The Micro-Credential Program is a digital badging system composed of competency-based pathways that move forward early childhood professionals to achieving mastery in employability skills. These skills are crucial for early childhood professionals to have to provide high-quality, nurturing learning environments to children in their care as well as…

This report examines the competency-based education (CBE) efforts of the 21 Jumpstart participants and their varied journeys in developing CBE programs: the unique decisions they have made around their developing programs; the challenges that have delayed some programs or prevented others from moving to implementation; and lessons from these…

This chapter explores the practices of learning communities designed for specific, underserved student populations, highlighting on-campus examples and culminating with a synthesized list of core practices from these "inclusive" learning communities.

College Promise programs are thriving in California, and with the continued growth comes a need to understand the features of these diverse efforts and the perspectives of the communities in which they exist. In 2018, the James Irvine Foundation supported California College Promise Project (CCPP) at WestEd to study the College Promise landscape in…

This chapter discusses assessment and evaluation of multicultural initiatives by exploring two efforts implemented at a small, liberal arts college.

So what if we just turned every course in our Superintendent's Program into a form of practicum? This question was asked by two former superintendents in response to nationwide calls to reform school leadership training and who found themselves leading a university executive leadership program. It triggered a comprehensive redesign of their…

This paper explores how blended learning can enhance learning at the boundary between academia and industry, and make possible the design of a new kind of internship. Boundary theory proposes that socio-cultural discontinuities between different environments create opportunities for learning. Blended learning pedagogy makes it possible to make the…

At the request of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) conducted a review of Oklahoma's Promise program between August 2017 and February 2018. This report summarizes findings and observations from the review and provides recommendations. The review is organized around five areas of interest…

In 2013 the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities released Ontario's Differentiation Policy Framework for Postsecondary Education, for colleges and universities in the province. All 24 Ontario colleges responded to this Framework by presenting their Strategic Mandate Agreements (SMA). The Framework contrasts the original…

This chapter describes the impact of an alternative spring break program on students at the Savannah College of Art and Design over a set of years as well as its effectiveness as a service-learning tool.

Prompted by the passage of Alabama House Bill 56, I organized the museum studies course I taught for Auburn University at Montgomery in the 2013 spring semester around an exhibition on immigration. The course offered the opportunity to engage students, faculty, and the community in discussion of an important, timely, and controversial topic.…

This chapter will examine characteristics of first-year experience programs in community colleges, with specific attention to the extant research about their effectiveness, the ways in which research and program delivery can be integrated, and the unique challenges of delivering FYE programs and conducting research about them in community colleges.

This article provides a systematic review of the emerging practice doctorate in social work. Based on the experience of the first such Doctor of Social Work (DSW) program, we provide information regarding the program origins and rationale, development, current structure, and future direction. Such information will enrich the discussion on the role…

Engagement in co-curricular activities is a means of educating the whole student, providing an opportunity for the integration of academic, professional, and personal development. Residential programs offer students campus-based, co-curricular experiences that foster the development of student knowledge and personal development outside of the…

The objective of this article is to describe the successes and challenges of a unique knowledge mobilization initiative that was funded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. This initiative focused on promoting knowledge mobilization by increasing the capacity of child welfare organizations in Ontario to conduct…