Leadership development, service learning, place-based education, and economic revitalization are topics relevant to Extension. We performed an evaluation to determine whether a place-based leadership program in Clermont County, Ohio, helps students develop leadership skills and encourages their return to the community. Program evaluation data…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of personalized professional learning in teachers' comfort level and their self-efficacy toward information and communications technology (ICT). Four hundred and eighteen teachers completed the program of study in its entirety and 247 (59%) of them completed both pre- and post-program…

The Intergenerational Leadership Institute (ILI) is a yearlong certificate training program developed by Pennsylvania State University for older adults (55-plus) seeking new lifelong learning and civic engagement experiences and opportunities to contribute to innovation and change in their communities. Data from participant surveys and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the design, implementation, and initial outcomes of a collaborative professional development program intended to prepare middle and high school educators to implement effectively the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in classrooms with diverse learners. The professional development program discussed…

A majority of the research on the impact of learning communities has focused on the positive outcomes for students in their first year of study (Andrade, 2007; Goldman, 2012; Laverick, 2018; Wathington, Pretlow, & Mitchell, 2010). Less is known about the impact of learning community involvement as students complete their enrollment and persist…

Inspired by my research into the government-sponsored Curriculum Review Committee of the mid-1980s, this article considers the possibilities of the Treaty of Waitangi as a "warm idea" for educators. Composed mainly of teachers, the committee was responsible for writing the Treaty into a national curriculum principle for the first time.…

In education reform movements, there is an emphasis on health and population education teaching through activity-based instruction. Teacher education is an important part in this process. In this context, this study aims to investigate the effect of activity-based professional development training on high school health and population education…

The purpose of this mixed-methods case study was to examine the effectiveness of a blended learning community of practice model in providing professional development to improve K-12 teacher's self-efficacy in the implementation of personalized learning. Eighteen teachers participated in a nine-month professional development program focused on…

A national need exists to effectively engage women and people categorized as minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and career paths. Given the minimal existence of standards and accreditation boards for engineering design and holistic engineering practice in K-12 contexts, we must better understand how said…

For the advancement of current and future economic and overall well-being to occur, STEM professionals are highly needed. STEM education is an approach that integrates science, technology, engineering and mathematics curricula into one interdisciplinary curriculum. In the context of STEM education, learners acquire deep and critical thinking…

The purpose of this article is to describe, examine, and make a case for the value of a Continuing Professional Development week-long summer institute offered to teachers from across the education continuum -- from early childhood, through primary, secondary, further and higher education. At the institute participants could meet, learn and share…

Effective interventions are needed to bolster students' argumentation capacities, an area in which they consistently struggle. Quality Talk (QT) is an approach to small-group classroom discussion shown to support students' oral argumentation with preliminary evidence that it may also bolster students' written argumentation. Teachers often must…

Response to intervention (RtI) in secondary schools is a viable option for mathematics, but limited research exists. In the study, students who received just Tier 1 (i.e., general education mathematics class) and students who received both Tier 1 and Tier 2 (i.e., a math lab) completed a pretest and posttest of grade-level content. The results…

The goal of the College of Arts & Sciences Community-aid (CASC-aid) project, a National Science Foundation grant funded study (2016-2021), is to develop, implement, and evaluate a program that fosters a community of academic success for Hispanic STEM students. This Hispanic Serving Institute continues to provide a variety of supports to…

A fit-for-purpose, functional program is the vehicle that guarantees the relevance of an education system by ensuring the sustainability of the society. Failure of a program to be relevant has the potential to cause crisis in a society. This basic qualitative research study explored the experiences of the beneficiaries of a skills development…