In 2013, VA became the first state to mandate the use of threat assessment teams in its K-12 public schools. We provide an account of the development and adaptation of threat assessment as a school safety practice and research on the Virginia Student Threat Assessment Guidelines in VA schools. We describe the state law and the question of whether…

One method to develop leaders is through leadership development programs designed specifically for an intended context. The International Leadership Association (ILA) provides questions for designing programs such programs. This article reflects data collected during the process of developing a leadership program serving the broader agricultural…

Needs assessment is the first step in developing a leadership education program. During the spring of 2008 researchers and program planners conducted focus groups sessions with representatives from Virginia's agricultural community with the goal of assessing the leadership development interests and needs of that community. As one focus group…

It is essential that the traditional emergency management structure be used as a framework for higher education emergency planning. The four phases of emergency management should be reflected in the architecture of all planning efforts. These include "preparedness," "response," "mitigation," and "recovery."…

In the summer of 2008, the Commonwealth of Virginia was awarded a $1.1 million grant from the U. S. Department of Education. The College Access Challenge Grant Program (CACGP) is coordinated through the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). The focus of the grant is to increase student access to postsecondary education,…

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…

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 publication combines four sets of guidelines developed in 1980 to give direction to guidance program development in the public schools of Virginia. It consists of loose-leaf sheets color-coded according to whether the items are applicable at all levels (white), for elementary school guidance (beige), for middle schools (blue) or for secondary…

A formative evaluation was made of the second phase of a Workshop-Seminar series which is part of a projected collaborative teacher education program involving the Richmond (Virginia) City Public Schools and Virginia Commonwealth University. The intent of the Collaborative Teacher Education Program (CoTEEP) is to develop a coherent program for…

This paper reports on a needs assessment study designed to identify critical needs in Virginia's English as a Second Language (ESL) education in order to design an appropriate ESL endorsement program at James Madison University. The study involved a statewide sample of K-12 schools with ESL programs. A total of 330 questionnaires were sent to 24…

The REEP (Arlington Education and Employment Program) 2-year special project, which set out to research, develop, field-test, and establish recommendations for alternative assessment methods for the language and literacy development of adult learners of English as a Second Language (ESL), is described and evaluated. Goals and needs of 117 adult…

This guide, which is intended primarily for adult education practitioners in Virginia, explains the process of developing workplace basic skills programs. Presented first is background information on the guide's development. The following are among the topics discussed in the guide's seven chapters: the need for work force education (changes in…