Access to high-quality early care and education (ECE) supports healthy child development, accelerates academic achievement, reduces educational inequality, and catalyzes economic growth. The benefits of ECE are even greater among economically disadvantaged children, children with disabilities, and multilingual learners. However, despite these…

Purpose: To develop a conceptual framework that can be employed in secondary school agriculture classes on skills development for food security. Design/Methodology/Approach: The conceptual framework was developed from the findings of an earlier study by the authors on the effect of agricultural teaching approaches on skills development for food…

After a year of COVID, spiking unemployment, closed schools, and restricted businesses, rural Minnesotans may be looking at a unique opportunity in economic development. Since the Great Recession, rural employers have been dealing with an ever-growing job vacancy rate, which was discussed in the report, "The Pandemic Paints a Different…

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently projected record-breaking growth in 2021, but it is premature to celebrate this rosy macroeconomic picture. In the same document, the CBO also made an alarming prediction: The U.S. labor market will not fully recover until 2024. Recent U.S. jobs reports reveal the depth of the pandemic-created…

This research investigates the relationship between business education students' human capital and core values of sustainable economic development from a gender perspective. This research specifically investigates four interrelated questions. First, do male and female business education students experience different types of general human capital?…

To further live our mission, Marquette has launched many new initiatives over the past five years that strategically connect our university to our community. In this paper, we will highlight three of these initiatives. The first relates to connecting the anchor institutions in our neighborhood through an effort called Near West Side Partners. The…

Historic preservation has significant impact on communities. The purpose of this study was to involve students in a historically based, culturally diverse community project in a rural region of Arkansas in order to make a positive impact in that region. Interior Design Program students (n = 6) within the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences…

Neoliberalism has adjusted society's role allocations related to who is responsible for looking after the welfare of whom. Based on the assumption of advancing human well-being, the neoliberal narrative renders the individual free, autonomous, and selfsufficient, but also with the obligation to assume responsibility for their own welfare. This…

Tom Wilson, the chair of the executive committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce published an op-ed titled "Save Capitalism by Paying People More." Wilson acknowledges in blunt terms that ordinary working Americans are not flourishing economically. This year's annual "The State of Working Pennsylvania" documents the accuracy of…

This article critically analyses the extent to which research in the field of English and development in the global South supports the claim that English can contribute to development. Particular reference is made to the Colombian context, which, along with several other countries in Latin America, has prioritised English language teaching in…

Kentucky ranks 35th in the nation in the educational attainment level of its workforce. Furthermore, at 56.3%, Kentucky has one of the lowest workforce participation rates in the nation. This depresses economic development, limits knowledge-economy job creation, curbs social and economic mobility and reduces enthusiasm for credential attainment…

This report presents a survey of distance learning in South Africa. The report reviews current policy and practice in relation to issues of access, equity, quality and costs. This was done using a survey of open distance learning (ODL) institutions, data from different institutions, and available studies conducted by Commonwealth of Learning…

International attention to improving learning outcomes has increasingly focused on the impact of teachers, those that directly implement national education goals. For small, resource-poor countries where communities have minimal schooling experience, the role of the teacher in building academic knowledge and skills is even more valued, to both…

This landscape report explores the impact of earning micro-credentials on the social mobility of rural learners. Through four in-depth case studies, we show how earning micro-credentials may lead to credential attainment, workforce entry, promotions, and/or economic improvements (e.g., salary increase, prioritizing learners impacted by poverty),…

The Mississippi Public Universities "Research Catalog" is mandated by the State through the University Research Center Act of 1988 (§ 37-141-17). The publication lists the funding amounts by the sources of funding and by the university disciplines receiving the funding. It is designed for use by state policy makers, the educational…