Purpose: This paper aims to review the current joint master's program between two international institutions in the USA and Costa Rica; to identify students' perceptions and experiences with the sustainability house (SH); and to apply these experiences in an effort to improve the practical learning environment for future students.…

This paper explores Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for Schools, a local variant of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD's) influential PISA that not only assesses an individual school's performance in reading, mathematics and science against international schooling systems, but also promotes 17…

This article describes one school of social work's innovative online elective course to prepare Masters of Social Work (MSW) students for practice with the military, veterans and their families. Developed as part of a university-wide Veterans Initiative, this online course keeps the focus on the student veteran and uses the best practices of…

For the past decade, MDRC has evaluated a number of interventions designed to improve the outcomes of community college students, including enhanced counseling, learning communities, and financial incentives. Encouragingly, many of these strategies have produced positive effects, affirming that changes in institutional practices and policies can…

Over the past 15 years, knowledge of the afterschool field has grown substantially. A large body of evidence exists that confirms quality afterschool programs help children become more engaged in school, reduce their likelihood of taking part in at-risk behaviors or acting out in school, and help raise their academic performance. A greater…

This study examined the extent to which transition components of students’ Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) were compliant with IDEIA 2004; the extent to which transition components provided evidence of best practices; the association among disability, ethnicity, compliance, and practices; and the relationship between compliance and best…

In central Texas and regions across the country, community leaders are calling for university-community engagement, including development of structures for community-based research and service learning. Including the community in decision making regarding continuing professional education serves as a link between universities such as Texas A&M…

Less than 25 percent of college students who take any developmental education courses earn a credential within eight years. Over the past three years, the six states in the Developmental Education Initiative have developed and enacted unprecedented changes in policy and practice in an effort to reverse these dismal outcomes. "Ahead of the…

The purpose of this research was to investigate collaboration between agricultural science teachers and Extension agents in Texas from the perspective of successful collaboration. Programs, leaders, and participants in both agricultural education and Extension can be impacted positively through collaboration. However, successful collaboration…

Pacesetting high schools, middle grades schools and technology centers have changed classroom and other practices to prepare students to meet postsecondary requirements and rising workplace needs. The strategies include raising expectations, project-based learning, guidance and advisement, improving students' reading and writing skills,…

The core work of the National Center on Scaling Up Effective Schools consists of four stages: identifying practices of highly effective high schools, designing interventions and transfer of practices, evaluating the intervention's implementation and effects, and evaluating implementation at scale. The purpose of this report is to describe the…

The Afterschool Alliance and MetLife Foundation are proud to celebrate a fifth round of the MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Awards. For the past five years, we have collaborated to highlight the work of quality afterschool programs that support children, families and communities across the nation. This compendium is a compilation of four…

This article describes efforts of the Greater Houston P-16+ Council (GHPC) to find effective ways to promote student participation and success across the P-16 continuum, from pre-kindergarten through postsecondary education and work related training.

"Building Institutional Capacity for Data-Informed Decision Making" is the third installment of the Cutting Edge series, which aims to help colleges engage faculty, scale successful interventions, and create a strong culture of evidence through use of data to strengthen their institutional change and student success efforts. Though the…

For young people who have dropped out of school, are out of work, or lack connections to family or other caring adults, there are often no easy answers. Their hopes for a better life are frequently no different than those harbored by their more advantaged peers, but their path to adulthood is rendered more difficult by tangled combinations of…