Sustainability Camps provide an opportunity for Extension educators to be in the forefront of sustainability outreach and to meet the growing demand for sustainability education. This article shares development, implementation, and evaluation of an Extension Sustainability Camp for youth, grades 4-6. Camp impact was measured via daily pre-and…

This guide is designed to facilitate self-studies of planning and implementation of state-required summer reading camp programs for grade 3 students who scored at the lowest level on the state reading assessment. It provides a template for data collection and guiding questions for discussion that may improve instruction and increase the number of…

In 2011, working groups from across the eight campuses of Miami Dade College (MDC) conducted a wide-ranging examination of why many students were not completing their programs. These groups identified a number of reasons for student attrition. Students were unclear about how to progress through programs--they had too many course and program…

While much research has addressed the preparation of future public school teachers, more information is needed on the necessary skills for church music settings. Because little research has been completed on church music as an educational enterprise, there is a need for an investigation of church music participants' perceptions of instructional…

Allegheny Echoes is a summer programme of instruction and performance of music and poetry held in Marlinton, WV. The Bing Brothers learned their traditional music from the Hammons family of Pocahontas County, WV, in an informal setting of friendship and collaboration. The Hammons family was recorded in the 1970s by Alan Jabbour and others; the…

The ultimate objective of teacher professional development (TPD) is to deliver a positive impact on students' engagement and performance in class through teacher practice via improving their content and pedagogical content knowledge and changing their attitudes toward the subject being taught. However, compared to other content areas, such as…

In this article, we describe our research involving the administration of the Critical Reading Inventory-2 (CRI-2), an informal reading inventory that places special emphasis on thoughtful response to text and higher level thinking. We administered the CRI-2 to a group of students to obtain diagnostic data for guiding instruction. The data for…

We describe a college math course and summer research project in which students used their math skills to analyze sustainability issues on campus and in the wider community and how these projects contributed to bringing about change in the community. Staff members at the college played an important role in developing and supervising the student…

Engaging classes in every subject. Enriching encounters with the arts. Fun physical activities and healthy nutrition. Guided explorations of possible careers. Every young person deserves all of these experiences. At the moment, unfortunately, not all of the nation's children and youth do. This guide is intended to accompany the video…

This report examines provisional admission as an initiative that can expand four-year college access and success for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Provisional admission policies and programs enable students to enroll at an institution under specific conditions. Students are often required to meet certain academic…

The purpose of this Technical Assistance Paper (TAP) is to provide school districts with updates and changes relative to third-grade student progression policies, including information on alternative assessments, promotion criteria and resources. This paper provides: (1) General Information; (2) Student Portfolios for Third-Grade Students; (3)…

The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the presence and prevalence of the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) in summer programs for the gifted, (b) identify group and individual difference variables that help predict those who are more susceptible to the BFLPE, and (c) put the possible BFLPE on academic self-concept in a larger context of…

This study focuses on how low-income students determine employment and student loan borrowing options before they begin college, as part of the final stages of their college choice process. More specifically, this study asks, "during a six-week summer transition program, what choices are made by low-income students with employment or borrowing…

Through case-study reports, this paper examines the development of two induction-year teachers (years one to three) through their participation in a professional development community in the United States: the Invitational Summer Institute (ISI) of the National Writing Project. Typically, the ISI focuses its professional development efforts on…

Obesogenic environments promote excessive caloric and fat intake. A total of 23 low-income, African American adolescents digitally photographed their lunchtime food environment at a school buffet during summer camp. Depicted food was coded for nutritional content on the platescape (own plate or others' plates) and the tablescape (open buffet).…