Continuous professional development is critical for Extension staff, and many agriculture-focused Extension employees are tasked with outreach related to a wide variety of natural resource topics. The purpose of this study is to help prioritize trainings needed by Kansas Extension agents and specialists based on their current level of knowledge…

Recent trends in agricultural education have demonstrated that the number of middle school programs and students has been increasing. Despite this, middle school agricultural education students, teachers, and programs have been underserved. For example, middle school agricultural education teachers lack the training and resources to meet the needs…

Understanding long-term impacts is essential to knowing whether an Extension program is achieving its goals. I describe a process for long-term program evaluation, using evaluation of the Utah Master Naturalist Program (UMNP) as a successful example. Surveys revealed that the UMNP had impacts on participants up to 10 years after program…

This case study examines the policy significance of a partnership between two organizations committed to improving children's learning and well-being through the delivery of a forest and nature school (FNS) program offered in the context of a licensed childcare program in the province of Ontario, Canada. The notion of the Anthropocene is taken as…

Education is an important tool to increase the capacity of local government officials for community flood adaptation. To address flood adaptation and post-flood stream management in municipalities, Cornell Cooperative Extension and collaborators developed an educational program to increase municipal officials' knowledge about how to work…

The various ways natural resource agencies and programs are structured and how that impacts leadership style and products is an important concept for students to understand. Leadership style and organizational structure determine visions, missions, goals and objectives that set the tone for organizations. This exercise demonstrates organizational…

Land management and land administration are defined as a system of planning, management and administration methods and techniques that aims to integrate ecological with social, economic and legal principles in the management of land for urban and rural development purposes. The main objective is to meet changing and developing human needs, while…

Investigates whether partnerships enable natural resource professionals to better perform their roles as nonformal environmental educators and if partnerships benefit natural resource agencies and their employees in other ways. (Author/SAH)

Guidelines for the Preparation and Professional Development of Environmental Educators is a set of recommendations about the basic knowledge and abilities educators need to provide high-quality environmental education. The guidelines are designed to apply: (1) Within the context of pre-service teacher education programs and environmental education…

This is an elementary, interdisciplinary, environmental studies activity guidebook about solid waste and natural resources. "Super Saver Investigators" what solid waste is, where it is generated, how we manage it and could manage it better, and the consequence of mismanagement. It contains many hands-on, skill enhancing activities for…

While natural resource professionals are adept at managing resources, they often lack the skills and desire to work effectively with the public. School-based partnerships are a potential vehicle for enhancing social interaction skills. Research shows that teachers benefit from partnerships but the benefits of partnering for the resource…

The impact of school-agency partnerships on the professional development of the agency personnel working with teachers on partnership teams was examined in a qualitative study of 18 of 157 natural resources, business, and health care agency professionals identified as having participated in elementary school-based partnerships for 1-6 years in a…

Numerous requests concerning standards and practices of kindergarten procedure have been received from superintendents, supervisors, teachers, and laymen interested in education. These requests indicate a desire to know what phases of kindergarten education are being criticized or commended, and also what standards and policies are being suggested…