Our understanding of leaders and the role they play in organizations and society is changing, which has important implications for leadership education. At the turn of the century, society began to move from a mechanistic understanding of leadership to a more ecological one. The latter, ecological approach to leadership is characterized by…

Project EQuIPD--Engaging Quality Instruction through Professional Development--sought to establish and test for efficacy a professional development model to produce highly qualified teachers in STEM practices for all children, especially for students who are in traditionally underserved schools and districts within the State of Florida. The…

While research has generated abundant insight into effective professional learning methods, the field continues to suffer from a lack of systemic approaches. In response, a group of national professional learning leaders recently developed a framework that links proven professional learning methods to the strategic priorities of higher education…

Spurred by the 1986 IDEA reauthorization, the movement toward collaborative, or blended, preservice early childhood personnel preparation now spans an impressive 30-year history. In this paper, we trace the evolution of blended preparation by applying a conceptual framework that situates the development of blended program identity within a…

The State University System of Florida has developed three tools that aid in guiding the System's future: (1) The Board of Governors' 2025 System Strategic Plan is driven by goals and associated metrics that stake out where the System is headed; (2) The Board's Annual Accountability Report provides yearly tracking for how the System is progressing…

As students graduate and enter the workforce, they face the job market's demand for critical thinking (CT) skills. The demand is caused by the market's increasing need for providing professional services that require performing complex tasks. In response to this demand, institutions of higher education are expected to prepare their graduate…

The challenge of producing the systemic changes that are needed to boost educational attainment and economic competitiveness across the country falls heavily on entities that coordinate public postsecondary institutions. Coordination of postsecondary education, whether of a single system of institutions or across an entire state, requires…

Local issues that combine economic, environmental, and equity impacts make excellent contexts for interdisciplinary teaching. An instructional unit, "Should We Use Wood for Energy? A High School Education Program," was developed by the University of Florida's School of Forest Resources and Conservation to engage high school students in…

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of Florida's Year 1 Race to the Top implementation, highlighting successes and accomplishments, identifying challenges, and providing lessons learned from implementation to date. Florida received a Race to the Top award in September 2010 as part of Phase 2 of the Race to the Top…

This paper describes Florida's progress in implementing a comprehensive and coherent approach to education reform from the time of application through June 30, 2011. In particular, it highlights key accomplishments over the reporting period in the four reform areas: standards and assessments, data systems to support instruction, great teachers and…

Hillsborough County Public Schools has launched a teacher evaluation system that has attracted attention from educators and policy makers across the country. Centralized, collaborative, communications-driven and adaptable are key characteristics of Hillsborough's approach. The system consists of two main components: observation of instruction and…

The Collier Country (Florida) Sheriff's Office has initiated a voluntary career development program for law enforcement and corrections officers holding ranks of lieutenant and below. The career development program is implemented through a systems approach that integrates career planning and individual assessment with performance evaluation,…

The materials in the document report on the development of a program planning budgeting evaluating system in the Dade County, Florida, public schools. Materials cover the development and design of the system from its inception and implementation in the winter and spring of 1971. The project chronology and the program structure and the management…

The Orange County, Florida, Corrections Division provides unusually intensive educational and vocational programs to most inmates in its 3,300-bed jail. A staff of 70 full-time instructors provide the following services: adult basic education, preparation for the general equivalency diploma, vocational training, life skills development, women's…

This document contains the reports on audits of the one-stop systems in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Vermont. The overall audit conclusions were as follows: (1) the states have made substantial efforts toward forming new comprehensive workforce investment systems as mandated by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA); (2)…