to have positive effects on participants and to influence their life perspectives and career development. The activities offered within 4-H allow individuals to build relationships with peers and mentors, develop life and leadership skills, and create a positive self-concept.…

Limited research exists that assesses the transfer of leadership learning from an undergraduate leadership program into alumni work environments. This study explored alumni valuation of an undergraduate leadership program by gaining an understanding of what leadership learning and leadership behaviors transferred into work environments. The…

While teachers continue to learn and grow as they gain experience, the foundation for their skills is provided by their initial teacher education program. And of all the parts of teacher education, none is more important than clinical practice. In general, the field of education has long recognized and championed the importance of practice. A 2010…

School gardens have been an active part of United States schools since 1890, when the first school garden was established in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Since the turn of the 20th century school gardens have greatly expanded to include inner city schools in some of the largest metropolitan areas of the country. Since the early 1990s, school gardens…

As the U.S. population becomes more diverse, Extension is called upon to modify its programming to meet the needs of its changing constituency. Georgia Extension created a professional development curriculum to assist Extension professionals in crafting effective programming for the rapidly growing Latino population. The study reported here…

The field of teacher preparation is falling short of its most important responsibility: ensuring that the teachers we train are ready to do the job. For more than a decade,TNTP preparation programs produced teachers who were no more or less effective than teachers from any other program-- some were great, some were poor, most were about average.…

SAE programs were designed as an integral component in SBAE. However, participation has continued to decline. This qualitative study examined exemplary SAE programs in rural SBAE to discover factors that were working in SAE development and implementation. Through focus groups, individual and informal interviews, and observations, two themes that…

The authors designed the project described her in order to address their students' expressed frustrations at the perceived disconnect between theory and practice. The project combined course readings, journaling, collaboratively created observation protocols, and classroom observation into a semester-long iterative assignment. The students' work…

For the past 50 years, organizations and individuals around the world have reported success in their use of action learning programs to solve problems, develop leaders, build teams and transform their corporate cultures. However, very little rigorous research has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of action learning. The authors…

In the state of Georgia, local school systems are under pressure to increase at-risk middle school students' state scores in reading and math. At the data site, the local school system implemented a supplemental education service (SES) program for at-risk students in order to pass the Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) in reading…

The University of Georgia's Interdisciplinary Certificate in Leadership and Service is an undergraduate academic program designed to enhance college students' preparation for leadership in their communities and organizations through service-learning. This form of engagement with the community prepares students to face the technical and social…

The purpose of this study was to analyze and induce change to lessen the achievement gap in heterogeneously grouped high school Latin classes where some students may be at academic risk, due to insufficient knowledge, inability to connect with the subject, and poor performances. The researcher engaged in action research, a branch of qualitative…