Pregnant and parenting teenagers in the United States face academic, social, and emotional hardships (Baney et al., 2022; Kinser & Masho, 2015; Masterson et al., 2021). Schools, programs, and policies can aid pregnant and parenting students by alleviating burdens or improving schooling outcomes (Brouwer et al., 2019; Modesto, 2018; Zief et…

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), schools have a unique opportunity to play a pivotal role in addressing mental health needs in their communities (Sawyer et al., 2021). The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the impact that the utilization of a system approach has on the success and sustainability of teacher…

Recent legislation through the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) has implications for school systems across the nation in creating and implementing a multi-tiered system of support. Pennsylvania has its own state legislation that also provides the language for schools to implement an MTSS framework that includes tiered support in academics through…

High-quality care in the earliest years of life has been shown to relate to positive developmental outcomes for children, including improved early academic skills, social-emotional competencies, and cognitive functioning. Unfortunately, the early care experiences of many children are not always high quality; rather, research suggests that…

Citywide implementation of project-based learning highlights the benefits--and the challenges--of promoting exemplary practices across an entire out-of-school time (OST) network. In summer 2009, the City of Philadelphia and its intermediary, the Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), introduced project-based learning to a network of more…

Despite some cuts to the nation's oldest Federal College Access Programs, known as the TRIO programs (e.g., Upward Bound), new education policies have emphasized college and career readiness. In 2010, Congress approved the College Access Challenge Grant Program, which aims to increase the number of low-income students who are ready for college.…

Eastern University has moved from a distributed model to a centralized model for administration of its adult degree programs. This move involved numerous factors and motivations but one central component in the ultimate success of that move was a significant change in the role of faculty assigned to the program. Once regarded as rather ancillary…

In 1992, the U.S. Department of Labor and Council of Chief State School Officers awarded grants for the development of statewide systems to enhance school-to-work transition (SWT) through youth apprenticeship in eight states: California, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. In June 1993, the programs were…

A project was conducted to build an education and career enhancement system for Pennsylvania's adult population over age 24 that includes all three basic components of a school-to-work program: work-based learning, school-based learning, and connecting activities. The program was opened to unemployed and underemployed adults in two rural…

This guide defines a methodology for program monitoring and discusses positive results achieved in Pennsylvania by implementing Instrument-based Program Monitoring (IPM) in the field of child day care services. IPM uses checklists or special questionnaires to structure monitoring interviews and site visits. This method differs substantially from…

This document discusses and presents Pennsylvania's family literacy indicators of program quality (IPQs). The booklet begins with an overview of the IPQs development and integration with Pennsylvania's system for educational accountability. Next, 18 key terms are defined. The remainder of the booklet lists the five categories of standards, key…

The Pennsylvania Vocational Education Study was planned primarily as a pragmatic overview and analysis of vocational, technical, and continuing education for the years 1964-1968, with a goal of determining its achievements, deficiencies, and direction in the light of priority needs. Recommendations and conclusions were derived from data relating…

A study examined local work-related education and training institutions from a system perspective. Information was obtained through field interviews of staff and administrators in secondary education, community colleges and technical facilities, and Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and similar programs, as well as record data from eight…

The document details the development of a project to provide adult students with the academic and work skills required for admission to the Regional Skill Center, which is an adult technical school serving Erie County, Pennsylvania. The body of the report summarizes the following project outcomes: development of a four-tiered system of work force…

Issues surrounding teaching competencies in family literacy programs were examined in a study of two well-established Even Start sites in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The program, which served 34 ethnically diverse adult learners, offered 25 hours of adult basic education, general educational development (GED), and…