According to a national survey of 1,200 adults conducted between November 1984 and January 1985, Americans are solidly in favor of raising standards for graduation from junior and senior high schools, even if the changes result in the failure of their own children to graduate. The respondents were not willing to support these reforms if they were…

"In Search of Excellence," by Peters and Waterman identifies one characteristic of corporate excellence as "unusual effort on the part of apparently ordinary employees." The community college has many students who fit into the category of "ordinary people." Their academic performance can be maximized by recognizing their individual differences,…

Like other social sciences, education has not yet established widespread consensus concerning its own elemental truths. Seeking absolute solutions to the problems of education under such conditions is futile, frequently resulting in the rejection of the good aspects of educational concepts when those concepts fail to meet expectations as…

This journal is intended to provide linguistics field workers with news, reviews, announcements, and articles that will stimulate interest in the field of linguistics. Each issue contains three to seven articles and reports, three to five book reviews, announcements relative to the field, and a list of books available for review. Feature articles…

The essays in this collection argue that community colleges have much to gain by seeking out and maintaining positive recognition of the features that distinguish them from other colleges in the region and state. In addition, the sourcebook contains articles discussing the process of conducting a search for institutional distinctiveness and ways…

National concerns in education and their implications for one local district are the focus of these remarks by a superintendent to his returning staff as he begins his fifth year in the Eugene, Oregon school district. Among the topics addressed are popular attitudes toward education, the achievements of the American educational system through the…

The third annual survey of the Illinois Rural Life Panel included questions on school taxes, improvements to strengthen local schools, satellite technology, extracurricular activities, and career opportunities after high school. Results from a sample of approximately 2,000 residents in the 76 Illinois nonmetropolitan counties included: (1) 54…

This report discusses the use of performance indicators (PIs) in higher education, focusing on definitions, frameworks, examples, and implications for universities. It notes that demands for accountability have led to intense interest in university performance measures, and that early indicators simply described the university or the system and…

This collection provides transcripts of remarks delivered by five participants in the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities' meeting at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. They include: (1) "The Catholic Intellectual Tradition" (Margaret O'Brien Steinfels), which focuses on the willingness of Catholic…

Citizens' attitudes and opinions toward higher education are discussed, based on the results of several public opinion surveys. Before the mid-1970s little research on public opinions and attitudes toward postsecondary education was conducted in the United States. Since 1975 several states have conducted such surveys, and in 1982 the first…

The following 11 papers were presented at a symposium on leadership and educational policy studies (LEPS): "Food, Filth, Factory, and Flowers: A Critical Analysis of Ohio's Employability Skills Project" (Nina Dorsch); "Defining and Restructuring Work: Implications for Adult Education" (Georges B. Germain); "The Erosion of…

This issue of the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) News is devoted to "Equipped for the Future" (EFF), the organization's long-term collaborative initiative for system reform. The newsletter contains the testimony of people who have been involved in the process over the past 2 years, speaking of the promise they see in EFF. The…

Labor unions hold a somewhat different view of "workplace literacy" efforts than company management often does. Unions believe that workplace literacy programs should be voluntary and involve more that just "work" skills. As in union education of the past, union programs focus on education of the whole worker for life, not just for work. Unions…

These four newsletter issues provide information on family literacy and literacy education programs. Each 16-page issue includes several feature articles; descriptions of literacy conferences and seminars; updates on the National Family Literacy Project; descriptions of successful family literacy programs; coming events; a list of National Center…

The first journal publication of the Midwest History of Education Society contains papers presented at its 1972 annual meeting and three papers on Canadian education. "University Extension in the United States, 1885-1915" (G. M. Woytanowitz) defines the U.S. origins of the university extension as an adult education agency. "She…