Social distancing and school closures forced by the COVID-19 pandemic present extraordinary challenges for education. While the nation is just beginning to understand the impact of the last few months and what the months ahead will mean for students, families, and educators, the depth of students' connectedness to school and the quality of their…

In this brief, JFF (Jobs for the Future) explores what training providers can do to adapt their programming in ways that put the country on a path to an equitable economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors conducted research to examine what education and training providers can do to design programs that emphasize equity and…

Lesson study, especially when conducted with support from targeted resources, is often identified as a potentially effective means to support teacher learning. In this study, 80 school-based teams of educators, representing 80 classrooms of third- or fourth-grade students in the US, were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: lesson study…

Researchers suggest that the economy of the future will consist of jobs that do not currently exist, there will likely be a shortage of individuals with necessary education and credentials to fill those jobs, and if the nation does not produce this workforce, there will likely be a $1.72 trillion loss in productivity by 2030. Considering these…

Among all in-school factors that impact student learning, teachers carry the most weight -- but school leaders are not far behind. Decades of research have proven the positive influence principals can have on student achievement, school climate and teaching quality. New evidence suggests that their impact may be even greater than previously…

Developing a professional STEM workforce with a high degree of intercultural competence is essential in today's globalized world.To this end, Higher Education Institutions incorporate reflection to help students make meaning of their learning experiences. In this study, we investigated the development of intercultural and teamwork skills among…

Increasing costs and decreasing numbers of university Extension faculty have made it difficult to provide quality turfgrass short course education. In response, faculty from nine institutions collaborated to develop the Great Lakes School of Turfgrass Science. This 12-week online course provides students with unique learning experiences through a…

This study examined the policies, programming, and supports offered to matriculating students who are members of non-traditional belief groups at public institutions of higher education across the midwestern United States. This study defined students who may be members of non-traditional faith groups, such as agnostics, atheists, and Pagans.…

Positive motivation to perform work tasks has been associated with better performance and outcomes in both the organizational and informal education literature. In environmental education (EE), this means that more motivated instructors are likely to provide better programs for their participants. In this exploratory study across 15 states in the…

It is well-documented that students of color, and other historically underserved students, have had less access to an equitable and supportive learning environment, perpetuating school failure and, too often, a school-to-prison pipeline that is difficult to escape. This report shows how a number of states are taking advantage of opportunities in…

An estimated 17% to 30% of new teachers in the U.S. leave the profession within their first 5 years of teaching. Some challenges that prompt new teachers to leave the field include stress, lack of appropriate support, and feeling unprepared to handle behavioral and academic issues among their students. Research supports the finding that teachers…

All Catholic colleges and universities share in the Catholic Church's rich history of Catholic Social Teaching (CST). This article explores two key research questions that focus on that grounding in today's world: First, how strongly is CST woven into the institutional fabric of those institutions; second, is that done implicitly or explicitly? We…

The purpose of this quantitative study is to explore the frequency of uncivil behaviors amongst teachers. The research seeks to determine leadership support and job satisfaction levels in order to relate their relationship to turnover. Fulfillment of teachers' basic psychological needs is essential for optimal performance and growth. The 2018…

Prior research has classified strategies to facilitate adult learners' transitions to postsecondary opportunities into five broad categories: advising, General Educational Development-plus (GED-plus), English as a second language, career pathways, and college preparatory (Zafft, Kallenbach, & Spohn, 2006). This two-part study relied on…

As part of our research on the community college baccalaureate (CCB), we studied the prospects of adopting and scaling CCB degrees in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Higher education leaders in these six Great Lakes states recognized the potential for CCB degrees to increase academic, geographic and financial access to…