Research has shown that while the number of school-age children has steadily increased over time, the number of qualified teachers available to educate them has not matched this need. This topical brief shows the percentage of public schools across the nation with teaching vacancies and summarizes strategies implemented in Region 5 Comprehensive…

High-quality afterschool and summer learning programs are effective ways to support children and teens and accelerate their academic growth. In fact, the American Rescue Plan prioritized a significant amount of funding for out-of-school time programs because of the evidence of their effectiveness. Over the past few years, state educational…

Fisk University began the genesis of HBCU graduate programs in 1880. During the next fifty years, several other HBCUs established graduate programs. That group included Lincoln, Howard, and Morgan State. However, only Lincoln University established a PhD program. The primary goal of this paper is to provide a historical perspective regarding the…

An understanding of foresters' perceptions of climate change is important for developing effective educational programs on adaptive forest management. We surveyed 1,398 foresters in the southern United States regarding their perceptions of climate change, observations and concerns about climatic and forest conditions, and knowledge of and interest…

This study characterized perceptions of agricultural leadership programs in colleges of agriculture, food, life, human, or environmental sciences at 1,862 land-grant institutions. Objectives included describing the need for programs, studying evolution within the discipline, discussing faculty recommendations for future development, and examining…

In order to inform the Indiana State Board of Education's decision-making on Indiana's On My Way Pre-K Pilot program, researchers at the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) at Indiana University compiled existing data on ten states that have implemented pilot pre-Kindergarten (pre-K) programs and subsequently expanded these programs…

Corn clubs played an important role in improving agriculture at the turn of the 20th century. Corn clubs were local organizations consisting of boys who cultivated corn on one acre of land under the supervision of a local club leader. The purpose of this historical research study was to document the organization, operation, and outcomes of corn…

The extent to which state agencies are implementing information systems and analytical methods for budget review are examined. Focus is on 17 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Trends in budget…

In 1998, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) began developing what is now the Appalachian Higher Education (AHE) Network. The AHE Network, currently composed of eight centers, has the mission of increasing the college-going rate in Appalachia, the numbers of students who continue their education directly after graduating high school. This…

This background briefing paper synthesizes current thinking and practice on the issue of latchkey children and school-age child care (SACC). The paper defines the problem of latchkey children; reviews related literature and programmatic responses to the problem; reports responses of four southern states; and points out implications for policy…

The Appalachian Math Science Partnership (AMSP) is a project within NSF's (National Science Foundation's) Math Science Partnerships (MSP) initiative. Funded at $23 million over five years, the AMSP involved 51 school districts and nine higher education institutions in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. The AMSP faced two significant challenges in…

The purpose of this study is four-fold. First, to determine the current status of program offerings for the aging in selected institutions of higher education. Second, to ascertain if any programs designed to train personnel to work with the aging are currently being offered. Third, to determine what plans for future programs were being made by…

This paper describes procedures used to stratify and refine an original sample of 951 families with preschool children living in the Appalachia area, for a study to provide information on the target audience for Appalachia Educational Laboratory's Home-Oriented Preschool Education Program (HOPE). The procedure was to force-match the sample…

A needs sensing confirmation study was conducted to identify the Appalachia Educational Laboratory's (AEL) long term research and development program needs and provide guidelines for its seven member states' activities. The AEL Board of Directors, individuals serving in similar positions as the Board members, and a sample of non-public school…

This document contains the plans for conducting the field studies of Appalachian parents of young children which are part of the Appalachia Educational Laboratory's Home-Oriented Preschool Education Program (HOPE). HOPE is an integrated approach to education for preschool and kindergarten children being developed by AEL's Marketable Preschool…