This article describes the Faculty Cooperative Curricular Activities (FCCA) model developed and implemented in the Recreation Management program at Appalachian State University. FCCA's are experiential learning activities or assignments in two or more separate courses where the assignment is shared to build upon a common construct/concept. These…

This brief summarizes a 2019 study of educator supply, demand, and quality in North Carolina conducted by the Learning Policy Institute in collaboration with the Education Policy Initiative at Carolina and WestEd. That study supported the state's ongoing efforts to meet the standard set in the North Carolina Supreme Court's decision in…

"Opening Doors, Changing Futures" tells the story of the collective impact the Appalachian Higher Education (AHE) Network had on postsecondary education attainment in 10 of the 13 states in Appalachia during school years 2011-2016. It depicts the current economic and education contexts in the region and highlights why increased post-high…

This paper provides a history of the standardized testing and accountability movement, the curriculum standards attached to the accountability movement, and the attempted shift to common core. Student poverty and its impact on student achievement the focus of this paper. Recognizing the impact of poverty on student achievement as measured by…

The Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) program, authorized by Congress in 2011, is designed to improve the quality of early learning and development programs for children from birth through age 5. This discretionary grant program is administered jointly by the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services…

To address gaps in achievement between more- and less-affluent students, states and districts need to ensure that high-poverty students and schools have equitable access to educational resources. Traditionally, assessments of resource equity have focused on per-pupil expenditures and more proximal inputs, such as teacher credentials and class…

The 2014 edition of "State of the South" features analysis of state and regional data and calls on the region to develop and implement purposeful policies and systemic practices--an "infrastructure of opportunity"--to bolster the prospects for its 15- to 24-year-olds to achieve economic resilience as adults and a fulfilling…

This article describes an innovative approach, developed by North Carolina State University, to prepare leaders specifically for work in rural schools in high poverty districts. Operating with Race-to-the-Top funding, the Northeast Leadership Academy is a selective program with embedded practice and focused summer community internships. The…

A growing number of school districts are trying to break up concentrations of poverty on their campuses by taking students' family income into consideration in school assignments. Some of the districts replaced race with socioeconomic status as a determining indicator after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that using race as the primary factor…

When the authors met through a mutual colleague, Gail Dickinson at Old Dominion University, Karen and Shana set about to examine issues that do not normally interest sociologists--the number of days school libraries are closed and whether or not library schedules (fixed or flexed) impact student achievement. However, Shana, a sociologist who…

Today, English language learners (ELLs)--students whose primary language is other than English--are the fastest-growing major school population in the United States. Between 2000-01 and 2010-11, the number of these students, whose level of English proficiency is not sufficient to support learning in a regular English language classroom, rose 18…

Improving teaching effectiveness is a hot topic for policymakers around the country these days. The gathering movement marks an important step forward in the ongoing effort to strengthen our nation's schools. In many cases, however, these efforts start and stop with improving outdated, inadequate teacher evaluation systems. Such approaches fail to…

As Secretary of Education from 1993 to 2001, Richard Riley had serious concerns about out-of-field teaching. The practice--which places in core academic classes instructors who have neither certification nor a major in the subject field taught--just didn't make sense to him. Both when he considered what children were getting in the classroom or…

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of North Carolina's annual Race to the Top implementation. The Year 4 report for Phase 2 grantees highlights successes and accomplishments, identifies challenges, and provides lessons learned from implementation from approximately September 2013 through September 2014. In year 4, North…

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of North Carolina's annual Race to the Top implementation. The Year 3 report for Phase 1 and 2 grantees highlights successes and accomplishments, identifies challenges, and provides lessons learned from implementation from approximately September 2012 through September 2013. In Year 3,…