The following case study presents an approach to teaching research courses in undergraduate exercise science programs. Research courses are commonly required in the curriculum for this degree. Service learning (SL) is an effective way to promote student learning outcomes (SLOs) by providing hands-on experience for the students, and should be…

This study compared the quality of survey data collected from Mechanical Turk (MTurk) workers and college students. Three groups of participants completed the same survey. "MTurk" respondents completed the survey as paid workers using the Mechanical Turk crowdsourcing platform. "Student Online" respondents also completed the…

This phenomenological study explores the dimensions of youth-adult partnerships (YAPs) in agricultural mechanics classrooms in three rural schools. YAPs presume a positive learning collaboration between young people and adults who work together to achieve meaningful community-based change. Previous research on the development of YAPs has focused…

Increasing criticism of practicing educational leaders has led to additional critiques of the university programs in which they are prepared. In response, many states have mandated statewide university preparation program redesign. The articles in this special issue describe five unique cases of principal preparation program redesign--including…

As a diagnostic intervention (Bowles, Churchill, Effrat, & McDermott, 2002) for schools failing to meet school improvement goals, Kentucky used a scholastic audit process based on nine standards and 88 associated indicators called the Standards and Indicators for School Improvement (SISI). Schools are rated on a scale of 1-4 on each indicator,…

Differential response (DR), also referred to as alternative response (AR), family assessment response (FAR), or multiple track response, was developed to incorporate family-centered, strengths-based practices into child protective services (CPS), primarily by diverting lower risk families into an assessment track rather than requiring the…

College student retention has been and continues to be one of the most important issues facing the higher education community. Despite this importance, little is known about the type and methodological rigor of institutional efforts to increase student retention. This article presents the findings of a study which attempted to gain a clearer…

This paper presents information on re-developing an outcome evaluation for a state-funded program providing service coordination utilizing wraparound to youth with severe emotional disturbance (SED) and their families. Originally funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Kentucky IMPACT program has existed statewide since 1990. Changing…

Differences in reading comprehension were examined in students with disabilities after use of three reader modification types. Participants (n=10) conveniently selected from two school districts were students grades three through eight reading on a third grade level that received a reader as a modification in their Individualized Education…

This report describes efforts by five states (Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Rhode Island) to improve adolescent literacy. Highlighting common challenges and lessons, the report examines how each state has engaged key stakeholders, set rigorous goals and standards, aligned resources to support adolescent literacy goals, built…

In the past, juvenile gang researchers have focused primarily on the characteristics of gangs and the prevalence of gangs in communities and schools. One of the greatest limitations of this research, however, surrounds the lack of agreement on the definition of a gang and, consequently, the prevalence of gangs in the community and in schools. In…

The Evaluation of Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) systems was designed to provide the U.S. Department of Labor information on how states are designing, implementing, and operating their worker profiling and reemployment services systems for dislocated workers and to compare the effectiveness of different state approaches to…

One criticism of teacher preparation programs is that teacher education graduates, especially high school teachers, are ignorant of subject matter, particularly in comparison with non-education graduates who majored in the same subject areas. This study compared the grades received by education students with the grades received by non-education…

A statewide survey of educators and lay citizens was made to uncover their perceptions as to what are the most crucial concerns, problems, and needs of vocational education in Kentucky. A modified Delphi Survey was considered to be the most appropriate survey technique. A questionnaire (Appendix A) asking for a list of six to eight major concerns,…

Intended for use by educators and the public, this report interprets the findings of two research studies on competency-based vocational education (CBVE) in Kentucky secondary schools: "The Development of an Instrument to Measure Student Attitudes toward Competency-Based Individualized Instructional Modules," by John C. Thomas, and…