Employees in the outdoor recreation sector account for 3.2% of the U.S. workforce, contributing to over $1.1T in national economic output. As awareness of the sector's economic strength has grown, interest in promoting outdoor recreation careers has expanded. Research on outdoor recreation careers has not kept pace with workforce development…

There have long been anecdotal reports that some Maine districts have difficulty filling vacancies and retaining teachers. This is a common lament for schools in rural areas, and for schools across the state in hiring teachers for certain subject areas-namely math, science, special education, and foreign languages. Current policy initiatives in…

Reflecting the growing momentum in support of quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs) as a key strategy to improve early care and education quality, significant amounts of public dollars have been devoted to their development and implementation. In this brief, the authors report on their investigation of both quality rating and improvement…

Background: Businesses have been exposed to many positive accounts of the benefits of employee wellness to improve employee performance as well as reduce health and injury claims costs for the employer. However, many do not have the tools or experience to effectively demonstrate the benefits of a workplace wellness program for their own management…

Since 2002, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills has been the leading advocacy organization in the United States focused on infusing 21st century skills into education. Its "Framework for 21st Century Learning," the result of a consensus among hundreds of stakeholders, describes the skills, knowledge, and expertise students need to…

Purpose: Figuring out how to make home care jobs more attractive has become a top policy priority. This study investigates the impact of wages, hours, and benefits on the retention of home care workers. Design and Methods: Using a 2-wave survey design and a sample of home care workers from Maine, the factors associated with turnover intentions,…

Focused on the experiences with work of children from 7 months to 18 years of age in families who worked at home for income. Findings indicated all verbal children had concrete knowledge of their parents' work. All children were involved with their parents' work in a developmental progression. (Author/BB)

According to National Center for Education Statistics data, faculty wages in higher education have barely kept up with cost-of-living increases over the last several years. For support staff who work at the nation's colleges and universities, the situation is even bleaker. Wages are flat and, in some cases, have actually declined when accounting…

Compares responses of counselors in isolated school settings to their non-isolated peers on work environment issues. Reports isolated counselors viewed themselves and their role as more highly valued and felt a greater sense of control than their non-isolated peers, but found obstacles to service delivery in isolated settings. (Author/DHP)

Summarizes survey of 243 Maine social workers about work and roles, characteristics of successful practice, and problems. Results show few significant differences between rural and urban social work practice. (LFL)

Most superintendents experience high levels of stress associated with their school administrator role. This paper reports on a survey conducted to help Maine superintendents better understand the stressors inherent in their role. The Survey of Superintendent Stressors was distributed to all 1989-90 Maine public school superintendents and a…

The job satisfaction and organizational commitment of rehabilitation counselors working in public rehabilitation in Maine are the focus of this study. Participants were 41 rehabilitation counselor survey respondents whose agencies agreed to take part in the study. A total of 70 surveys were mailed. Job satisfaction was measured using the Minnesota…

Questionnaires were mailed to public school counselors to examine the latter's state of supervision. Although 63% of counselors desired supervision, only 20% were being supervised. This lack of involvement by counselors may indicate confusion in an evolving profession as well as the profession's ambivalent feelings toward supervision. (RJM)