Florida's Strategic Plan for Extension in Metropolitan Regions reflects an adaptive management approach to the state's urban Extension mission within the context of establishing essential elements, performance indicators, key outcomes, and suggested alternatives for action. Extension leadership has adopted the strategic plan, and implementation…

Providing ninth-graders with academic and social support can put more students on the graduation path, but it can be challenging for schools and school systems to implement that support routinely and effectively. This brief describes how Broward County Public Schools adopted a community of practice (CoP) approach to improve school-based teams'…

The Authors@UF program series emerged to showcase the scholarship and creativity of faculty, creating an intellectual forum within the academic library, and providing informal, extra-curriculum, academic engagement between students and faculty outside the classroom. This article identifies steps to launch an author program, and considerations in…

Civic learning for all students seems like a reasonable and important aim for all schools to achieve. If we believe that the future of our American democracy depends on a citizenry that is informed, engaged, and responsible, what better place to create future citizens than in schools? The Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools…

In 2009, the second largest university in the nation was awarded a grant from NCURA to initiate a new fully-online graduate program in research administration. The Master of Research Administration (MRA) was approved by the institution's Board of Trustees in March 2011 and the first classes will begin August 2011. Currently the research literature…

An effective faculty is essential to student success, and faculty development programs help sustain that effectiveness. Central to the faculty development programs at Hillsborough Community College (HCC) in Tampa, Florida, is the philosophy that they should lead to strengthened teaching and learning and, ultimately, improved student success. At…

In early 2004, the Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC) required that all of its hotels (both owned and franchised) install high-speed Internet access (HSIA) in all of their rooms by June 2004. This case focuses on how one of its franchise properties located on the northern gulf coast of Florida (the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort &…

One enduring, and perhaps endearing, characteristic of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) is its commitment to pluralism. NCHC recognizes that excellent honors educational opportunities can be cultivated across the diverse settings of American higher education from two-year community colleges through large, comprehensive research…

The Miami Youth Development Project (YDP) had its beginnings in the early 1990s as a grassroots response to the needs of troubled (multiproblem) young people in the community (Arnett, Kurtines, & Montgomery, 2008, this issue). YDP is an important outcome of efforts to create positive youth development interventions that draw on the strengths…

The 2009 Professional Development Schools National Conference recognized the North Florida Urban Professional Development School Partnership for its outstanding work in an urban education context and so named it one of the three recipients of the first-ever National Association for Professional Development Schools Award for Exemplary Professional…

This paper takes a descriptive look at Community Science Workshops (CSWs). This paper discusses what CSW is, how it arose and spread, how local CSWs are structured and led, and what programs and experiences they offer to youth. (Contains 2 footnotes.)

To address key policy and programmatic questions and help improve student and system performance, states must work to link data across the early childhood, postsecondary and workforce (P-20/workforce) spectrum and share this information with appropriate stakeholders. This issue brief highlights current efforts in California, Florida, Indiana, and…

In 2003, the last state university undergraduate technology education program in Florida closed its doors due to low enrollments and a new focus on graduate studies. This closing and the continued need for 165 certified technology education teachers to fill open positions each year in Florida created a need for St Petersburg College (SPC) to…

In 1989, Florida educational leaders responded to information-age challenges by initiating a four-year project to identify the requirements for measurably improving vocational education. The project eventually identified 38 field-validated pedagogical/instructional goals and 161 related learner competencies in four topical areas: planning and…

Describes comprehensive planning of vocational education at the state level. (SB)