Certainly a major bump in the literacy road today is the apparent conflict between school literacies and the preferred literacy activities of students outside of school. After family conversation about a nephew who was getting poor grades in language arts, Hall shares her thinking on the dilemmas of what constitutes literacy, how literacies kids…

This mixed-method study explored the perspectives of principals involved in the hiring process of K-12 teachers in one Midwestern state. Participants' survey data was used to examine the pros and cons of portfolios, to determine preferences in portfolio contents and electronic delivery method, and to investigate what predictors significantly…

A year and half has passed since California's Riverside Community College district had a permanent chancellor. Two searches and two interim leaders later, the district's continuing quest for a permanent chancellor reflects a statewide problem of recruiting and retaining two-year-college executives. Smaller applicant pools and many vacant positions…

College students looking for that first job after graduation scan job postings, create profiles on career websites, and send out resumes. On the employer side, human resource (HR) managers advertise entry-level jobs and review the applications submitted for those jobs. They often narrow the candidate pool based on cover letters, resumes, and…

The purpose of this study is to describe the perceptions of superintendent search consultants as they relate to the selection of superintendent candidates. The synergistic leadership theory (SLT) developed by Irby, Brown, Duffy and Trautman (2002) provided the theoretical framework needed to analyze the characteristics search consultants perceive…

The purpose of this study was threefold: first, to determine the use of specified admission criteria in the independent school admission process; second, to determine admission directors' perceptions of the importance of selected criteria; and third, to determine the nature of the relationship between selected independent measures and the use of…

In "Orange Juice or Orange Drink?," the authors provided evidence that many students are receiving credit for courses with little indication that they have learned the content implied by the course titles (Dougherty, Mellor, & Jian, 2006). Yet in pursuit of the goal of preparing all students for college and careers, many policymakers…

Teachers are systematically sorted across schools. Often, schools serving the lowest-achieving students are staffed by the least-skilled teachers. While teachers' school preferences account for some of the sorting, school practices are also likely to be a key factor. Using value-added methods, the authors examine the relationship between a…

As states and communities invest in initiatives to improve the quality of early care and education, the measurement of quality is becoming more widespread and the importance of measuring quality well is gaining increasing attention. Within the broad context of interest in improving quality, this report seeks to differentiate among a number of…

Given lingering racism in this country, you won't be surprised to learn this: Hispanic students are much less likely than white students to have the most qualified teachers--the ones with the most experience and greatest expertise in the subject matter. And many Hispanic students go to schools that do not even offer some of the high-level courses…

In the spring and summer of 2008, The New Teacher Project (TNTP) partnered with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to investigate the impact of the school district's policies and practices on the ability of schools to build and maintain strong instructional teams. TNTP's analysis included the following components: (1) Analysis of teacher…

There is a close interactive relationship between social mobility and educational selection. On one side, the character, direction, speed, level, methods and trends of social mobility affect the aims, goals, functions, scope, strategy, content and methods of choice in education. On the other side, the goals, basis and means of choosing education…

Portfolios are widely required in teacher education programs. One of the rationales often given for their use is their value in the employment process. The issue addressed in this study--the use of portfolios for employment--is separate from the issue of whether portfolios are useful for teacher credentialing or within a teacher education program…

The debate over the best delivery of general education, whether through a canon of Great Books, a core curriculum of specific courses and course sequences, or a distribution requirement of course types providing for greater student choice, has existed for generations. Today, the debate plays out in practice across the top-rated colleges and…

This article reports the results of an inquiry into the dynamics of principal selection in rural school districts in two mid-American states with high numbers of rural schools. The study focuses on two questions: (1) are rural school districts experiencing a shortage of qualified applicants for vacant principal's positions; and (2) what…