Integrating micro-credentialing into employee training programs offers libraries an innovative and individualized way to recognize and certify learning and achievement. Digital badges provide a low-cost initiative to support learning benefiting both the individual and institution, offering evidence of skill development that transcends the library…

The goal of safely and sustainably reopening K-12 school buildings for in-person learning is widely recognized as critical to minimizing the impact of academic, social, emotional, and mental strains brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order for in-person learning to succeed on an ongoing basis, schools must be able to offer safe…

Guided pathways reforms can take several years to implement at scale because they require a thoroughgoing redesign of a college's major functions, including: (1) organizing programs into career-focused meta-majors to enhance student recruitment and exploration and program improvement; (2) mapping clear paths to degrees, employment, and further…

This technical assistance paper provides guidance to individuals with test administration responsibilities in adult education programs. These policies apply to the approved assessments that programs may use to report educational gains in compliance with the National Reporting System (NRS) requirements. The NRS is the accountability system for the…

The author has been working with colleagues Trudy Banta and Karen Black on a new Jossey-Bass book, "Designing Effective Assessment: Principles and Profiles of Good Practice," which focuses on assessment profiles from a variety of colleges and universities. These profiles also represent the spectrum of institutions from research…

While state leaders understand the value of professional development, they also need to consider the costs. Such costs are some of the most difficult to calculate. If state leaders are going to pony up for improving the instructional skills of teachers and principals, they want to know that their dollars are well-spent. The same can be said for…

Describes staff-development plan related to the implementation of the Orange County (Florida) Literacy Project, a research-based literacy-improvement program for middle-school students. Defines literacy as reading, speaking, listening, viewing, and thinking. (PKP)

The Florida Assisting Change in Education Program teaches school leaders to facilitate the change process in schools. Training for school improvement facilitators teaches them to lead groups, encourage discussion, mediate differences, and create appropriate spirit for crafting and implementing school improvement plans. Evaluation of the program…

Staff development programs aiming to effect meaningful change are often short-lived and fail to promote teacher growth due to (1) lack of teacher control over program content; (2) the difficulty of influencing long-term changes in teachers' classroom behavior; and (3) the problem of documenting behavior change. This paper discusses a…

Described is a vocational education model designed to increase cooperative effort for the improvement of vocational personnel. The introductory section discusses the need for a systematic approach to vocational personnel development in Florida, presents the goals of the system, and briefly summarizes the salient features of each component of the…

This model for an inservice workshop is based on an ongoing relationship between a college or university (acting as consultant) and an instructional staff. The workshop is built around an actual problem situation facing the staff, in this case, the task of providing remediation in conjunction with the Florida State Assessment Test. The design of…

In an effort to update teacher evaluation systems to reflect changing attitudes toward the teaching profession and to focus on staff development, state departments of education and school districts have designed mentor and master teacher programs, career ladders, shared leadership programs, and differentiated evaluation programs. They have also…

The authors describe an initiative to improve child care for the children of teen parents. Since 1999, the Florida State University Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Policy has worked with seven childcare programs in four school districts to achieve this goal. The initiative included development of a quality improvement plan for each…

A brief introduction states the purpose of and summarizes the five presentations made at a Southwest Educational Development Laboratory Regional Exchange (SEDL/RX) Project conference and notes that the SEDL/RX publication, "Evaluation of Educational Software: A Guide to Guides," was produced for use as a reference guide by participants…

The Teacher Education Center Act of 1973 in Florida mandates that the responsibility for operating programs of preservice and inservice education be shared jointly by the colleges and universities, the school districts, and the teaching profession. To improve the quality of individual inservice components of the plan, the legislature mandated…