Top industries impacting Ohio and East Central Indiana's economies are: (1) agriculture; (2) manufacturing; (3) IT; and (4) service. Without continuation of agriculture and manufacturing receipts, our people and communities will be unable to afford to critical services throughout our region (Aiman-Smith & Green, 2002, Deryn, 1989, Ditcher,…

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…

Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC) researchers visited 38 public high schools around the United States in 2007 and 2008 with the goal of validating and operationalizing a definition of college readiness. Schools in the sample were selected because they were demonstrating success at enabling more students from underrepresented groups to…

In the spring of 1987, several coaches at a forensic tournament expressed concern over a general lack of "safe debate" competition for novices. The coaches agreed that the solution was mutual support among themselves and a supportive environment which placed new debaters on an equal footing. That same spring, three colleges took part in…

In response to ongoing needs for improved preservice field experiences for prospective administrators, more stringent state certification standards, and technical support for practitioners, mutually beneficial alliances are being formed between universities and local schools. This paper describes part of a continuing University Council for…

This study investigates whole-school and district efforts to change mathematics and science instruction at their sites during the first year of reform. Two middle schools, one high school, and one elementary school participated in this study. The Model Schools Program which is utilized in this study features a constructivist approach. Teams of…

In response to a nationwide concern for quality education and academic preparedness, the Ohio State Board of Education created in 1983 the Early English Composition Assessment Program (EECAP) for improving the writing competency of exiting high school students. Faculty from more than 15 two- and four-year institutions and many more high schools…

In order for Child Protective Services (CPS) to be increasingly effective in a community, there must be a continuing attempt to build and maintain a sense of trust and credibility between local CPS agencies and school systems. Literature justifies the need for a teacher inservice training by the necessity of developing greater community awareness…

This paper examines perceptions of regular and special educators concerning the frequency and importance of collaborative practices in inclusive schools. Eighty schools in four rural counties of southern Ohio were ranked according to students' grade point average. A questionnaire was distributed to regular and special educators serving on…

The relationships between state government and private higher education are considered with emphasis on Ohio. It is noted that state colleges have received land and financial support from private sources and that there have been reciprocal arrangements of public support given to private colleges. These arrangements include different types of tax…

Strategies practiced by Ohio institutions to strengthen work-education relationships are described. Attention is also directed to reasons for increasing the level of cooperation between colleges and companies and factors that inhibit cooperative relationships. Colleges and universities in Ohio participate in a variety of local, regional, and…

The University of Akron's Reading Assessment Component (RAC) research study assessed the effectiveness of a computer-based literacy program, Principles of the Alphabet Literacy System (PALS), as an alternative to classroom instruction for functionally illiterate adults living in Summit County, Ohio. The RAC study assessed four objectives: (1)…

This study examined barriers facing rural schools in serving students at-risk and the perceptions of teachers, parents, and administrators related to the difficulty in changing these barriers. Seventeen rural school districts representing 5 counties in southern Ohio participated in the study. The survey collected 846 completed responses from…

Relations between colleges/college governing boards and statewide coordinating boards, and alternatives to coordination, are considered. The history of statewide coordinating boards is briefly sketched, and it is suggested that current conditions and trends require both state and institutional responses. Among the issues are declining enrollments…

Project RAISE (Rural America Institute for Special Educators) was a preservice teacher training program specifically designed for preparing special educators for the demands of rural settings. The project was conducted by the Department of Special Education at Bowling Green State University (Ohio) and concentrated on training special educators in…