Why did the New York City school district once have the lowest ratio of minority teachers to minority students of any large urban school system in the country? Using an array of historical sources, this provocative book explores the barriers that African American and Latino candidates faced in attempting to become public school teachers in New…

No one stakeholder group can realize lasting change on their own; nor can any reform initiative focusing on just one type of strategy create the workplace conditions needed to truly build capacity within the education profession. Rather, stakeholders must focus on collaborating, reaching common understanding, and prioritizing for ultimate impact…

Throughput and retention are important issues in higher education in South Africa mainly due to the stronger emphasis on accountability from funding agencies like the Department of Education. This study, which is set in a distance education institution, was aimed at understanding why students cancel courses early on in the academic year. A…

Six hundred and seventeen teacher-nominated Chinese gifted students rated the importance of 25 characteristics and 14 competencies for teachers of gifted learners, and all 39 characteristics and competencies were endorsed as important. The 25 teacher characteristics could be conceptualized in four dimensions, as an individuality orientation, a…

A comprehensive survey on the Internet based virtualisation of experiments is presented, covering several individual as well as collaborative efforts in various engineering disciplines. From this survey it could be concluded that there is a pressing need to develop full-fledged remote laboratory experiments for integrated directly into engineering…

This article examines the role of parent involvement--its meaning and effects--among a determined group of African American parents. We focus on some of the characteristics of involvement of a subset of African American parents in a larger program designed to enhance the math and science course selection of middle and high school students. As one…

A large, suburban, Southeastern university conducted a multi-method study on the effectiveness of its common reader program in meeting multiple learning objectives. Data from approximately 700 respondents, all of whom were first-year students enrolled in 37 sections of the university's traditional first-year seminar course, revealed that the…

This article is a mixed-methods exploration of the levels of stereotypic views about gifted individuals held by current and future educators. Because educators are often asked to provide recommendations for participation in gifted programs, it is important to determine whether those recommendations are based, in part, on stereotypic thinking.…

The aim of the Australian University Student Finances Survey 2012 is to provide an evidence-based understanding of the financial circumstances of the student population in Australia (both international and domestic) through the collection of quantitative data on: access to income support and scholarships, income from paid employment and the impact…

In a 2010 address to the College Board, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan laid out a vision for high school that advances the Obama administration's goal of the U.S. once again leading the world in educational attainment. There is no grade in which the magnitude and complexity of this shift becomes clearer than in senior year. Historically,…

Locally controlled public schools are one of the cornerstones of our nation's democracy, yet many schools are not preparing students for success. Far too many students are not graduating, and many of those who do graduate are woefully unprepared for college or a meaningful career. Successfully initiating and sustaining meaningful improvements in…

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) Learning Across Distance: Virtual-Instruction Programs Are Growing Rapidly, but the Impact on "Brick-and-Mortar" Classrooms Is Still up in the Air…

This research study examined the post-graduation employment outcomes of business undergraduate college students who have participated in a cooperative education (co-op) program. The co-op students' post-graduate employment outcomes were compared to those of non-program (co-op) participants. This data was gathered from the Sam M. Walton College of…

This research report examines changes in FTE teachers, FTE administrators, and teacher-administrator ratios, drawing on two data sources over two time periods. The Ministry of Education collects statistics about administrators from two different data sources. Teacher Statistics, an annual report published by the ministry uses data collected in…

"Socrates in the Boardroom" argues that world-class scholars, not administrators, make the best leaders of research universities. Amanda Goodall cuts through the rhetoric and misinformation swirling around this contentious issue--such as the assertion that academics simply don't have the managerial expertise needed to head the world's leading…