Community college presidents play a critical role in making decisions that shape the organizational cultures and policies of their institutions. This study explored the perceptions of 15 public community college presidents in Texas. Using focus groups and grounded theory methods, this research applied analytical frameworks focused on human…

This report concerns actions taken by the administration of Collin College to terminate the services of Professors Lora Burnett, Suzanne Jones, and Michael Phillips. The investigating committee found that the administration's actions involved "egregious violations" of all three faculty members' academic freedom to speak as citizens and…

The purpose of this study was threefold: (a) to identify the priorities that Texas school board presidents perceive to be most important in their role as a school board member; (b) to describe the specific activities, behaviors, and actions that Texas school board presidents say they take to support the priorities they identify; and (c) to compare…

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the Trump administration ban on individuals from 7 Muslim-majority countries (i.e., Executive Order 13769), influenced prospective international graduate applicants to two Texas institutions. Inferential statistical procedures revealed the presence of a statistically significant, sharp…

Donald J. Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States in November 2016, after more than a year of campaigning on many major issues. Among the key issues presented during then-candidate Trump's campaign was immigration reform. While Latinos make up the largest ethnic group of non-citizens in the U.S., most of these individuals have…

Drawing from a theory of racial literacy and literature on the post-racial phenomenon after the 2008 election, this case study examines how high school students of color have learned about Barack Obama as a racial and political figure. Findings suggest that schools can be unfriendly spaces for learning about these topics, with history and social…

I draw on methodological findings from a case study on how high school students of color make sense of dominant narratives of race and politics in the Obama American Era. Incorporating literature from critical race theory, visual research methods, and the writings of cultural scholar Stuart Hall, I draw conclusions from this inquiry project as a…

This phenomenological narrative study was designed to investigate superintendents' and school board presidents' perception related to the influence of school boards on school district performance. Participants were three superintendents and three school board presidents whose districts were recognized as met standards for the 2014-2015 academic…

The growth of TWBE programs--mainly due to the surging interest of White English-speaking families--presents the field with myriad challenges and hopeful possibilities. Critical scholars in bilingual education point to an urgency to reissue Guadalupe Valdés's "cautionary note" due to a neoliberal path targeting TWBE programs, posing a…

This case study takes place in a Midwestern, politically conservative rural community shortly after a highly contested presidential election. Like other communities, Paisano has experienced demographic change in a relatively short time. Meat processing plants and construction jobs proliferate, attracting migrant workers. One day, secondary school…

Building relationships is the essence of the community college. Higher education administrators learned long ago that building rapport with businesses, state and local government, and constituents is the best way to represent the interests of the community. But that does not make it easy. Board members come and go and the shifting dynamics of…

Since its launch in September 2015, Heads Up America has collected information on nearly 125 promise programs across the country, many of which were instituted long before President Barack Obama announced the America's College Promise (ACP) plan in 2015. At least 27 new free community college programs have launched in states, communities, and at…

When President Barack Obama announced that he would direct the Department of Homeland Security to grant deferred deportation and a work permit for two years to undocumented immigrant youth who meet certain criteria, he renewed hope for a better future for a million young people. Lauren Burke, an adjunct law professor at Brooklyn College of Law and…

This case covers the period 1993 to 2003. It tells the story of the challenges the Fort Worth Independent School District board faced when the state accountability system revealed extremely poor student achievement and a stark achievement gap. To address the problem, the board hired a dynamic superintendent, Dr. Tom Tocco, who initiated aggressive…

Lately there has been a great deal of discussion about the importance of measuring a college's "return on investment." Is the point of a college education quantifiable results or personal and intellectual growth? In pursuit of answers, "The Chronicle" asked a selection of higher-education leaders. Phyllis M. Wise, Chancellor of…