Once considered a strategy to support working parents with child care needs, the majority of states now view access to high-quality preschool programs as a critical long-term economic investment in the future workforce. For the third year in a row both Republican and Democratic policymakers made significant investments in state-funded pre-K…

Workers serving Ohio's aging population will require increased levels of gerontological education. Using data from 55 Ohio counties, this project investigated the educational needs and reasons for seeking education from professionals in aging. Respondents reported interest in attaining aging related education. Preferred delivery methods included…

The "Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006" ("Perkins IV" or "Act") authorizes federal funding for career and technical education (CTE) and specifies a formula for distributing those funds. Allocations at the secondary level are based on the number of youths ages 5-17 who reside within a local…

Purpose: Published advantages of and challenges with telemedicine led us to examine the scope of telemedicine adoption, implementation readiness, and barriers in a southern state where adoption has been historically low. We hypothesized that rural hospitals and primary care providers (RPCPs) differ on adoption, readiness, and implementation…

A statewide survey of the infrastructure of teacher education program assessment systems in North Carolina, which include electronic portfolios as a component in the assessment system, measured their ability to meet current and anticipated future data demands for state approval and national accreditation. Almost two-thirds of the 46 teacher…

In American public schools, the bulk of financial decisions have been left up to local boards of education, local school superintendents, and individual school principals. Traditionally, principals have been considered the utmost leader in their schools. Agricultural education has been linked to student achievement in a variety of ways. The…

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics, duties, and training needs of district level technology coordinators in Mississippi school districts. Prior research was limited on the role of technology coordinators in the United States, and no research was found in the literature that focused specifically on technology…

This article discusses eight in-depth institutes on Latino cultural competency conducted in Washington State responding to an Extension educator's survey. It also addresses implications for Cooperative Extension, since Extension educators and other service providers need to work with ever diverse audiences. Cultural competency training has…

Hispanics are the country's fastest growing minority group. The study reported here surveyed and assessed Extension agents from two demographically different regions in Florida on perceptions and attitudes about the need, quality, and dissemination of Spanish Extension materials. Results showed Extension programs are important sources of…

State coordinators of early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) programs completed a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, or SWOT, analysis that consisted of 12 evaluative areas of EHDI programs. For the professional development area, 47 coordinators responded with a total of 223 items, and themes were identified in each SWOT…

One method to develop leaders is through leadership development programs designed specifically for an intended context. The International Leadership Association (ILA) provides questions for designing programs such programs. This article reflects data collected during the process of developing a leadership program serving the broader agricultural…

General acceptance of the strong relationships between education, income, and public economic strength is at the core of all of college attainment goals at the national and state levels. The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) have collaborated to develop online tools…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined Californians' views on science education. The findings are based on telephone interviews with 1,004 adults conducted April 7-22, 2010. Cell phone and Spanish language interviews were included to provide more complete coverage of California's population. In order to enhance understanding of the…

"Why Rural Matters 2011-12" is the sixth in a series of biennial reports analyzing the contexts and conditions of rural education in each of the 50 states and calling attention to the need for policymakers to address rural education issues in their respective states. While it is the sixth in a series, this report is not simply an…

California's public schools have struggled since the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, and today face enormous challenges to try to regain lost quality and standing as a national education leader. In light of the current economic crisis, competition for limited resources is fierce and the pressure is on to eliminate all but the basic "Three…