External program review is often considered the "gold standard" approach to evaluating academic programs in higher education. Despite the importance of program review, skepticism persists regarding its ability to meaningfully engage faculty and have sustaining impact on program improvement. This paper builds on the academic Program…

Background: There is increasing interest in the incorporation of animal-assisted services (AAS) in therapy for adults with acquired neurogenic communication disorders. AAS have the potential to enhance speech and language therapy engagement and outcomes. However, a greater understanding of the nature and potential benefits of these interventions…

Teacher turnover can have a negative impact on school districts. This study sought to examine the causes for teacher turnover and to find solutions to increase teacher retention. Data collected in Cycle 1 originated from interviews with 10 continuing contract teachers focusing on their experiences in the classroom. From cycle 1 data, action steps…

Program-level assessment is a holistic approach for arranging assessments throughout a degree program that supports sequential development of discipline knowledge, transferable skills and career readiness. Currently, the modular arrangement of courses means that student learning is partial, limited to passing the assessment and compartmentalized…

This paper presents an exploratory evaluation of pilot nutrition education programs, Plan Shop Save Cook (PSSC). Behavior change between two nutrition education programs, Buy Eat Live Healthy (BELH; n=92 and PSSC; n=42), was examined using pre- and post-program questionnaire responses. Both programs resulted in significant improvement in food…

Intended for researchers and clinical leaders, this article suggests that embedded program evaluation is a good fit with the desired features of practice-oriented research. The systematic nature of evaluation that is built into the operational workflow of a practice setting may increase the diversity of methods available to explore processes and…

In recent years, virtual teaching and training environments, namely learning management systems (LMSs), have been increasingly used to monitor learning and to provide learning materials to students. This investigation evaluates the accessibility of the LMS platform used in a Portuguese university, using web accessibility validation tools, an…

Developing program-level assessment systems creates an opportunity for faculty to think deeply about their student learning objectives while creating structures that provide meaningful and actionable feedback. Unfortunately, many programs lack the expertise and/or support at the programmatic or institutional level to create efficient and effective…

The provision of all-female computer science outreach programmes is a common strategy used to foster greater interest in the subject for high school aged girls. Based on key factors that affect girls' interest in computer science (CS), outreach programmes often share much in their approach. Nonetheless, there is criticism from a research…

This exploratory study questions whether Master of Public Administration programs prepare future public administrators to how gender plays out in negotiations that occur in organizations. Negotiated Order and Second-Generation Bias perspectives provide the theoretical basis to understand that negotiations in organizations may privilege masculine…

The nation's community colleges play a central role in producing a more educated workforce and promoting social mobility. They serve about 40 percent of all college students and, not surprisingly, they serve a disproportionate number of low-income and underrepresented students. But most students who enter these colleges do not graduate--only about…

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is one of the United States' leading federal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) agencies and plays an important role in the landscape of STEM education. In 2015, NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) created the Science Activation (SciAct) program to increase the…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate Achievement Mentoring, a school-based mentoring program designed to enhance high school student retention and achievement once identified as being at-risk for dropping out before graduation. We present findings from an individual-level randomized controlled trial that included 393 10th and 11th-grade…

This paper summarizes the trends in research about student experiences in out-of-school time (OST) in countries of Europe. The analysis is based on a review of the content of research papers published between 1999 and 2019 in about 36 European countries. OST is recognized as an important aspect of students' educational experiences that deserves…

This article describes how a university and public child welfare agency partnership and a federal demonstration project trained MSW and PhD social welfare students in homelessness intervention research using a continuous quality improvement approach. Over a period of 5 years, the Cal-Child Welfare Leadership Training model between University of…