Online learning is a complex undertaking that holds great potential as a teaching and learning mode that public colleges and universities may strategically employ to achieve broad institutional priorities and contribute to the attainment of national goals. The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities- (APLU) Sloan National Commission on…

The Exploratorium is home to XTech, a science education program which began in 2006 and was primarily funded by a three-year National Science Foundation grant (Award # 05-25217) through its ITEST (Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers) initiative. XTech provided project-based afterschool activities in science, engineering,…

The documents enclosed in this report provide a comprehensive and systematic review of the progress made in developing a network organization capable of supporting nanoscience education for the public on a national scale. There is a logic to the studies that were done and to the reports that are included in this notebook. The following are the…

Although each higher education institutional research office has a unique style and mission, their commonalities suggest guidelines for establishing effective units, including placement high in the organizational structure, consistent attention given to first-order data responsibilities (collection, reporting), attention to institutional needs, a…

In this article, the author discusses how after-school programs are very popular with the public. A series of annual voter surveys conducted by the Afterschool Alliance shows public support consistently running in the 90 percent range, with 76 percent of voters even going so far as to say they would be willing to pay additional taxes if more…

The current report explores what is available to superintendents after they assume their positions: what the landscape of sustained executive training and support options available for sitting school system leaders looks like. It describes about two dozen programs offered around the country-who offers them, how they are organized and funded, what…

This report, the first "Annual Career and Technical Education High School Report" was created to serve as a rich resource for educators, school and college administrators, policymakers, and other citizens by providing essential summative data on career and technical education in Iowa at the high school level. Students increasingly need…

Middle schools are here to stay. The overriding purpose of middle-level education continues to be that of providing programs based on the unique characteristics, needs, and interests of middle-level students. (Author/TE)

The administration's adviser to the Illinois State University Student Alumni Council examines the benefits of student participation in alumni affairs, outlines some considerations in the creation and development of a new student alumni program, and suggests program possibilities for different constituencies, including alumni, students, future…

A study investigated the type, activities, and regional context of alumni associations at 124 2-year colleges. Results indicate the most successful programs had more staff and fiscal resources, were well established, had fewer alumni in the area, were not members of the National Council for Resource Development, and emphasized personal…

It has been argued that "leadership" is seen as being centrally synonymous with school effectiveness and yet there is comparatively little evidence of the effects of leadership on school outcomes. More specifically, studies of principalship in Hong Kong have tended to be conducted in the quantitative tradition. The study described in…

The self-imposed external evaluation of a university grants office is reported, including discussions of the office's and administrator's roles, comparison with similar-sized institutions and programs, the review process, and its results. (MSE)

Establishing a program to help teaching assistants (TAs) become better teachers is discussed, including advantages/disadvantages of five possible organizational locations: individual course instructors, departments, colleges of education, other individual colleges, and a central administrative office. A mix of locations and criteria for assessing…

This paper discusses the effective restructuring of schools to accommodate at-risk children. Broadly, it addresses some issues of school structure and management for meeting the educational needs of this large and increasing group of students. Specifically, it defines and analyzes effectiveness within the accelerated schools model developed by…

This handbook is designed to help community-based organizations that provide adult education improve their program quality in order to better achieve results that matter. The target audience for this handbook includes administrators and other members of program improvement teams in community-based organizations that want to use Equipped for the…