Browsing by Author "Coartney, Jama S."

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    Agriculture Workforce Stakeholders Highlight Importance of Durable Skills and Networks
    Coartney, Jama S.; Kaufman, Eric K.; Nelson, Dalton; Westfall-Rudd, Donna M.; Seibel, Megan M.; Friedel, Curtis R.; White, Amy; Carmichael, Celeste J. (North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture, 2022-06-20)
    As America’s workforce changes, so does the nature of the work and skills necessary for success. Employers are increasingly in need of a workforce that effectively engages in collaborative leadership. Educational opportunities, such as community college and two-year degree programs, need to include collaborative leadership learning experiences to help build workforce readiness. Debuting findings at NACTA 2019, APLU researchers identified 11 employability skills that were most important to stakeholders and had the largest gaps in terms of readiness. Indeed, the Christensen Institute recently identified “investing in durable skills and durable networks,” as one of the “5 Education Innovation Trends Worth Watching in 2022.”Also, America Succeeds (2021) reports on “The High Demand for Durable Skills.” Findings from three years of action research reveal insights on employability and durable skills for collaborative leadership. Expanding beyond four-year degree programs, project stakeholders include agriculture faculty from nine community colleges and one two-year degree program. These agricultural educators are bridging the gap by refreshing existing workforce development curricula to meet 21st century agricultural industry needs; they are designing, developing, and evaluating leadership curricula for technical and community colleges to prepare the agriculture workforce for effective leadership in an increasingly diverse environment. The study used a semi-structured protocol with two focus groups. Participants, affiliated with agricultural workforce preparation programs, surfaced six key themes: (1) Agreeing with APLU employability skills report, (2) Finding positive benefits in completing internships, (3) Strategizing to build problem-solving skills, (4) Addressing ‘soft skills” assessment challenges, (5) Prioritizing verbal communication skill enhancements, and (6) Learning how to accept faults and mistakes. The relevance of this topic in today’s climate cannot be understated. This action research approach, with stakeholders from multiple institutions, can serve as a model for expanding educational networks to exchange knowledge and share leadership curricula.
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    Building Durable Skills and Networks: Leadership Educators' Contributions to Workforce Readiness
    Coartney, Jama S.; Kaufman, Eric K.; Westfall-Rudd, Donna M.; Seibel, Megan M.; Friedel, Curtis R.; White, Amy; Carmichael, Celeste (Association of Leadership Educators, 2022-06-26)
    As America’s workforce changes, so does the nature of the work and skills necessary for success. Employers are increasingly in need of a workforce that effectively engages in collaborative leadership. Educational opportunities should include collaborative leadership learning experiences to help build workforce readiness. Findings from action research reveal insights on durable skills and networks for collaborative leadership. Agricultural educators are bridging the gap by refreshing existing workforce development curricula to meet 21st century agricultural industry needs. Taking an activity-oriented approach, Leadership-as-Practice may assist in providing additional understanding of leadership practices or phenomena (Raelin, 2011, 2020). The purpose of this project was to reveal ideal approaches to integrating collaborative leadership education into existing curricula. The study used a semi-structured protocol with two focus groups. Participants, affiliated with agricultural workforce preparation programs, surfaced six key themes: (1) Agreeing with APLU employability skills report, (2) Finding positive benefits in completing internships, (3) Strategizing to build problem-solving skills, (4) Addressing “soft skills” assessment challenges, (5) Prioritizing verbal communication skill enhancements, and (6) Learning how to accept faults and mistakes. This action research approach, with stakeholders from multiple institutions, can serve as a model for expanding educational networks to exchange knowledge and share leadership curricula.
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    Building Professional Collaborations between Community College and Land Grant University Faculty
    Coartney, Jama S.; Kaufman, Eric K.; Westfall-Rudd, Donna M.; Seibel, Megan M.; Friedel, Curtis R.; White, Amy; Carmichael, Celeste (American Association for Agricultural Education, 2022-05-17)
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    CAIA Lightning Talk: North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Recap
    Coartney, Jama S.; Ellis, Lisa; Johnson, Kellie; Nunoo, Nicole; Smilnak, David; Kaufman, Eric K. (2022-08-11)
    Are you curious about teaching in agriculture and what can be done to improve learning? That is the focus of the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA). At the 2022 NACTA conference, Virginia Tech personnel were involved with 11 different presentations. This lightning talk will highlight insights and ideas from the conference.
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    Cases in Agricultural Leadership: An Open Access Book Opportunity
    Kaufman, Eric K.; Adeoye, Samson; Coartney, Jama S. (2023-07-19)
    Case studies are a valuable instructional tool for bridging the gap between abstract concepts and practical application. That bridge can be particularly elusive when combining disparate concepts like agriculture and leadership, yet that is the challenge facing hundreds of agricultural leadership educators. Undisguised teaching case studies can help, and some are already available in the Association of Leadership Educators’ (ALE) Case Study Database, yet more are needed to meet the need. This roundtable discussion will explore ideas and opportunities for an open access textbook. We anticipate rich dialogue with prospective authors, learners, and educators, gleaning insights to guide a path forward for this potential book idea.
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    Coaching for Improvement: Developing the DoDEA Coaching Model
    Kaufman, Eric K.; Schuermann, Patrick J.; Cannon, Mark; Coartney, Jama S.; Mitra, Shreya; Anderson, James (2019-07-09)
    The International Coach Federation defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” While the concept of coaching is nothing new, it is gaining ground in new settings, including educational leadership. As a practical illustration, we highlight the transformative approach of Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) towards restructuring its worldwide school system. DoDEA’s approach included formation of Centers for Instructional Leadership, and the work of those centers depends upon effective coaching. This paper describes the professional learning that contributed to emergence of the DoDEA Coaching Model.
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    Comprehensive Evaluation of DoDEA's Centers for Instructional Leadership: Final Report
    Kaufman, Eric K.; Coartney, Jama S.; Archibald, Thomas G.; Cash, Carol; Anderson, James; Sen, Anuradha (2020-02-28)
    Since 2016, Virginia Tech has been partnering with DoDEA to support the Centers for Instructional Leadership (CILs) through professional learning delivery and evaluation. While activities of the cooperative agreement have been highlighted in prior reports, this report represents the final deliverable for the comprehensive evaluation of the CILs. The primary goals of this report include: 1. Inform decision-makers of the current state and stage of the program initiative, based on the desired long-term outcomes. 2. Evaluate the extent to which progress is being made on the intermediate goals of building instructional leadership capacity. 3. Based on the identified progress, provide recommendations and suggestions to continuously improve the program design to help attain the desired outcomes. This third and final phase of the comprehensive evaluation involved investigation of multiple sources of data, including 20 focus groups, 10 key informant interviews, and analysis of a wide array of documents. The report findings are structured around the following evaluations questions: ● To what extent do instructional leaders identify the CIL as a key resource for their growth and advancement as leaders? ● How is instructional leadership shifting as a result of CIL facilitation and support of system priorities? ● In what ways have the CILs facilitated learning networks that instructional leaders value? ● In what ways do the CILs share and scale innovative best practices through situationally-appropriate improvement strategies? ● Based on DoDEA’s definition and framework of ‘Instructional Leadership,” are the CILs truly serving as Centers for Instructional Leadership? The interviews and focus group sessions were an invaluable opportunity to advance our understanding of the CILs’ work, particularly among the four CIL functions: (1) Leadership Development and Support, (2) Development for Systemic Priorities, (3) Learning Networks, and (4) Innovative Best Practices. Although the CILs were formed before DoDEA’s Blueprint for Continuous Improvement, instructional leaders are recognizing the integral relationship between the work of the CIL and DoDEA’s priorities at large. The progress extends beyond isolated success stories. From a big picture standpoint, it is helpful to consider where DoDEA would be without the CILs: “Before the CIL existed, if we think about that, everything either came from Headquarters or through ISSs…. Now, there’s a regional, as well as district, and complex support; and we’re bringing not only the systemic priorities, but we’re modeling them.... I wonder if just the CIL itself—and that whole Theory of Action—brings innovation and life to the agency itself.” (focus group participant) Do the CIL efforts for improved instructional leadership result in improved student achievement? This question for long-term evaluation remains as important as ever, yet the influencing variables are constantly changing. Accordingly, a snapshot in time is never sufficient. While the work of the CILs is functionally removed from the classroom, the CIL Theory of Action presents a conceptual roadmap for the intended impact. In order for the CILs to maintain a viable role within DoDEA, they must demonstrate regular progress toward strategic initiatives outlined in DoDEA’s Blueprint for Continuous Improvement. This report concludes with recommendations aligned to the interconnected phases of AdvancED’s Continuous Improvement System: Learn and Share, Examine and Plan, and Act and Evaluate.
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    Connecting the Dots Between Team Science, Leadership Education, and the Interdisciplinary Research Pipeline
    Kaufman, Eric K.; Coartney, Jama S. (2021-10-21)
    Short Description Working together with Team Science practitioners, leadership scholars have a unique opportunity to further advance the application of effective team processes. This combined effort can contribute to successful outcomes for science teams working on some of the most complex and wicked challenges of today and tomorrow. Through dialogue, this interactive round table explores possibilities on how academic and Team Science leaders might collaborate to strengthen the talent pipeline. Roundtable hosts will draw upon their own experience with a new graduate-level course (“Team Science, Cooperation, and Interdisciplinary Research”) and encourage sharing of other examples. Detailed Abstract Increasingly, our society is experiencing problems where there are no easy answers or fixes. These problems require teams of people from multiple disciplines and perspectives to help uncover solutions. As noted by Stedman and Adams-Pope (2019), “in the coming years, the nature of the problems researchers are asked to solve are only going to grow in complexity requiring a greater range of input and support from a diversity of researchers” (p. 22). The National Research Council (NRC, 2015) has described Team Science as a relatively new definition of team collaboration, which has formed in response to the need for addressing complex challenges in scientific communities. While individuals on these science teams may be well-versed in their areas of expertise, they frequently do not have experience with contributing to team efforts (Adams et al., 2012) and more collective forms of leadership (Wilson et al., 2020). The champions of team science initiatives may have a deep understanding of the scientific issues, but they may not have developed the experience to navigate some of the unique challenges of interdisciplinary science teams, which include: 1) high diversity, 2) need for deep knowledge integration, 3) large sizes, 4) goal misalignment with other teams, 5) permeable boundaries, 6) geographical distance, and 7) high task interdependence (NRC, 2015). While team science practitioners may not have experience leading team cognitive, motivational, and behavioral processes, their knowledge and skills can be improved through professional development and leadership education. Indeed, findings by Braun et al. (2020) highlighted a potential area for improvement: “the best means of understanding and ultimately improving team performance is by leveraging coordination behaviors” (p. 572). In 2015, the National Research Council recommended “leadership researchers, universities, and leaders of team science projects should partner to translate and extend the leadership literature to create and evaluate science leadership development opportunities for team science leaders and funding agency program officers” (p. 9). This call to action encourages universities and researchers to reimagine how to design academic leadership programs to help address these issues that are being identified in the field. Furthermore, the National Leadership Education Research Agenda 2020–2025 noted the need to connect leadership education to multidisciplinary work: “articulating and contextualizing purpose for the multidisciplinary contexts of leadership education, and creating value for the world” (Andenoro & Skendall, 2020, p. 37). Unfortunately, “professors tend to be sceptical about many things, and leadership is no exception” (Leiserson & McVinney, 2015, p. 281). Even still, there is growing interest in developing science team leaders with the integrative capabilities needed to support and guide disciplinary diverse research teams (Salazar et al., 2019). Some leadership educators are working to fulfill this need through new courses and programs. This roundtable will explore insight from the broader community of leadership pracademics through the following discussion prompts: - Should higher education programs in leadership studies include the Science of Team Science as part of the curriculum? If so, how? - How might the Science of Team Science inform leadership research? Where are the opportunities? - How can leadership theories, frameworks, models, and practices help to inform the Science of Team Science? - Where can leadership educators engage and support science teams in ways that have been previously overlooked? - How might this type of professional development benefit from online and in-person delivery? - What might a cooperative relationship look like to help build interdisciplinary research pipelines? (Who are the stakeholders?)
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    DoDEA CIL Instructional Leadership Toolkit
    Kaufman, Eric K.; Sen, Anuradha; Coartney, Jama S.; Anderson, James (2020-07-22)
    These are PDF portfolios of resources provided to the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) for use by the Centers for Instructional Leadership (CILs) in their efforts to initiate and launch improvement cycles. The dynamic toolkit is designed to help regions, districts, and schools establish, grow, and maintain a culture of inquiry and data use that can inform decisions that will have a positive impact on teaching and learning in a region, district and school. The Toolkit is organized into four major sections. Section 1 of the Toolkit deals with concepts about change and its management to achieve desired outcomes. Section 2 borrows from adult learning theory and focuses on developing the capacity of yourself and others to work effectively in focused collaborations/professional learning communities. Section 3 provides models and skill aids for leading professional learning around facilitative leadership; coaching for learning; and assessing needs, action planning, and performance monitoring for change in practice. Section 4 focuses on data-driven decision making and will deepen your understanding of how a variety of data sources can be used to improve, increase and enhance teaching and learning in the region, district, school and classroom. Each section of this Toolkit has multiple professional learning opportunities designed to build new knowledge or reinforce existing knowledge. The Toolkit can be used by an interested individual, in teams, or school/region wide. Professional learning opportunities may include video clips to view and respond to, articles to read and respond to, case study to analyze, tools to try, templates to complete, checklists, infographics and more.
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    Enhancing Workforce Readiness Through a Convergence of Networks and Collaborative Leadership
    Coartney, Jama S.; Kaufman, Eric K.; Westfall-Rudd, Donna M.; Seibel, Megan M.; Friedel, Curtis R.; White, Amy; Carmichael, Celeste (2022-09-22)
    The future of work is changing, and educational opportunities, approaches, and resources need to change too. Employers need a workforce that effectively engages in collaborative leadership, has durable skills, and builds networks. This project integrates educational expertise—workforce alignment, leadership development, and curricular design—of agricultural educators to address future demands.
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    Envisioning a Future Workforce: Developing Durable Skills and Networks for Collaborative Leadership
    Coartney, Jama S.; Kaufman, Eric K. (International Leadership Association, 2022-10-14)
    As the global workforce changes, we approach a potential crisis in providing educational resources to prepare students for the future. Increasingly, employers need a workforce that effectively engages in collaborative leadership. Educational opportunities, such as community colleges and technical schools, need to build workforce readiness into the curriculum. Thoughtful inclusion of collaborative leadership learning experiences and investing in durable skills and durable networks may help to address the gap. Leadership-as- Practice Development (LAPD) may offer insight into how to prepare future generations of leaders on how to nimbly adjust to crises in an increasingly digital and disconnected world.
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    Essential Ingredients for Seasoned Teaching
    Coartney, Jama S.; Westfall-Rudd, Donna M.; Kaufman, Eric K.; Seibel, Megan M.; Friedel, Curtis R.; White, Amy; Carmichael, Celeste (North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture, 2023-06-22)
    More than a decade ago, the National Research Council challenged agricultural education professionals to transform their relationship to the evolving global food and agricultural enterprise. While recent improvements have been documented, technical and community colleges have often been overlooked and underserved. Community college leaders recognize the importance of preparing students for success in a work environment that includes the ability to adapt. While technical and subject matter skills are important, they change over time. Skills, such as communication, collaboration, and leadership, are more durable in nature. These durable skills are much more difficult to teach but are crucial to successful employment. These employability skills are of critical importance to agriculture's workforce. Workforce readiness preparation needs to be integrated into existing agricultural education and curriculum development. We introduce the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) model for improvement as an overarching framework for piloting, evaluating, and implementing curricular changes in a single course and across multiple sites. PDSA provides a simple, powerful tool to support continuous improvement in the classroom. A partnership between a four-year university and a team of community college partners has yielded research and learning opportunities that suggest benefits of utilizing the PDSA model to integrate employability, durable, and leadership skills into current curriculum. During the 2022-2023 academic year, a cohort of community college faculty incorporated the PDSA framework into the curriculum design process. Examples of this work include improvements to student motivation to learn, group project management skills, and workforce awareness and readiness. The PDSA continuous improvement approach offers a model that anyone can use to expand and enhance educational curricular design.
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    Farmers Market Leadership: A Qualitative Exploration of the Influence of Leadership on the Success and Failure of Farmers Markets in Virginia
    Coartney, Jama S.; Kaufman, Eric K. (Association of Leadership Educators, 2022-06-26)
    Farmers markets play an important role within local food systems and short food supply chains (SFSCs); they create community connections. While the number of farmers markets has increased dramatically since 1994, many markets fail, and it is unclear why. Little is known about the influence of leadership practices on their success and decline. This qualitative case study explored how leadership influences factors contributing to success and failure. The first objective explored patterns contributing to the success and failure. The second objective analyzed markets through different lenses of leadership. The study applied a leadership hexad (Jackson et al., 2018); adaptive leadership (Heifetz et al., 2009); and good-to-great leadership principles (Collins, 2011). Findings revealed surging operational changes, strong support in the SFSC, and the need for stabilizing forces. The six lenses of Jackson et al.’s leadership hexad generated nuanced findings about the influences of vendors, champions, and partnerships; the role of managers in supporting the community and entrepreneurship; confusing nature of ownership; planning for succession; surviving the startup phase; professionalizing farmers market management; co-constructing leadership with the community and vendors; evolving the purpose; and leveraging the purpose of farmers markets. Recommendations for future practice include professional development leadership pipelines.
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    How does leadership education shape students’ definitions of leadership? Insights from the Multi-institutional Study of Leadership
    Kaufman, Eric K.; Thornton, John; Coartney, Jama S. (Association of Leadership Educators, 2017-07-09)
    The Multi-institutional Study of Leadership (MSL) is an international research program focused on understanding the influences of higher education in shaping socially responsible leadership capacity and other related student outcomes. While there have been numerous reports on the quantitative findings from the MSL, the published research tends to ignore data from the qualitative prompt: “Please provide a brief definition of what the term leadership means to you.” By coding and categorizing those responses, we are able to explore the relationship between the students’ definitions and their participation in leadership education program activities. This poster will highlight emerging findings from one institution’s MSL data, including analysis of 1,570 definitions of leadership.
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    Integrating Employability Skills Into Agricultural Courses Using the PDSA Model of Improvement
    Coartney, Jama S.; Kaufman, Eric K.; Westfall-Rudd, Donna M. (2024-06-27)
    More than a decade ago, the National Research Council (2009) challenged agricultural teachers to transform their relationship to the global food and agricultural enterprise. With this in mind, Auger (2019) made an important observation: “Some skills are more lasting. Skills like leadership, collaboration, and communication” (para 4). These employability skills are of critical importance to agriculture’s workforce (Crawford & Fink, 2020), and research suggests they are “more difficult to train for” (D2L, 2019, p. 4). Agricultural educators must find ways to incorporate employability skills into classes so that teaching and learning can take flight, soaring to new heights. To improve agricultural courses, our workshop introduces the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) model for improvement (Langley et al., 2009). It is a strategy to pilot, evaluate, and implement changes to courses. PDSA provides a cyclical process, based on the scientific method, to support data-driven continuous quality improvement. It also provides a strategy for post-secondary teachers of agriculture to improve the scholarship of teaching and learning. This workshop is one of the results of a collaboration between a four-year program, technical program, and community college. Workshop objectives are to improve agricultural courses by (1) providing a simple, effective improvement process tool—PDSA, (2) reviewing PDSA examples that integrate agriculture and employability skills, and (3) practicing the PDSA model. Participants can practice the PDSA process with their own courses. Interactive activities include (1) reviewing examples done by other agriculture educators, (2) sharing ideas on how to blend employability skills into existing courses, (3) drafting an actual PDSA plan, and (4) discussing how this approach might transfer to other agricultural teaching experiences. PDSA provides a simple, powerful tool and strategy to continuously improve teaching and learning. This workshop introduces how to use PDSA to integrate employability skills into the scholarship of teaching and learning. References: Auger, J. (2019, May 6). Soft skills — not technical ones — should be the focus of upskilling initiatives. Training Industry. https://trainingindustry.com/blog/workforce- development/soft-skills-not-technical-ones-should-be-the-focus-of-upskilling-initiatives/ Crawford, P., & Fink, W. (2020). Employability skills and Students critical growth areas. NACTA Journal, 64, 132-141. D2L. (2019). The future of skills: In the age of the 4th industrial revolution. https://www.d2l.com/future-of-work/ Langley, G. J., Moen, R. D., Nolan, K. M., Nolan, T. W., Norman, C. L., & Provost, L. P. (2009). The improvement guide: A practical approach to enhancing organizational performance (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass. National Research Council. (2009). Transforming agricultural education for a changing world. National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/12602
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    Leadership purpose: Transforming farmers markets and the community food system
    Coartney, Jama S.; Kaufman, Eric K. (2022-09-22)
    Farmers markets play an important role in agriculture and the local food supply chain; they support rural livelihoods by connecting vendors, people, and community. This qualitative case study explores influences of leadership on farmers markets’ purpose through multiple leadership lenses. Future practice recommendations include a professional development leadership pipeline.
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    Leading Collaborative Change in an Educational Organization
    Kaufman, Eric K.; Mitra, Shreya; Anderson, James C. II; Coartney, Jama S.; Cash, Carol S. (Association of Leadership Educators, 2020-10-01)
    Organizations can effectively apply a variety of strategies for leading and accelerating desired change. As a practical illustration, this article evaluates an organizational change effort within the United States’ Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), analyzing the restructuring of its worldwide school system through Kotter’s accelerators for leading change. A cornerstone of DoDEA’s effort was the creation of three Centers for Instructional Leadership (CILs), whose mission is to improve student achievement by developing educational leadership and supporting instructional excellence. The development of DoDEA’s CILs presents a valuable case for understanding the leadership necessary for successful organizational change, particularly in light of Kotter’s model.
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    Planning Change: A Case Study on Cooperative Extension's Contribution to Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement in Educational Programs
    Anderson, James; Kaufman, Eric K.; Ripley, Dana; Cash, Carol S.; Guy, Timothy M.; Coartney, Jama S.; Mitra, Shreya (Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education, 2019-04-02)
    Introduction Over the decades, the US Federal Government has invested billions of dollars, intellectual resources, and human capital to assist partners both domestically and internationally with addressing challenges related to global development and human welfare. This support has reached across many sectors, including agricultural and food security, human rights and governance, health, water and sanitation, and education (USAID, 2018). Accordingly, federal agencies have sought efficient models for accomplishing the work in light of an increasing world population relying on finite resources. To this end, this case study presents a framework employed by a team of Extension and Education Specialists to work with the US Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) instructional leaders to develop a process for continuous improvement within their schools. The goal of this effort is to equip educators with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively prepare students to enter the supply pipeline as skilled workers through a college and career readiness curriculum in the DoDEA schools, which are in 9 states and US territories as well as 11 countries in Europe and Asia. The improvement planning framework emerged by drawing from a variety of leadership theories and practices that focus on change and improvement (Dufour, Dufour, Eaker, & Many, 2006; Forman, Stosich, & Bocala, 2017; Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016; Park, Hironaka, Carver, and Nordstrum, 2013). The themes for the continuous improvement framework are: 1) a focus on purpose; 2) a recognition of change as a continuous and complex process; 3) utilizing data-based practices, structures, and systems; 4) capitalizing on relationships and professional collaboration; and 5) building capacity. Project Methods Guided by the five points of the continuous improvement framework, the project team, in close collaboration with DoDEA leadership, developed face-to-face and virtual professional learning activities and offered them over the course of a two-year period to instructional leaders that made up the three regional (i.e., Americas, Europe, and Pacific) Centers for Instructional Leadership (CILs), a newly developed instructional support structure for DoDEA school administrators. These activities included job-embedded learning, research-grounded implementation, follow-up support, and supplemental job-aids related to developing professional learning communities and implementing transformative coaching in order to create a culture of continuous improvement in schools. After implementation of the professional learning for CIL personnel, key procedural documents, meeting notes, personal communications between the project team and DoDEA, and focus group transcripts were analyzed to evaluate the fidelity of implementation of the continuous improvement framework. Project Outcomes According to the documents analyzed, purpose is the driving force of the organization; it is the overarching goal that informs improvement initiatives. DoDEA developed and used Community Strategic Plans (CSPs) to coordinate and communicate their overarching purpose and initiatives towards that purpose throughout the organization. Additionally, the current CSP focuses on change as a continuous and complex process by highlighting the progress being made and explicit next steps in the change process, specifically related to changes to the organization’s Vision and Core Values. In order to assist with this systemic process of change, the CILs have received professional learning on focused collaboration and transformative coaching, which they have begun to roll out data-driven practices, structure and systems that support continuous improvement globally based on the organization’s stated priorities, stakeholder needs, and assessment data. Additionally, the CILs help to create consistency with the implementation of strategic initiatives that build capacity of instructional leaders throughout the three regions by capitalizing on relationships and professional collaboration both internal and external to DoDEA. Implications While continuous improvement is not new to education or international development initiatives, implementing it with fidelity in various contexts remains difficult (Park et al., 2013). The 5-point framework presented in this case study is based on current literature in the field of leadership development and education and provides the necessary components that Extension Specialists can implement when planning and facilitating continuous improvement in international education and training programs. DoDEA serves as an adequate case to explore this framework because it operates schools worldwide and as a result of being exempted from the educational mandates of US public schools, has removed levels of regulation that often impact change and improvement efforts in those schools. To this end, we believe that the framework is readily transferable to a variety of different contexts making it a feasible innovative model for Extension Specialists to use in international settings to create a culture of continuous improvement. References Dufour, R. DuFour, R., Eaker, R. & Many, T. (2006). Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Forman, M., Stosich, E.L., & Bocala, C. (2017). The internal coherence framework: Creating the conditions for continuous improvement in schools. Cambridge. MA: Harvard Education Publishing Group. Park, S., Hironaka, S., Carver, P. & Nordstrum, L. (2013). Continuous Improvement in Education. Stanford, CA: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Kirkpatrick, J. D., & Kirkpatrick, W. K. (2016). Kirkpatrick's four levels of training evaluation. Alexandria, VA: Association for Talent Development. USAID. (2018). US Agency for International Development: What we do [Website]. Retrieved at https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do
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    Planning to Create a Culture of Continuous Improvement with the Department of Defense Education Activity
    Kaufman, Eric K.; Cash, Carol S.; Coartney, Jama S.; Ripley, Dana; Guy, Timothy M.; Glenn, William J.; Mitra, Shreya; Anderson, James C. II (International Society for Educational Planning, 2019-11-26)
    While continuous improvement is not new to education, implementing it with fidelity in various educational contexts remains difficult. This article provides a framework of the necessary components in planning for and implementing continuous improvement, based on current literature in the field of education. Key characteristics for consideration include: (a) purpose-driven; (b) change as a complex process; (c) data-based practices, structures, and systems; (d) relationships for professional collaboration; and, (e) capacity building. Utilizing a qualitative case-study design and aspects of action research, the framework is used to outline efforts of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) in becoming a continuous improvement organization. Although implementation of continuous improvement is still in early stages, many lessons have been learned. As education researchers and policy makers continue to wrestle with best practices and strategies for continuous improvement, we encourage further investigation of successful case studies, including the potential of research-practice partnerships.
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    A Qualitative Exploration of the Influence of Leadership on the Success and Failure of Farmers Markets in Virginia
    Coartney, Jama S. (Virginia Tech, 2021-09-20)
    Farmers markets play an important role within the local food system and the short food supply chain (SFSC); they promote economic development by connecting vendors, people, and community. While the number of farmers markets has increased dramatically since 1994, many markets fail, and it is unclear why. Little is known about the influence of leadership practices on the success and decline of farmers markets. This qualitative case study explored the influences of farmers market leadership and asked the question: How does leadership influence factors contributing to success and failure of farmers markets? The first objective explored patterns and trends contributing to the success and failure of farmers markets. The second objective analyzed farmers markets through the lens of leadership. The study explored findings through application of Jackson et al.'s (2018) Leadership Hexad, developed to help examine leadership within social enterprises. Adaptive leadership (Heifetz et al., 2009) and good-to-great leadership principles (Collins, 2011) provided additional depth and connections to multiple leadership perspectives. The study may be of interest to people involved in leading and working with social enterprises, such as farmers markets. Findings revealed surging operational changes, strong support of the short food supply chain (SFSC), and the need for stabilizing forces, such as a stable location and municipal support. The six lenses of Jackson et al.'s Leadership Hexad—person, position, process, performance, place, and purpose—generated additional findings. Topics include the influences of vendors, champions, and partnerships; the role of managers in supporting the community and entrepreneurship; the ambiguity of ownership when referring to farmers markets; planning for succession; surviving the startup phase; professionalizing farmers market management; co-constructing leadership with the community and vendors; evolving the purpose; and leveraging the purpose of farmers markets within the local food system. The recommendations for future practice include a professional development leadership pipeline oriented to actors in social enterprises, especially farmers markets.