Needs assessments serve a pivotal role in identifying the diverse competency needs of adult learners, particularly in the Cooperative Extension System (CES). While previous studies have found that an evaluation competency gap exists among Extension professionals (EPs), little is known about how to prioritize and sequence evaluation competency…

Understanding and identifying the professional development needs of 4-H youth development professionals should be the first step in developing the Extension workforce. However, 4-H professionals find it challenging to use the Professional, Research, Knowledge and Competencies (PRKC), which consists of 348 unique competency items, to guide…

Universities of the Third Age (U3As) play an important role in the system of non-formal lifelong education. Through offered programmes, participants meet various personal and social needs, thereby enhancing their quality of life. This study examined the applicability of a multidimensional inventory developed by the authors to assess the needs of…

The three articles included in this dissertation are connected through theory and practice. Study one identifies the factors influencing Extension agents' participation in supplemental professional development opportunities using Ajzen's (1985) theory of planned behavior. Study two was a systematic investigation of Extension personnel's…

Systems theory spans many disciplines and several decades. The field of biology has informed systems theory, according to von Bertalanffy (1972) and Boulding (1956), as an organizing principle of living beings. Extensions of this theoretical framework have led to the application of systems theory as systems thinking in a diverse array of…

Many of today's new school librarians wonder how they can demonstrate their ability to lead in schools when they tend to have various roles and responsibilities within their schools. Beginning school librarians can establish leadership by assessing the needs of the school, attending grade-level planning meetings, mentoring new teachers, presenting…

Prevention-focused services in schools are a proactive approach to student wellness and can help students succeed in school and life. The implementation of prevention-focused services builds supportive learning environments where students can attend school, be ready to learn, and are prepared for future success. Ohio law requires school districts…

Strong school-community partnerships are essential for a world-class, 21st century education, and more and more communities across the country are creating such partnerships--from Oakland, CA, to Evansville, IN, to Hartford, CT. In this document, the Coalition for Community Schools and the National Association of School Psychologists outline nine…

Persistent disparities in exclusionary discipline procedures continue to portent negative educational outcomes for students from specific racial, income, and ability categories. Restorative practices (RP) has emerged as a promising approach to mitigate these disparities and improve school climate. This study describes the utility of…

Purupose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize the training needs of state agency staff and determine preferences for training formats, delivery methods, length of training, and best time of year to deliver training. Methods: A rigorous 3-phase data collection approach was used. A draft survey was developed in Phase…

The reauthorization of the U.S. Elementary and Secondary Education Act, referred to as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), emphasizes evidence-based interventions while giving states and districts new flexibility on the use of federal funds, including funds that could be used to support social and emotional learning (SEL). The authors review…

Social and emotional competencies are proving critical to students' success in the classroom and in life. Although the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) does not explicitly reference social and emotional learning (SEL), this legislation in fact offers opportunities to support school-based SEL interventions. How is SEL supported by ESSA? Which SEL…

Competent adult learning facilitators play a vital role in improving the quality of adult learning programmes. This article thus explores common and core competences of adult learning facilitators from the perspective of key stakeholders, such as facilitators, adult learners and administrators. By synthesising previous international studies, we…

Graduates who typically have L1 English, have majored in one foreign language (FL, L2) or more at university and have gone on to occupy FL posts in the UK civil service have reported mismatches between their pre-employment L2 learning and the tasks they face in the workplace. Such reported divergences in UK civil service capability have not,…

This article discusses the results of a school of social work survey assessing the geriatric training needs of social workers and other professionals in aging and the need for a gerontology practitioner's continuing education (CE) certificate program. A total of 391 professionals, the majority of whom were social workers, participated in an online…