Policy and funding influence equitable education for students who are gifted. The concept of equity is examined through variations in policy and in funding at the state, district, and local levels. Challenges and barriers to equity in policy and funding include policy structures, where policy provides guidance without accountability measures, or…

The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) is pleased to share this fifth publication in a series of informational briefings developed as part of The Guardians Initiative: Reclaiming the Public Trust, an effort to educate and engage trustees as advocates on key issues in higher education. The U.S. higher education…

The purpose of the "Colorado K-12 & School Choice Survey" is to measure public opinion on, and in some cases awareness or knowledge of, a range of K-12 education topics and school choice reforms. A total of 601 telephone interviews were completed from August 29 to September 16, 2015, with questions on the direction of K-12 education,…

At state and institutional levels, leaders are discussing and enacting policy changes that could shape the future of higher education for decades-especially public higher education. But when citizens talk about the mission of higher education today, their conversations are different from those of policymakers. How do their values and concerns…

Public funding of private K-12 schooling through vouchers continues to be a contentious issue across the U.S., even though a solid majority of Americans continues to oppose them. The voucher plans run the risk of legal challenge for how they handle the rights of students with disabilities and whether they violate state constitutional provisions…

Although several studies have examined attitudes towards cougars, little research has been done to specifically address the perceptions on cougar-related interpretive media. The purpose of this study was to examine whether hikers read the available signage pertaining to cougars and examine the hikers' perceptions of current signs and cougar-human…

Chief communicators at many U.S. institutions are interested in forging closer ties with governing boards. Proponents say such relationships can increase board trust and confidence in communicators before a crisis occurs, making it easier to manage the institution's reputation and limit negative publicity when one does. At some institutions, such…

In this article, Amy N. Farley, Matthew N. Gaertner, and Michele S. Moses examine the use of ballot initiatives as a particularly attractive form of direct democracy for opponents of affirmative action in higher education. Building on previous scholarship, the authors question whether anti-affirmative ballot initiatives validly reflect voters'…

Over the past 15 years, federal, state, and local officials have pursued a broad range of reforms aimed at ensuring that the nation's public school system is more accountable--that it delivers a rich, full education for children in communities across the country. New research from the Kettering Foundation and Public Agenda suggests that there are…

This article reports that a state ballot measure to ban affirmative-action programs based on race, gender, and national origin at public colleges and other state agencies was defeated. Colorado voters narrowly rejected such a referendum last week by a razor-thin margin that took two days to become official. Voters in Nebraska, however, took the…

A sample of 433 university students from various institutions did blind assessments of twenty-two current New Jersey landscape images. Those they perceived as unappealing tended to be attributed disproportionately to New Jersey while those that were appealing were seldom credited to that state. In a self-assessment, these same students identified…

Obamamania has swept across college campuses. Students, it seems, are out campaigning, registering people to vote, singing the Democrat's praises far and wide. This article reports that a new poll of college students in four battleground states--Colorado, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania--conducted by CBS News, UWIRE, and "The…

Education issues are poised to break through the din of presidential politics and economic anxiety in more than a dozen states next month, as voters confront ballot questions and constitutional amendments involving K-12 policy and school finance. High on the list are gambling referendums in six states--Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Maryland,…

The rationale for taking bold action on the nation's persistently failing schools can be summed up in one dramatic and disturbing statistic: half of the young Americans who drop out of high school attend just 12 percent of the nation's schools. Ending the cycle of failure at schools is a daunting challenge and a surprisingly controversial one.…

Increasingly, people are being asked to make decisions about water use in the semi-arid regions of the United States. "Good decisions" depend on an understanding of the linkages between sustainability of the resource, management, and economic development. This article reports on findings from a water quality survey conducted in Colorado,…