This article examines how important an explicit mission and values framework can be for community-based arts education organizations in times of crises. This argument draws on interview data from early and later points in the COVID-19 pandemic with three community-based arts organizations whose work is deeply rooted in creative youth development…

"The How and Why of Laboratory Schools: Innovations and Success Stories in Teacher Preparation and Student Learning" is an eagerly anticipated exploration crafted by esteemed researchers and practitioners from some of the foremost Laboratory Schools across the United States and internationally. These institutions, also recognized as…

After recounting the historical circumstances of the establishment of independent boards at Catholic colleges and universities, this paper considers the present conditions of boards at six Holy Cross institutions. Interviews and correspondence with the presidents of these institutions provided answers to a number of questions, including: How are…

The need for new and revised structures to reward new forms of scholarship is being examined nationally and globally. It is also being examined on campuses that make up the University of Massachusetts system, all which are classified by the Carnegie Foundation for Community Engagement. This paper reports on the collective exploration by the five…

The Longy School of Music existed as an independent organization from 1915 until 2012, when it was acquired by Bard College. Founded to provide vocational training in music, the Longy School soon expanded by adding preparatory studies for children and continuing studies for avocational learners. The school struggled throughout much of its history…

This article describes a co-taught course that mobilized a Design Thinking approach in the service of creating a prototype for an actual girls' boarding school in Kenya. The goal of the class was to allow students to engage collaboratively with faculty, with their peers, and with experts "on the ground" to develop the various parts of…

Our paper considers a critical juncture in community college leadership as many community college leaders approach retirement. These transitions are inescapable. How will institutional memory (Parker, 2011) be preserved with the passing of the leadership mantel to a new generation? These transitions also impact ways in which leaders influence…

What common values do diverse Jesuit institutions share? In what ways are Jesuit colleges and universities working to maintain mission, identity, and traditions within the context of 21st-century higher education? To ground their response to these questions, the researchers first review the historical and ecclesial developments that have…

The authors report on a study of eight inclusive STEM high schools that are designed to increase the numbers of students in demographic groups underrepresented in STEM. As STEM schools, they have had broader and deeper STEM coursework (taken by all students) than required by their respective states and school districts; they also had outcome…

Smith College initiated an ePortfolio pilot project to guide students in documenting key learning experiences and in linking those experiences to Smith's institutional mission of "developing leaders for society's challenges" (Smith College, 2011). Twenty-one college students volunteered to participate in the pilot, based on the…

The "Quality Practice Project" (QPP) is the National Association of Charter School Authorizers' (NACSA's) multi-year research initiative to identify what high-performing authorizers do to achieve stellar student and public interest outcomes. Participants and researchers collaboratively investigated the perspectives and practices of…

Connecticut College for Women and its Progressive Era sister colleges (Douglass, Simmons, Skidmore, and William Smith) are distinctive for the prominent vocational and service elements each college had in its original mission and curriculum. Historians however have often left Connecticut College for Women out of the story of American women's…

Since their inception, community colleges have included the transfer function as a central mission. However, arguments have been made contending that community colleges have systematically diverted students toward occupational education. In the 21st century, community colleges continue to contend with multiple missions and identities, especially…

Recent studies continue to shine light on high-performing charter schools. While Boston-area charter schools--a concentrated group of high-performers--garner more attention than others, many excellent schools outside of Boston have been quietly chipping away at the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students. One of these schools…

When the U.S. Census Bureau began releasing population reports from the 2010 count, the findings reaffirmed demographers' projections about the nation's rapidly changing racial, ethnic, and economic makeup. African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American populations grew about 30 percent since 2000 and will account for a majority of the…