Experienced grant writers know that reviewers are quick to decide whether they like or do not like the proposals they are reading. Therefore, much of the success of any given proposal rides on the strength of the first page--its capacity to "sell" the research idea to skeptical reviewers. This paper describes a writing technique designed to elicit…

Distance education permeates the field of professional and continuing education to such an extent that quality assurance (QA) is a topic no distance educator or administrator should avoid. Quality assurance is an issue not just for continuing education but also for higher education generally. Given the disruptive impact of distance education and…

The aim of this study is to evaluate the current state of, and the causes for, the substantial variation in the tuition rates of America's land-grant universities. This aim was pursued with the objective of trying to identify consistent and revealing policies and external characteristics related to the high level of variation that exists among…

Effective curricula are a cornerstone of successful Extension programming. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Nutrition and Health Planning and Guidance Committee (NGPGC) developed a set of recommendations for a curriculum review system and created a curriculum review checklist. The checklist describes components of an effective…

How do you become an effective Extension professional--produce scholarly work, provide strong educational programs for clientele, and show impact and outcomes? It requires proactive planning so that valuable impact can be measured and shared with appropriate stakeholders. Learn how the Department of 4-H Youth Development, Rutgers Cooperative…

Background/Context: The reconsideration of reverence was proposed by Paul Woodruffi's 2001 book, Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue. In examining reverence, we draw on moral philosophy, particularly the revival of virtue ethics, and acknowledge Woodruff's cross-cultural studies of reverence, particularly in ancient Greece and Confucian China.…

This Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) guidance report is designed to support senior leaders in primary and secondary schools to make better-informed decisions about their behaviour strategies. It includes a number of practical examples of programmes and approaches that should be helpful in schools and classrooms where behaviour is generally…

What works to increase Latino student success in higher education? Since 2005, "Excelencia" in Education has led the only national effort to recognize evidence-based practices that accelerate Latino student success in higher education through Examples of "Excelencia." Through this process, "Excelencia" recognizes…

This report describes the Achieve 180 Program in Year 2. The 53 participating schools received Texas Education Agency campus accountability ratings of "Improvement Required" (IR), "Not Rated," or "Former Improvement Required" at the end of the 2017-2018 school year. The 2018-2019 Achieve 180 Program's centralized…

Transition planning officially begins between the ages of 14 and 16 for most students with an IEP. However, the process is lifelong. Job Exploration Counseling, or Career counseling/guidance includes a wide variety of activities which help students explore career options and opportunities available. Job exploring options are intended to foster…

This study reports on a sequence of iterative redesigns of a graduate-level foreign language teacher education course. The study describes the interplay between technology and pedagogy that resulted in important curricular changes, from a focus on individual to social and then holistic reflection. Using a team-based design model, instructional…

Student learning style differences have been widely researched in both traditional face-to-face and online learning environments (Irani, Scherler & Harrington, 2003;Steinbronn, 2007; Williamson & Watson, 2007; Ugur, Akkoyunlu & Kurbanoglu, 2001). After conducting a literature review of adult student learning styles and teaching method…

This application brief describes the exploratory assessment of a mentoring program between current students and alumni of a leadership studies minor program. We connect leadership education research and practice in two ways: first, we describe a process of qualitative program evaluation to inform program best practices and improvement. In doing…

Professional development school partnerships can improve teaching and learning in our schools. To support these partnerships, the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) developed standards for professional development schools. In this article, we address the questions, "What NCATE standards work from the point of…

Texas' Hispanic population has increased dramatically since 2000 as have Hispanic enrollments in higher education (+118%). Despite having the largest spike in college enrollment, Hispanic students' completion rates remain the lowest among all ethnic groups. To identify institutional practices that might encourage Hispanic student retention,…