In an era of increasing political and social divisiveness, school boards across the country face pressure to maintain effective governance amongst relentless pressure. Most school board members lack the experience to know how to effectively serve, thus, training is a necessary resource to ensure effective board governance and retain board members.…

Unpaid (informal) family caregivers provide vitally important supports to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), but receive little support or training. This study's aim was to examine how states across the nation supported informal family caregivers in their Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) programs for…

Employment and training services offered through Extension are part of and continue a long tradition of policy-focused employment and job training. This paper chronicles the successes of UT Extension's work as a third-party partner in the delivery of workforce development programming geared toward individuals receiving Supplemental Nutrition…

In this chapter, we explore statewide tuition-free college programs which encourage students to earn Career and Technical Education (CTE) credentials. To map the current landscape of statewide Promise programs, we conducted a policy discourse analysis of all statewide Promise programs while focusing on policy features relevant to workforce…

Implementing and sustaining high-quality early intervention practices depends on access to an evidence-based professional development (PD) model that fits the unique features of the system, providers, and families served. This paper describes and evaluates a 10-month PD sequence for EI providers on Family Guided Routines Based Intervention (FGRBI)…

State volunteer forums can be an invaluable resource for providing opportunities for volunteer training on positive youth development. Some western states have experienced decreasing attendance and have questioned the practicality of hosting such forums. In this article, we showcase successes that one western state has experienced as a result of…

This article examines whether states under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) are prioritizing education leadership to improve schools. Examining all 52 consolidated plans, we found that while the federal law increases states' flexibility toward such ends, states have taken advantage to varying degrees. We argue that forces at both the state…

The well-documented special education teacher shortage in the U.S. has significant negative consequences for students with disabilities who require specially designed instruction from special education teachers. To address this shortage, special education teacher preparation programs should explore innovative approaches to recruiting and training…

Practical aspects of curriculum development, especially that involving multiple authors, often are overlooked, but they are critical to moving a curriculum from concept to finished product. The Ohio 4-H Camping Design Team developed a competency-model-based curriculum for training the state's 4-H teen camp counselors. The team incorporated action…

Extension Master Gardener Volunteers (EMGVs) are recruited and trained to answer questions and diagnose gardening problems for the public. Most states have developed an EMGV Manual for use in the initial training. Thirty-two EMGV Training manuals from across the United States were reviewed for form and content. While many of the manuals have…

The "Marland" Report was the impetus and structure to provide a more systematic approach to building state and regional gifted programs. One of the strategies used to proliferate the spread of programming for gifted students throughout the states was the National/State Leadership Training Institute on the Gifted and Talented…

Introduction: This paper reports empirical results of the survey focusing on reading practices in state research institutes. State research institutes are, along with universities, important actors in national innovation systems in producing especially applied research. Majority of earlier studies on scholarly communication have focused on…

In response to the unique needs of students who are deaf or hard of hearing, the New Hampshire Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education has funded the Deaf Education Initiative which supports New Hampshire's schools and families in improving the educational outcomes of the state's children and youth with hearing loss. The initiative…

This article describes some of the extraordinary accomplishments of the second cohort of states to participate in the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Financing Policy Project (IECMH-FPP). The purpose of the IECMHFPP is to support states' advancement of IECMH assessment, diagnosis, and treatment policies that will contribute to the healthy…

Prompted by the need for leaders able to turn around chronically low-performing schools, states, universities, education groups, and school districts in the US have initiated a variety of principal development programs. Some programs focus on enhancing the skills of experienced administrators, while others target talented teachers and even…