The purpose of this research was to describe the status of and factors that influence adult learning and to provide information to help policymakers foster adult learning programs in rural Pennsylvania face a unique set of challenges and obstacles. These include serving a diverse group of rural adults who need a variety of services, a changing job…

Much of education policy focuses on improving teacher quality, but most policies lack strong research support. We use student achievement gains to estimate teacher value-added, our measure of teacher quality. The analysis reveals substantial variation in the quality of instruction, most of which occurs within rather than between schools. Although…

In this comprehensive manual, author Peter Gow helps schools become communities where teachers are nurtured "from raw recruits into seasoned, effective, and even beloved professionals." Peter Gow, academic dean at Beaver Country Day School (MA), lays out a step-by-step approach to building and keeping a strong faculty, a school's greatest asset.…

This study explored how many teachers were leaving public school districts in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin during their first 5 years in teaching. Researchers analyzed four types of novice teachers, including those who: taught continuously in the same district all 5 years, transferred to another district within the state but…

In rural Mexico, the Progresa program provided educational grants to poor mothers of children enrolled in grades 3-9 and attending 85 percent of the school days. Payments were increased at the higher grades, a premium was paid for girls enrolled in grades 7-9, and every 6 months the grants were adjusted upward to compensate for inflation. The…

In order to assess the state of child care in Minnesota, this study examined child care needs, resources, and issues in four counties representing both rural and urban parts of the state. Three sources of information were tapped: (1) the county Child Care Resource and Referral databases; (2) a survey of directors of child care centers; and (3)…

The rapid increase in Colorado's population has created a huge demand for allied health care providers. This increase, coupled with the aging baby boomer population, has created a near-crisis situation in many Colorado communities. The U.S. Department of Labor predicts severe shortages of allied health care workers for the next several years. The…

This brief updates "Income Support and Social Services for Low-Income People in New York," an overview of benefits and services in the state in 1997. Information comes from reviews of state and local program documents and interviews with selected officials responsible for policy and program operations in Erie County (Buffalo) and New…

Social capital is a person or group's sympathy for others. The social capital paradigm includes social capital, networks, socio-emotional goods, attachment values, institutions, and power. This paper describes how social capital is used within Latino communities in the Grand Rapids Metropolitan Area of Michigan. It describes migration, housing,…

What are the forces that will continue to shape the U.S. workforce and workplace over the next 10 to 15 years? With such inevitabilities as the proliferation and acceleration of technology worldwide, will more individuals work at home, will more businesses outsource their noncore functions -- and with what consequences? Answering such questions…

A loosely connected set of providers, clients, sponsors, and intermediaries make up the local markets referred to as the out-of-school-time (OST) field. This field and the actors in it have been evolving in response to shifts in the economy, the growing demand for services associated with increased numbers of working mothers in the labor force,…

As many as two in five recent high school graduates say that there are gaps between the education they received in high school and the overall skills, abilities, and work habits that are expected of them today in college and in the work force. The majority of college students and high school graduates without a college degree say that they have…

The paper addresses a model of entrepreneurial university embraced by American business schools as perceived by a Romanian Fulbright scholar. The purpose of this study was to highlight the practices pursued by the US entrepreneurial universities in their journey towards increasing performance excellence and strengthening the prestige of the…

Online instruction gains an increasing presence due to associated benefits, including the ability to disregard geographical and time constraints, and the belief that online training is more cost efficient. This paper provides a discussion of issues to be faced by HRD professionals who intend to move the training environment online in response to…

Fostering the growth of science educational programs is one of the most challenging and rewarding task instructional leaders will have to do in the twenty-first century. This article analyzes the current science teacher shortages and turnovers in public, urban secondary schools and brings to the forefront the need for an assessment of…