Head Start, the largest early learning program in the United States, provides free federally funded, high-quality early learning for children alongside wraparound supports for parents. Its mission includes helping families achieve self-sufficiency and economic security, such as by helping parents access and succeed in college and workforce…

Demographic changes promise to reshape the market for higher education in the next 15 years. Colleges are already grappling with the consequences of declining family size due to low birth rates brought on by the Great Recession, as well as the continuing shift toward minority student populations. Each institution faces a distinct market context…

Communities in California and around the country are implementing learning hubs to provide in-person education supports to students who are distance learning. In this brief, we explore a prevalent learning hub model and raise considerations for local policymakers, schools, and expanded learning partners. We include guidance for the design and…

What does it mean for students to be in a gifted program? While about 7% of students nationally participate in gifted programs, relatively little is known about the experiences of students in these programs or how they vary across districts. Combining administrative and survey data, we describe the structure of gifted programs across nearly 300…

The purpose of this study is to provide insight into strategies that promote a practice of evaluation in community colleges. This study focuses on the aspects of organizational culture including employee engagement, leadership participation, evaluation practices, values and expectations, organizational norms, and benefit and incentive system…

This theoretical paper anchors service learning (S-L) in three broad sociological theories. From there, discussions on the actual implementation of S-L based on these theories are explained to build an integrated S-L sociological framework. Four S-L modalities of community engagement are identified--namely transactional, transitional,…

Internships are widely promoted as a "high-impact" practice, yet the literature is limited by insufficient attention to the impacts of program format on student outcomes. In this mixed-methods study survey (n=1,129) and focus group (n=57) data from students in three U.S. colleges were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis,…

School Age Care is a setting that is little researched and the research that has been conducted has not often sought the perspectives of older children. This article describes a participatory and ethnographic research project that sought a deeper insight into older children's experiences of an Australian School Age Care setting, seeking their…

The COVID-19 crisis has upended students' lives and their career plans, including their ability to line up college internships. As millions of people across the country continue to work or attend school from home, many companies and organizations have had to cancel their internship programs, which are an important part of recruitment and diversity…

The COVID-19 crisis is certain to have significant and enduring consequences for all sectors of public education. Although most of these consequences are negative and dire, at least two offer hope. First, appreciation for the work teachers do has grown; second, for the recently unemployed, teaching may become a more desirable occupational option.…

"Blended learning" is an educational approach that combines online and face-to-face components in the classroom, and it is becoming popular in American schools. But the quality of these programs is inconsistent; some are based on scientific findings on how children learn, while others lack such support. In fact, very little reliable…

In order to expand high quality public preschool, a 3-step approach to ensuring adequate funding is needed. First, design a program to meet a state's goals and then determine the cost of that program. Second, designate how the resources to pay for that cost will be obtained. Third, specify how the funds will be distributed to local entities. The…

Several studies have highlighted the mental health challenges of children and youth during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period, especially, in relation to an escalation of depression, anxiety, and stress. Whilst this may be the reality, it is unfortunate that most of the studies adopt a psychopathological point of departure often portraying doom…

The purpose of this study was to implement a redesign of developmental education at Delaware Technical Community College and to evaluate its effectiveness in improving overall First Time Ever in College (FTEIC) student success through gateway English and math completion, fall-to-fall persistence, and narrowing or closing of opportunity gaps…

Sharing the journey of developing an ePortfolio assignment, this article focuses on the design process, implementation, and benefits of the ePortfolio as a capstone project for a bachelor's degree program using a constructivist approach. Integrating constructivist educational practices (e.g., student-centered learning, autonomy, self-regulation,…