In this paper we match originally collected survey data from school board members in the state of Michigan with hard measures of school district outcomes to test two hypotheses regarding the relationship between strategic planning prioritization and organizational performance. We find that school board members who place a higher priority on…

High employee turnover in residential youth care facilities has the potential to decrease the accomplishment of the facilities' organizational goals. Business owners are concerned with employee intent to leave, as it is the number-one predictor of employee turnover. Grounded in job embeddedness theory, this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was…

Local leaders are essential for helping Michigan achieve its 30-year water strategy goals. The Michigan Water School is an Extension nonformal educational program to address the knowledge gap of local leaders. We evaluated programs conducted from 2017 to 2019. Results revealed program outcomes in knowledge, attitudes, perceptions of criticalness…

This mixed-method study examines Michigan's Partnership policy for school turnaround, which positions the district and superintendents as key policy implementation actors. We first interviewed 21 of 35 Partnership superintendents/leaders across Michigan and surveyed teachers to understand the initial response to the turnaround policy and the…

The Student Success Center Network (SSCN) Coaching Program engages community colleges in institutional transformation through institutional coaching. In the most recent phase of work, supported by Ascendium Education Group, Jobs for the Future (JFF) and Community College Research Initiatives (CCRI) engaged with grantee Centers in four…

The purpose of this study was to determine if implementing student response technology (SRT) and case studies into a largely populated university undergraduate course would influence student engagement. When student engagement is influenced the potential for positive learning outcomes occurs leading to a higher likelihood of student success (Swap…

Although research shows early intensive behavioral intervention is efficacious when delivered in university or private intervention centers, little is known about effectiveness or feasibility of disseminating early intensive behavioral intervention to larger communities. The Michigan State University Early Learning Institute was developed to…

As community colleges across the country look for ways to promote student success, the need for scaling effective approaches is critical. This guide builds on a framework of four phases of scaling developed in Job For the Future's (JFF's) previous publication, "Thinking Big: A Framework for States on Scaling Up Community College…

This paper focuses on how the University of Michigan-Flint's Innovation Incubator supports emerging for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations through programming, business plan development, and ongoing mentorship. The Incubator is especially interested in supporting start-ups that address key social issues in the surrounding community,…

With many potential community partners and a diverse student population, the metropolitan university has many opportunities to operationalize transformative learning, which involves a dramatic shift in one's assumptions that has a lasting change on their perspectives. The challenge of identifying transformative learning initiatives and making…

When the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Schools (NSBECS) were first developed, principal and superintendent of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan, David Faber writes in this article of his elation at the possibilities for measuring quality and for addressing total school improvement that the…

This report takes a closer look at not just student learning, but also the quality of school conditions that support that learning. There, too, Michigan has troubling weak spots. The state currently ranks 42nd of 47 for funding equity, meaning Michigan has some of the biggest gaps in resources between high-poverty and low-poverty school districts.…

Challenges that face the academic research enterprise are numerous. These concerns include, but are not limited to: declines in extramural funding for investigatorinitiated research, an aging faculty workforce (the average age of securing a faculty's first R01 is over 42), insufficient funds to support faculty laboratories, and limited access to…

This review article presents a simplified framework for thinking about research strategy priorities for academic medical centers (AMCs). The framework can serve as a precursor to future advancements in translational medicine and as a set of planning guideposts toward ultimate translational excellence. While market pressures, reform uncertainties,…

Background: Ample research provides evidence about the influence of effective teaching practices on student success. Yet the adoption of such practices has been slow at many institutions. Efforts to bridge the gap between research and practice are needed. Purpose: We describe an institutional change plan we developed to bridge this research-to-…