Over the past 25 years, the number of assistant principals has been steadily increasing, as has the number of principals with prior experience as an assistant principal. However, the knowledge base on assistant principals has not grown in parallel with their increased presence in schools. There is also little discussion about how the assistant…

Pennsylvania's deep cuts in funding to K-12 education since 2010-11 have drawn a great deal of attention in recent months. Less widely recognized is the fact that Pennsylvania enacted even deeper cuts, on a percentage basis, to funding for public higher education in the same period. Four-year colleges received the largest reductions in funding,…

William Taylor, 29, a third generation Washington, D.C. resident stands out for a number of reasons. For one, he is an African American man who taught math at an elementary school for many years. Taylor excelled in the role, so much so that he now coaches his fellow math teachers at Aiton Elementary School, which is located in a high-poverty…

The mental health of today's college students continues to be a top-level concern for institutions of higher education, whether it is viewed from the perspective of staffing mental health services on campus, responding to after-hours crises in residence halls, providing accessible treatment with limited budgets, managing behavioral threats, or…

In 2009, Excelencia in Education launched the Ensuring America's Future initiative to inform, organize, and engage leaders in a tactical plan to increase Latino college completion. An executive summary of Latino College Completion in 50 states synthesizes information on 50 state factsheets and builds on the national benchmarking guide. Each…

Math experts developed Formative Assessment Lessons that teachers can incorporate throughout the year's curriculum. Both tools target the "instructional core." A study by Research for Action (RFA) examining the first year of piloting the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Math Design Collaborative (MDC) tools (2010-11) found…

This report from the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) focuses on community college services provided to the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The objectives of the study are to determine what services are being provided, what the barriers are to the provision of these services, and what steps might be…

Is the United States getting it wrong when it comes to educating tomorrow's innovators in critical fields? It has been known for years that the only way to compete globally in information technology, engineering, nanotechnology, robotics and other fields is to give students the best educational opportunities possible. But do individuals have a…

This paper presents the Pennsylvania edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's 2008 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook". The 2008 "Yearbook" focuses on how state policies impact the retention of effective new teachers. This policy evaluation is broken down into three areas that encompass 15 goals. Broadly, these goals…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

The "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" examines what is arguably the single most powerful authority over the teaching profession: state government. This Pennsylvania edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the first of what will be an annual look at the status of state…

This report presents demographics and information on Pennsylvania's state system of higher education and on issues that may influence that system in the 1990s. Following a brief introduction, the first section treats changes in state demographics including migration, minority groups, accelerated aging of the general population, and family housing.…

Results of a survey on compensation for a student staff in the residence halls of Mid-Atlantic Association of College and University Housing Officers' (MACUHO) member institutions are reported. The responses from 71 percent of MACUHO members indicate a wide variety in types of compensation. While room and/or board continues to be the most…