The Development of Home-School Partnership Courses: A Practice Based on Xingzhi Tao’s Life Education Theory

Home-school partnership plays a critical role in student growth and the home-school partnership courses provide important paths to achieving ideal results of the partnership. Under the guidance of the three principles of “life is education”, “society is school” and “integrating teaching, learning and practice” in Xingzhi Tao’s life education theory, Shandong 271 Education Group developed the parent school course and the family civilization course, which turn out to be a systematic support for the home-school partnership program. This paper analyses the status quo of home-school cooperation in China and focuses elaborations on the components and practice of the two courses in Shandong 271 Education Group.

The Development of Home-School Partnership Courses: A Practice Based on Xingzhi Tao’s Life Education Theory

Home-school partnership plays a critical role in student growth and the home-school partnership courses provide important paths to achieving ideal results of the partnership. Under the guidance of the three principles of “life is education”, “society is school” and “integrating teaching, learning and practice” in Xingzhi Tao’s life education theory, Shandong 271 Education Group developed the parent school course and the family civilization course, which turn out to be a systematic support for the home-school partnership program. This paper analyses the status quo of home-school cooperation in China and focuses elaborations on the components and practice of the two courses in Shandong 271 Education Group.

Improving Teacher Evaluation: Walking the Talk of Standards-Based Grading

Teachers and school leaders frequently express a disconnect in the purpose and importance of teacher evaluation, particularly as it relates to educator growth. At the same time, some schools are beginning to communicate student growth through a standards-based grading philosophy. One way schools might “walk the talk” of their grading reform efforts designed to communicate student growth is through the use of proficiency scales to prioritize growth in teacher evaluation. This paper describes implications of simultaneously utilizing a growth model for teacher evaluation and a student growth model via standards-based grading.

Evaluation of Talent Cultivation Quality of Modern Apprenticeship Based on Context-Input-Process-Product Model

Based on context-input-process-product (CIPP) model, this paper proposed an evaluation system of the talent cultivation quality of modern apprenticeship in high vocational education schools, and applied the proposed system to evaluate the talent cultivation quality of modern apprenticeship in an example school H. The research findings of this study revealed that, on the one hand, it will greatly improve the quality of cultivated talents if the talent cultivation objectives are kept in line with the requirements of employer companies, the apprenticeship system is built according to the law of student growth and development, and there’re good apprenticeship project resources, support and management; on the other hand, it will have an adverse impact on the effect of apprenticeship projects if students’ employment willingness has not been fully motivated, or the implementation environment is poor for the apprenticeship, or the tutors in enterprises change frequently. Based on these findings, this paper proposed a few countermeasures for improving the talent cultivation quality of modern apprenticeship, that is: fully consider students’ appeals and boost their desire for employment; forge a team of enterprise tutors capable of and good at teaching; improve the quality of apprenticeship projects for junior year students; deepen the integration between industry and education and provide strong guarantee for both school education and enterprise training.

Identifying Tennessee school-based agricultural education student growth and program accountability metrics

Over the years, accountability in education has transformed from the primary focus being the school as a whole to the individual teacher. The purpose of this study was to determine the metrics Tennessee school-based agricultural education teachers perceive as indicators of excellent total programs (classroom instruction, FFA, SAE), and a modified Delphi study was used to seek a consensus. The following nine metrics were retained: (a) pesticide certification, (b) program of activities, (c) number of students participating in CDEs, (d) chapter community service hours, (e) total number of FFA activities, (f) number of CDEs coached, (g) at least one proficiency at regional level, (h) one American degree every 3 years, and (i) percentage of students with SAE. Overall, the metrics agreed upon are narrow in focus and all but one is a record of activity and not direct measures of students’ knowledge or skills. As a result, the measures do not include student growth or value-added scores or authentic assessments of 21st century skills. Additional research is needed to further investigate the metrics that should be used to measure a school-based agricultural education program’s success in Tennessee and across the nation.

Indigenous Empowerment Through Community-Engaged Health Education Curriculum: Health Promotion in a Commercial Tobacco Cessation Campaign

Community-engaged classrooms offer advantages to both students and community-based organizations by creating an environment where students become agents of change and contribute to meeting communities’ health needs. However, most community-engaged classroom research is done in high-income contexts in advanced curriculums with graduate students. This article explores a community-engaged classroom project at a minority- and indigenous-serving undergraduate institution, focusing on indigenous student empowerment. Commercial tobacco use prevention is of particular importance to indigenous contexts and resulted in a college policy change to reflect indigenous values. Students designed, implemented, and evaluated a tobacco product education campaign to effect change using a community-engaged approach. The educational activities included (1) understanding the tobacco context, (2) health communication course design, (3) forming key partnerships, (4) facilitating student activities through behind-the-scenes work, (5) designing and implementing a campaign, and (6) student growth and empowerment. We illustrate how academic and state partnerships can align interests in implementing public health policies and providing students with real-world public health communication and health equity experience.