State and territory child care and early education (CCEE) leaders typically support a range of professional development (PD) opportunities for CCEE providers. This highlight presents the "Professional Development Matrix for Quality Improvement" created by Douglass, Tout, and Doyle. The matrix provides a framework for organizing and…

Gathering evidence on what works best is key to designing holistic guidance services for individuals and the labour market. Traditional learning and career pathways are being replaced by more dynamic, 'patchier' routes and shorter job tenures. Fast-changing and more complex learning and working contexts draw more attention to continuous learning…

Educators and researchers often think of program design and program evaluation as separate endeavors, even intentionally creating a firewall between them. But what if designers and evaluators worked together, combining their insights to strengthen both the program and the study of it? In the work of evaluating a statewide professional learning…

Rather than imposing more school after school, out-of-school-time (OST) programs can integrate literacy into their program activities--just as literacy is integrated into every aspect of everyday life. Program activities give participants opportunities to put literacy, math, and science skills to use in authentic contexts. However, OST staff…

Cooperative Extension professionals are using webinar technologies to accommodate time constraints, travel distances, and limited budgets as well as to reach a broader audience. Although checklists and planning worksheets are readily available, there is a lack of resources to intentionally utilize reflective teaching practice and measure…

The purpose of this article is to clarify what the authors of the Second Edition of the NAPDS Nine Essentials (NAPDS, 2021) intended related to Essential Nine. This article includes a look back on the original, provides a rationale for changes and offers some ideas and examples intended to help partners implement this important Essential. With the…

Anyone who works in a school setting keenly feels the impact of COVID-19 on youth and families. They can remember the exhaustion and dysfunction that rippled out during the pandemic, and they can still see it today. The School Behavioral Health Academy (SBHA) responded to the youth mental health crisis by creating an online learning management…

Launched in 2011, Sprockets is a network of after-school and summer programs for youth in Saint Paul, MN. A 2006 community-engaged process resulted in a vision for out-of-school time (OST) in Saint Paul that became Sprockets. That process involved the mayor's office, Saint Paul Public Schools, community organizations and activists, local…

Extension educators are expected to more fully evaluate programs. In response, evaluation capacity building (ECB) is a necessary component of Extension educator professional development. One size rarely fits all; ECB more likely succeeds if it is well aligned with the educator's evaluation needs and the type of educational effort. Four approaches…

As part of its regulatory roles, the Australian Government Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is required to assess evidence of 'scholarship' that is put forward by providers, whether evidence of scholarship by individuals, such as teaching staff within the provider, or for the provider as a whole. TEQSA is seeking to review…

Planning and implementing online professional development opportunities is challenging but attainable. This paper explains how a group of librarians from different institutions worked to plan, market, implement, and evaluate monthly webinars as well as an inaugural online conference, despite never meeting in person. The web conferences began…

Many companies that are striving to expand their development and production are finding it difficult to do so successfully. This is due to the shortage of qualified employees to help sustain their competitive edge in the global market. This dilemma is due to skills gaps; more importantly a mismatch between available jobs and skills. It is…

In 2010, University of Tennessee Extension conducted a strategic planning effort focused on the subsequent 10 years. The process involved approximately 3,000 Tennesseans in online surveys, area meetings, opinion polling, and focus group sessions. This article describes the process, tools, and outcomes--which included a comprehensive strategic…

Early care and education (ECE) leaders often consider new content, curricula, and models to include in their quality improvement (QI) toolkit. The Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) centers equity in its approach to engaging staff at all levels in an ECE program. It is a promising approach for center-based ECE programs (with the potential to…

As U.S. school leaders anticipate the end of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds and contemplate possible budget shortfalls, they will have to make hard choices about how best to leverage limited resources to improve student outcomes. With the stakes high, lawmakers and experts urge school system leaders to rely on research and…