In 2005, the graduation rate for the Council Bluffs Community School District was, at 68 percent, the lowest in Iowa. District leaders knew that to improve, they needed to create a cultural change throughout the community. They began by getting community members involved in creating a strategic plan and mission statement that included a guarantee…

Ecuador's government understands that capable research universities can help in solving the country's pressing socio-economic problems. However, research capabilities and research productivity in its national universities have historically been low, as professors primarily teach and often do not have the inclination, the ability, or the time to do…

Background: The current understanding of health inequities in people with intellectual disabilities does not readily translate into improvements in health status or health care. To identify opportunities for action, the 2013 IASSIDD health SIRG conference organized ten intensive workshops. Materials and methods: The workshops each addressed…

State support in higher education (HE) is often justified on the grounds that HE is important for the development of the country. However, little analysis is normally done in order to assess the impact of education quality initiatives. The Mexican government has been engaging in a policy of HE quality improvement that can be traced to 1989. In…

This article is part of the dialogue on human performance technology (HPT) models that began in the October 2011 issue of "Performance Improvement." In 1996, the author shared a new HPT model with "Performance & Instruction" readers. Since then, he has refined the model and added empirical research. In the spirit of continuous improvement, the…

The SR4-HVAG combines the efforts of states to provide quality educational programming for volunteers and Extension professionals using an advisory group system. An advisory group rather than a council was created because the group provides programmatic input rather than sets policy. The purposes of the SR4-HVAG are to: provide a mechanism for…

In the years since World War II, the United States has grown increasingly dependent on foreign-born healthcare personnel at all levels of the healthcare system. Foreign-born nurses report that while they may feel clinically competent, they often feel unprepared for the use of English in the healthcare setting (Davis & Nichols, 2002; Guttman,…

Prior research suggests that Academic Program Review (APR) is most effective when it is a systematic process that supports program improvement. One potential way to increase faculty involvement in comprehensive APR processes is by engaging faculty members as internal peer reviewers (IPRs). This qualitative study investigated faculty members'…

Recent federal and state education policy has targeted community colleges as an affordable venue to increase postsecondary attainment. We examined a state program aimed at increasing community college enrollment, the Missouri A+ Schools Program, which provided eligible graduates from participating high schools the opportunity to earn a scholarship…

We explore the concept of remixing existing literacy programs instead of replacing them in light of calls for changes emerging from local, national, and international conversations about literacy research and practice. We explain the evolution of a long-standing community and school literacy program in which pre-service teachers conduct…

This study aimed to develop an innovative project management model for international education collaborations, focusing on the Sino-Thai partnership in Yunnan Province, China, which faces challenges such as cultural differences, communication barriers, and administrative discrepancies. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research integrated…

With a focus on the US, I briefly review the literature to examine current trends, and outline a typology of what is meant by educational research for teaching by, with and for teachers, followed by a discussion of why it is important for educators to engage in and commit to such research. The key question in this article is what kinds of research…

Taking into consideration the INSETs' direct influence on teachers' professional development and indirect influence on the education, the present study aims to find out teachers' views about in -service training activities and their proposed solutions to improve the effectiveness of the in-service training activities through the semi- structured…

Church-related small private liberal arts baccalaureate minority-serving institutions like Wesley College have modest endowments, are heavily tuition-dependent, and have large numbers of financially-challenged students. In order to sustain the level of academic excellence and to continue to build student demographic diversity in its accessible…

Adult student transition programs (also known as 18+ programs, 18-21 programs, adult transition programs, and community transition programs) are educational programs that provide instruction in age-appropriate community environments to adult students who have met the state credit and assessment guidelines for graduation but who still require…