This dissertation considers the effects of national rankings, specifically the 2010 National Research Council (NRC)'s Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs, on higher education institutions' behavior. National research studies of graduate education require significant resources and data, yet it is uncertain how universities make…

A guide for community leaders, extension staff, and community or rural development practitioners outlines the evolution of a regional training model for community-based problem solving in rural areas experiencing economic decline. The paper discusses the model's underlying concepts and implementation process and includes descriptions of four…

How public deliberation can be used to bring together schools and communities with linguistic and cultural diversity so that they can focus on educational reform is discussed. Public deliberation is described and its purposes reviewed. Three public engagement formats, forums and study circles, focus groups, and citizens' juries, are described. One…

This report comprises edited versions of the presentations from the 17 participants in a conference under the sponsoreship of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. The conference was designed to enable policy-makers, educators, and business people to share perspectives on the most effective methods for identifying and collecting data that…

Financial contributions by American corporations that are designed to influence domestic or foreign policies are discussed. After identifying ways that business corporations can influence either general policy or particular decisions, a brief history of corporate philanthrophy in the United States and financial support for public policy purposes…

Shared leadership is a process empowering parents to exercise their civil rights, build leadership skills, and guide the design of policy positions and programs meant to improve their lives and the well-being of their children. Based on principles of family support practice, this book describes how to plan and host a 1- to 3-day shared leadership…

Justification for school district consolidation is made on the basis of either reducing cost or increasing educational quality. Some cost reduction may be realized through certain economies of scale in some consolidations but it is by no means automatic. The Illinois State Board of Education emphasizes the relationship between high school size and…

This book is intended to assist adults who are contemplating changing careers or actually doing so. The information, exercises, questionnaires, guides, and bibliographies included in it are designed to give adults the coping skills to adapt to and work through the personal, financial, and other changes that accompany the career change process. The…

How to locate information that can be used in career decision making is the subject of this digest. The first section lists the career/occupational information collections generally found in public libraries, including printed resources, information about associations, information about local sources of job information, information on specific…