On March 25-26, 2010, a cadre of urban education leaders gathered in Baltimore, Maryland for the "Fair Student Funding Summit," a conference that brought together districts that use weighted student funding (WSF) as an approach for allocating dollars to schools. Convened by Education Resource Strategies (ERS) and hosted by Baltimore City…

This paper presents an overview of government policies for funding higher education in 11 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. In particular, it describes the mechanisms for funding the university sector and the extent to which the grants to universities are oriented on performance. The discussion focuses on…

Quantitative measurements help with understanding the mechanics involved and the role of philosophy in legislative actions. Identification of the key factors and the sequence of decisions is a basic approach to the mechanics of state funding of public higher education. Charts are used to graphically illustrate the relationships and individual…

A discussion of graduate higher education suggests that shifts in demography of graduate school students and changes in traditional doctoral programs will lead to increased participation in doctoral study by the nation's best and brightest students. Declines in doctoral program participation due to demographic shifts, decreasing financial support,…

While enrollment in Washington's 27 community colleges has risen from 74,363 in 1967 to nearly 160,000 in 1976, and full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment has grown 113 percent to 90,000, legislative funding of the community college system has not kept pace with increases in enrollment. In 1969-70, the community colleges received $1,093 in state…

How to adequately fund small schools is becoming a pressing issue in Maine due to numerous factors, including state and federal accountability laws and declining enrollments. The following were among the challenges facing small rural schools: (a) attracting and retaining qualified teachers, (b) attracting and retaining qualified specialty teachers…

"Challenges of the Presidency" explores the circumstances and forces that affect the college president's leadership in identifying and accomplishing the educational mission of the institution. These four papers examine the external forces of government and population trends as well as the internal pressures from faculty and students, and offer…

This paper discusses collaboration between institutions of further education (FE) and higher education (HE) in Scotland, governmental policy toward postsecondary education in Scotland, and Napier University's response to these policies. FE in Scotland is analogous to community college education in the United States, providing vocational and…

Information is presented on a study designed to learn how successful Mexican American students surmount the factors contributing to Mexican American student attrition at the University of Arizona. The subjects were from the 1985 entering freshman class. Intensive interviews were conducted with each student, and content analysis of the interviews…

Although charter schools are rapidly becoming an integral part of the public-school landscape, much remains unknown about them. This paper reports on the findings of a descriptive-research study that comprised an analysis of U.S. charter-school statutes. The focus of the investigation was on equity in the areas of student recruitment, admission…

This paper describes the extent to which California has met its three commitments for community colleges: restoring access, improving funding per student, and funding facilities needs. With regard to restoring access to higher education and workforce preparation, there was an increase in the participation rate from 58/1000 adults in California to…

The Professional Automotive Training Center (PATC) is a 28,150 square foot automotive technician training center located on the campus of Shoreline Community College (SCC) in Washington. The complex is the result of a partnership between SCC and the 230 automotive dealerships of the Puget Sound Automotive Dealers Association and is designed to…

The way that department heads learn the chair role was studied through interviews with 39 department heads randomly selected from nine colleges within a single university. Four types of roles were identified. Faculty-oriented department heads described their primary responsibilities as recruiting, developing, and evaluating faculty members;…

The Project to Assess the Status of Women Students and Employees in Vocational Education assessed number and distribution of women students and employees in vocational programs, their perceptions of equal access, and extent of efforts to address sex equity. Its main activity was a survey of 3,609 vocational students, 455 faculty, 126 counselors,…

A statistical profile of Appalachia's young children, from birth to 9 years, was compiled from federal and state data sources. The profile provides information important in making immediate and long range plans for improving the status of Appalachian children and their families. An examination of family living conditions suggests that Appalachian…