In addition to regular job duties, such as tree care, mulching, irrigation, and pesticide management, urban park workers have faced environmental changes due to drought, wildfires, and West Nile virus. They simultaneously have endured expectations to manage growing, diversifying park usage and limitations on career development. An integrated…

As the population of immigrant Latino students continues to rise, school psychologists serving Latino children and families must develop the knowledge and skills necessary to provide high-quality psychological services to culturally and linguistically diverse students from immigrant families. Following a review of the relevant literature on the…

A well-designed professional development program can help first- and second-year faculty thrive in their new academic environment. Faculty developers must consider the length and frequency of such programs and their focus; requirements for participation; the role of mentors; ways to establish collegiality; and opportunities for developing the…

This article describes one school of social work's innovative online elective course to prepare Masters of Social Work (MSW) students for practice with the military, veterans and their families. Developed as part of a university-wide Veterans Initiative, this online course keeps the focus on the student veteran and uses the best practices of…

With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), ITEEA members will contribute to the development of a hybrid professional development program designed to facilitate the scale-up of an innovative underwater robotics curriculum. WaterBotics[TM] is an underwater robotics curriculum that targets students in middle and high school classrooms…

Three Northeast Texas community colleges put aside service delivery areas and matters of "turf" to create Centers of Excellence that provided training throughout a nine county area. This consortium; along with 14 manufacturers, seven economic development corporations, and the regional workforce board, led the change in training a highly…

Discusses problems that users with disabilities, particularly visual impairments, have with Web-based classes. Discusses efforts by the Texas Commission for the Blind to offer Web-based training to visually impaired staff members; and explains how to test a Web site for accessibility and how to make a Web site more accessible and effective. (LRW)

This brief paper discusses how in 10 year's time a system for providing caregiver training was developed in Texas. The training accessibility system consists of five dimensions: publications, free materials, resource rooms, child development specialists, Title XX training contracts and traveling resource vans. Tips for program continuity under…

The author discusses changes that the Texas Division for Blind Services made in its vocational rehabilitation program to increase competitive employment opportunities for vocational rehabilitation consumers who are blind and visually impaired. P. R. Warren, B. S. Cavenaugh, and M. J. Giesen (2004) reported that, nationwide, a higher proportion of…

This report documents a conference on the conceptual framework underlying the management of Teacher Corps Projects. The conference, designed to provide participants with training in specific skills pertinent to their responsibilities, was attended by school administrators, program development specialists, community coordinators, community council…

This report describes the implementation and operation of a 6-month peer coaching program, "Collegial Coaching: Transfer of Learning through Reflective Practice," at Estacado High School in Lubbock (Texas). The program was originally designed to assist teachers to improve their own management and instruction in the classroom. However, it…