Objective: This study investigated the efficacy of a two-component professional development approach to improving school wellness in Pennsylvania secondary schools. Design: Circle of Wellness (CoW), a year-long, two-phase programme, involved providing Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) workshops to Pennsylvania school staff and…

Apprenticeship is a learning model and a proven strategy for (1) developing a talented and trained pipeline of workers for employers; and (2) expanding family supporting careers for individuals not pursuing a traditional four-year college track (without foreclosing their opportunities to pursue college down the road). Yet in Pennsylvania, as in…

This article describes an educational design research program situated within a professional development school that led to the development of the Cultural Proficiency Continuum Q-Sort (CPCQ). The CPCQ is a tool that enables teacher educators to systematically examine preservice teachers' cultural competence concerning students who are…

As one of only six states receiving a federal Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy grant, Pennsylvania has designed and implemented an innovative program that focuses on improved instruction and interventions to ensure every student is literate and graduates from high school ready for college and a career. This report describes Pennsylvania's…

Millersville University of Pennsylvania (MU) has over 150 years of proud heritage in the preparation of teachers. This article describes how the Secondary Education Professional Development School (PDS) Program model has transformed Millersville University's secondary teacher education from a traditional teacher preparation program into a dynamic…

This document is a transcript of a panel discussion on the development and early stages of implementation of an accountability system for vocational education professional personnel development in Pennsylvania. Representatives of the Bureau of Vocational and Adult Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education, and three of the four participating…

A Pennsylvania study analyzed the capability of the existing systems to deliver a comprehensive, articulated program of vocational education. A review of prior studies of vocational education in Pennsylvania found consensus about needed changes in the state's program. Areas of improvement included governance and administration; leadership;…

This document accompanies a narrative volume that reports a study of Pennsylvania's vocational education system. It contains the instrumentation, participant lists, and all other supporting documentation. Chapter 1 is a data analysis of the open-ended interviews and second Delphi questionnaire that were used to determine the strengths and…

A curriculum development project was conducted to generate additional competency-based modules to be used within the articulation model for Pennsylvania dental assisting programs, established in 1988. Project activities included reviewing, modifying, and providing parallel competency-based structure for the courses at the A.W. Beattie Technical…

An evaluation was conducted to measure and assess student growth and development in the Second-Shift Program at the Johnstown Area Vocational-Technical School (Pennsylvania). The program was designed to provide educational services to students not generally accepted into the school's regular vocational program (eighteen of the forty participating…

This final program performance report contains an eight-page narrative and supplementary materials from a competency-based vocational education (CBVE) staff development project. The narrative reports the project whose purpose was to promote curriculum-improvement activities as identified by teachers through a self-evaluation process with the end…

A job opportunity-based curriculum planning model was developed for high school vocational agriculture programs. Three objectives were to identify boundaries of the geographical area within which past program graduates obtained entry-level position, title and description of position, and areas of high school specialization; number and titles of…

This practicum report describes in detail the efforts of a High School Task Force made up of 21 teachers to establish and operate a model high school as part of a new 4-4-4 educational plan for the Erie, Pennsylvania, schools. The Strong Vincent Comprehensive High School Renewal Site utilized curriculum revision, quarter course offerings, and…

Intended to facilitate the improvement of industrial arts education in Pennsylvania, the guidelines for planning and development emphasize an interdisciplinary approach. They are aimed at professional personnel and are divided into general provisions which are applied (with changes in specific content where appropriate) to elementary, middle…

The Northwest Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center's "wood cluster initiative" illustrates the benefits of rural business clusters. The initiative is turning a loose grouping of timber and forest-product firms into a competitive system by providing technical assistance, helping businesses plan and conduct job training programs,…