Rural communities face incredible challenges and emerging opportunities. Land-grant universities are well-positioned to assist by developing new approaches to inspire university students to become civically engaged, rural community members. With this aim, the Rural Scholars program at Oklahoma State University was developed as an opportunity for…

The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program is a residential, quasi-military program that serves young people ages 16 to 18 who are struggling to complete their high school credential. This is the ninth report in an annual series that RAND researchers have issued. The prior annual reports cover 2015 through 2022. Each annual report documents the…

The lack of educator retention is one of the most significant threats to agricultural education's impact. With approximately 41% of educators exiting the profession in their first five years of employment, many agricultural educators report experiencing difficulty teaching agriculture curriculum. Furthermore, many agricultural educators report…

This report focuses on a 2023-2024 implementation of "My Reading Academy" at Epic Charter Schools in Oklahoma. "My Reading Academy" was first used with a small pilot group of students and educators at the charter school network in school year 2022-2023, and based on the initial positive results, the implementation of the…

Child trafficking poses a momentous public health threat to students in public schools. Although school nurses are exceptionally positioned to identify and respond to trafficking, most lack training and resources in this critical area. This project aimed to evaluate the impact of a multifaceted intervention on school nurse preparedness and…

Volunteers are critical to 4-H program delivery; however, volunteer retention remains a persistent challenge within youth development organizations. To address this concern, a coalition of 4-H volunteer specialists from the Southern region designed and delivered a five-part webinar series titled "Ignite the Spark: Strategies for Engaging and…

Boosting literacy among school-age children remains a national priority. Nearly one third of students in the United States have not developed the foundational reading skills needed to succeed academically, with students living in poverty, students with disabilities, and English learners especially at risk. Starting in 2010, Congress invested more…

Although US teenage birth rates substantially decreased over the past two decades, it still remains the highest in the developed world. More innovative, community-wide initiatives are needed to combat the issue. In Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, the Central Oklahoma Teen Pregnancy Prevention Collaboration is utilizing the collective impact model to…

The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program is a residential, quasi-military program for youth ages 16 to 18 who are experiencing difficulty in traditional high school. This report covers the program years 2018-2019 and is the fourth in a series of annual reports that RAND Corporation researchers have issued over the course of a research project…

The PreK-12 and higher education systems operate as separate and distinct entities (Kirst & Venezia, 2004). States organize them as separate units and the administrators in the systems are formally trained separately and operate separately with few exceptions. While studies have been conducted from the PreK-12 and higher education perspectives…

The 'home project' concept, now known as a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE), has been a cornerstone of School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) for 100+ years. This experiential element of SBAE provides students with authentic and relevant experiences to enhance the learning process. While agricultural educators throughout the U.S. agree…

Developed by the National Writing Project (NWP), the College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP) seeks to improve students' argument writing by building teachers' understanding of and skill in teaching source-based argument writing. The program features intensive professional development, skill-based instructional resources, and…

Many teachers are ill-prepared to support LGBTQ+ students. School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) is often perceived as not inclusive of these youth. Therefore, we explored perceptions of SBAE alumni who identified as LGBTQ+ regarding their SBAE programs' climates. The study's quantitative phase described participants' perceptions regarding…

Utilizing effective data collection methods to track student progress on Individual Education Program (IEP) goals is essential to quality programming and meeting each student's specific needs. This study surveyed special education teachers in four midwestern states to understand IEP data collection methods and assessment training. Results…

Youth apprenticeship programs can give students access to valuable work-based learning experiences that provide insights into how their interest can connect to education and the workforce. Although these programs are often beneficial for participants, there is little data to show the programmatic landscape and impact. There are many challenges…