Research indicates that the fear of public speaking is an extraordinarily common phobia and that a significant portion of the population experiences some form of anxiety over public speaking. Although there is a great deal of research available on the etiology of public speaking anxiety, there is far less research available on interventional…

Policymakers are recognizing that Pennsylvania has fallen behind in providing equitable access to high quality early childhood education. Governor Tom Wolf ran on a campaign promise of universal pre-k access and proposed an unprecedented budget increase for early childhood programs in 2016. In Philadelphia, Mayor Jim Kenney has made pre-k a…

The purpose of this study was to understand the decisions elementary principals have made during the Common Core State Standards reform. Specifically, (a) what decisions principals have made to support Common Core implementation, (b) what strategies elementary principals have employed to communicate with stakeholders about Common Core State…

The National Summer Learning Project, launched by the Wallace Foundation in 2011, includes an assessment of the effectiveness of voluntary, district-led summer learning programs offered at no cost to low-income, urban elementary students. The study, conducted by RAND, uses a randomized controlled trial and other analytic methods to assess the…

The National Summer Learning Project, launched by the Wallace Foundation in 2011, includes an assessment of the effectiveness of voluntary, district-led summer learning programs offered at no cost to low-income, urban elementary students. The study, conducted by RAND, uses a randomized controlled trial and other analytic methods to assess the…

The incidence of overweight and obesity among children and young adolescents remains unacceptably high and places our youth at risk for several negative outcomes. Recognizing the need for a youth-focused weight management program in our community, the researcher developed, implemented, and evaluated a small pilot study, FitKids. The aims of…

This study is an outcomes assessment of an experiential learning program for undergraduate students interested in life and health sciences careers enrolled at a public urban research institution. The year-long research and professional experience internships were projected to improve learning outcomes in undergraduates. The study included an…

The article describes an innovative project for year 9 (age 13-14) students that has run since 2002 with the help of professional engineers and scientists and incorporates careers information and hands-on practical work. The programme was developed to highlight alternative energy as a subject and also to provide a hands-on practical day for the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain the rationale and potential for the WHO health promoting schools (HPS) to improve children's oral health, and describe validated quantitative methodologies and qualitative approaches to measure program impact. Design/Methodology/Approach: Critical discussion of the impact of poor oral health and…

This paper describes a highly successful peer tutoring program that has resulted in an improvement in the passing rates of mathematics placement exams from 16% to 42%, on average. Statistical analyses were conducted using a Chi-Squared (?[superscript 2]) test for independence and the results were statistically significant (p-value much less than…

Researchers examined the impacts of the Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship program on academic and behavioral outcomes of students in grades 9-12 in Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS). The Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship program offers college scholarships to graduating high school students in the KPS district. The percentage of tuition and fees covered is…

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the final issue brief in their latest series of four issue briefs examining critical issues facing middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief explores afterschool and data utilization to improve…

The purpose of this study was to describe how states in the REL Central Region (Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming) evaluate teacher preparation programs and planned changes for evaluation. Publicly available documents were reviewed and interviews were conducted with state education agency representatives…

In 2010, the National Center for Learning and Civic Engagement (NCLCE) established the Schools of Success, a national network of 19 schools that use service-learning as an instructional strategy. The schools were part of a three-year project to examine how the elements of service-learning might enhance key student outcomes, such as academic…

As school districts and communities struggle to increase civic engagement for their students, a medium-sized suburban school district implemented required community service hours as part of their high school graduation requirements. The purpose of this qualitative program evaluation was to investigate how the community service program was meeting…