For months, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been debated throughout the media, legislatures, education organizations, and households across the country. Education groups have released statements both in favor of the standards and opposed. As these arguments are being tossed around, 44 states and D.C. are implementing CCSS and other…

Higher Education and Civic Engagement provides an original and challenging contribution to contemporary debates on the civic purpose of higher education. It explores teaching and learning, research, and service in a range of international contexts. This book is essential reading for higher education leaders, faculty, administrators, and members of…

Compares the Schools Reaching Out programs at two elementary schools in Roxbury (MA) and New York City with four similar projects elsewhere. Describes how an intervenor not involved with the ordinary operation of the school can help design, direct, motivate, and assess a school outreach program. (DM)

This study identified patterns among small schools in rural communities across a seven-state area. Perceptions of high school seniors, counselors, and graduates were gathered about their rural schools in districts with grade 7 to 12 enrollments of less than 500. Factual information about programs and local schools was obtained from school…

This book focuses on one of the key questions in education: What determines a student's success? Based on twenty years of work on student success, Ray Padilla here presents two related models he has developed that both provide a framework for understanding success and indicate how it can be enhanced and replicated. The research and theory that…

A study investigated how long it takes Frostburg State University (Maryland) (FSU) commuter students to drive to courses and how long they were willing to commute to pursue their educational goals. Students and graduates of two local two-year colleges, potential matriculants at FSU, were also asked how long they were willing to drive. Little…

A comparison is presented of the faculty development activities currently being conducted in colleges with staff development activities in business. Following introductory information, section I reviews the similarities and differences between the organizational characteristics of community colleges and of corporations, and their similar needs for…

The goal of this comparative study was to explore the online interactions among members of two learning communities. The two cases examined two different cohorts in the same professional preparation program for school principals and administrators: a distance-learning cohort and an onsite university-district partnership cohort in which online…

A project was undertaken to develop a model for establishing normative costs and budget guidelines for California's community colleges. The model was developed using adaptations of microcomputer software and tested using data from the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges and from the Marin Community College District (MCCD).…

Evolution of "quality" in higher education as an institutional concept is traced, and differences between approaches at the institutional and state levels are explored. Contrasting approaches in Florida and Illinois are examined, particularly in the case of Miami-Dade Community College (Florida). Contribution of the different approaches…

This report addresses Washington State's historical and current information regarding salary increments for college faculty, salary disparity among postsecondary institutions and within institutional departments, and performance-based compensation plans for college faculty. Included among the report's findings are the following items: (1)…

In November 1985, a study was conducted within 10 State University of New York community colleges to determine whether faculty and department heads in a profession-based department (i.e., Business) and a discipline-based department (i.e., English) had the same perceptions of organizational effectiveness characteristics and organizational culture…

This staff report presents data on black faculty employment in the tenure program of the Kentucky state university system and the employment patterns of the state-supported institutions of higher learning. Among the findings are the following: (1) the total number of blacks teaching in the tenure system rose to 131 in 1987, reversing a 6-year…

A study investigated college and university trustees' perceptions of the reasons they were selected as trustees, the roles played by key actors in the selection process, and the nature of orientation activities available to new trustees. Subjects were 415 trustees from private colleges, public universities, community/technical colleges, and…

The designation of district central-office administrators to operate as boundary spanners among the central office, schools, and community agencies can help with the implementation of challenging policy demands. However, educational research teaches little about central-office boundary spanners in practice. This article addresses that gap with…