Higher education students, formally adults, are nevertheless subject to adultism. The co-authors of this article--the director of the Students as Teachers and Learners (SaLT) program and three undergraduates who have worked in pedagogical partnership with faculty through SaLT--discuss how this program counters adultism on three levels:…

In four years of high school education some students do not achieve the appropriate number of credits to receive a diploma. To support over-age, under-credited students, each high school has to intervene. Schools need to find ways to help students receive the credits needed, allow students to go beyond four years to graduate, or drop out of high…

Deemed the "broad safety net approach," reformation of statutory law Pennsylvania Act 126 of 2012, increased the education and training requirements for mandated reporters with the intentions to increase the number of children identified as abused and neglected. The purpose of this quantitative correlation study is to examine data from…

This study examines state- and county-level data on population, age, race and ethnicity, housing occupancy and housing tenure, education, labor force, employment and unemployment, income and poverty, health insurance coverage, disability status, migration patterns, and veteran status from the 2011-2015 American Community Survey (ACS) for the 13…

This chartbook is the 14th version to be produced for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB). The Chartbook describes the diversity of the Appalachian Region on a host of demographic and economic measures and provides an important annual view of the area and its people. The data contained in the…

This study examines state- and county-level data on population, age, race and ethnicity, housing occupancy and housing tenure, education, labor force, employment and unemployment, income and poverty, health insurance coverage, disability status, migration patterns, and veteran status from the 2010-2014 American Community Survey (ACS) for the 13…

Approximately 10% of learners complete Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs); the absence of peer and professor support contributes to retention issues. MOOC leaders often form groups to supplement in-course forums and Q&A sessions, and students participating in groups find them valuable. Instructors want to assist in the formation of groups,…

The study examined the placement of faculty on the Continuum of Multicultural Sensitivity at two rural higher education institutions located in the Appalachian region, which includes the states of Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia. This placement determined whether there were any significant differences…

This study examined associations of generalized and social anxiety with (1) age at first use of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana and (2) interval from first use to first problem use of each substance. Participants were 503 males who comprised the youngest cohort (first assessed in the first grade) of the Pittsburgh Youth Study, a longitudinal…

This report analyzes college completion metrics for the Appalachian Region, compares outcomes of students attending campuses in the Region with those of students attending campuses outside the Region, and offers insight about major stumbling blocks to college progression and completion for students in Appalachia.

Technology offers many opportunities for educators to support teaching, learning and assessment. This paper introduces a project to design and implement a virtual environment (SAVE Science) intended to assess (not teach) middle school students' knowledge and use of scientific inquiry through two modules developed around curriculum taught in middle…

Given the shifting population trends across the U.S. and Pennsylvania, it is important for policy makers and school districts to know what to expect, in terms of school district enrollment and facility needs, in the coming years. This research was conducted to provide a perspective on the potential building needs of school districts over the next…

The 2006-07 total for home education students in Pennsylvania was 22,136. The total was comprised of 11,422 males and 10,714 females. There was a decrease of 276 students, or 1.2%, from the 2005-06 total of 22,412. It was the fourth year in a row that home education enrollments decreased and only the fifth year overall since the passage of Act 169…

A number of universities offer fully web-based language courses. Many others are considering this option. Yet it remains unclear whether web-based courses can be as comprehensively effective as classroom-based courses. And, if so, what might an effective web-based language course look like? This dissertation considers the German Online at PSU…

One hundred-seventy elementary school children in Western Pennsylvania were involved in a pilot study to examine young children's views on aging and the elderly. Approximately half of these children were involved in the Senior Citizen School Volunteer Program which provided consistent classroom contact with a senior citizen resource person. The…