The purpose of this study was to determine how school principals in the Cumberland region of Tennessee use online courses as a part of a curriculum program to help make students ready for postsecondary pursuits. The problem investigated was whether the use of online courses is meeting the college and career readiness standards in this region. The…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of function-based interventions on the challenging behavior of three young boys with autism in rural Tennessee. Tennessee preschool teachers serve primarily rural communities, marked by high poverty rates and lack of access to ongoing teacher training and consultation. Positive Behavior…

Compiled to promote the development of high quality, affordable, and accessible day care programs in West Tennessee, this manual helps prospective child caregivers decide which kind of day care to operate and describes start-up steps and program operation. Section 1 focuses on five basic questions of potential caregivers: (1) Which type of child…

The delivery model of the Birth-through-Three program incorporates interlocking community-based centers with a regional agency (Little Tennessee Valley Educational Cooperative) under the administrative guidance of an advisory council. The program goal is to provide highly qualified professional services to the targeted children/families within…

In the 1990s, the nation's educational focus turned to troubled schools in the nation's poorest cities. Under the leadership of Luther Williams, then Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Urban Systemic Initiative was created to improve the teaching and learning of science and mathematics. Recognizing that high-needs…

A program to establish and maintain a network of high-quality home care providers to serve Middle Tennessee was designed and implemented. The program consisted of onsite training for home care providers and a support system to promote their professional development. The onsite training was delivered through 2-hour visits during which trainers and…

The mission of the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) was to build a long-term capacity that would improve the educational structures of the rural communities it served. The major strategy ARSI used to create improvement communities across Appalachia was to identify, embrace and educate individual teachers, who became ARSI Teacher…

This is the story of Barbara Shoemaker and her work as an Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) Teacher Partner in Oneida, Tennessee. It is the story of what she values and the experiences that shaped her approach to education. In particular it is about what she learned from her experience with the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative, and…