College grades do not reflect many of the skills most relevant to jobs, contributing to discontinuity between higher education and the world of work. Ability tests, bio-data, work samples, and job analyses are job selection strategies that make the most explicit use of material associated with a college education. (MSE)

A panel of distinguished thinkers has concluded that, in the next 25 years, higher education will face challenges that may be fatal if not successfully met. Higher education must respond by helping to solve the problems of public education, seriously addressing diversity and social integration, and making science the property of the people, not…

Argues that a hegemonic ideology of superiority in the schools perpetuates the oppression of African Americans. African Americans can overcome this ideology by using their consciousness of social injustice to correct these lies and to construct new institutions that reflect self-definitions of African Americans. (SLD)

Describes and analyzes an ambitious project in which a state education department instigated, facilitated, and "jump-started" the formation of professional development school partnerships between middle schools and teacher preparation institutions. Provides a case summary and explores the options available to a state department of…

National Collegiate Athletic Association rules changes address recruiting practices, services provided to athletes, expenditures, coaching limitations, coach certification, playing season and practice limitations, scheduling, association membership, amateurism, academic standards, financial aid, and championship competition. (MSE)

The introduction of informatics into the national school curriculum in Japan requires changes to educational policy, curricula, methods, facilities, etc. Although the basic functions of the school--i.e., to transmit the culture and to cultivate competencies that will allow a future society to develop--remain unchanged, new technologies change the…

College student environmental activism has been part of campus life since the 1970s. Thanks to national networks and better communication with administrators, student groups are finding allies and resources on their own campuses and discovering the educational and environmental benefits of working on projects in cooperation with campus officials.…

Describes a collaborative effort between a university and leadership teams from one elementary school and one middle school to change the schools' learning environment to increase the emphasis on student task mastery and decrease the emphasis on student ability. (60 references) (MLF)

The Panasonic Foundation provides resources for restructuring school districts. The article examines its partnership with the San Diego City School District, highlighting four schools that demonstrate promising practices and guiding principles. It describes recent partnership work on systemic issues, noting the next steps to be taken in San Diego.…

Describes parent-teacher action research, a format for developing stronger parent participation and parent-teacher collaboration. Relates an actual example of action research to improve parent participation in student reading. Discusses the possible benefits of initiating action research, and details 10 steps involved in this type of action. (JB)

Syracuse University (New York) is working to change the publish-or-perish ethos in higher education through better organized courses, more vigorous teaching evaluation policies, and merit raises and grants for strong teachers. More ambitious changes may follow. The modest plan has become the most comprehensive such effort to date. (MSE)

The impacts of legislated changes in both program recipients and federal costs of the Pell Grant Program are analyzed, such as the resulting numbers of dependent and independent recipients. These include the changes in award amounts received by students and the effects of particular new provisions of the grant program on its costs. (Author/MSE)

This article describes the evolution of a project pairing graduate students (at Duke University) with faculty in a liberal arts college (Guilford College) to improve preparation of future college teachers. Implications for general reform of college faculty preparation are also outlined. (MSE)

A study investigated the response of faculty and administrators at four United Kingdom universities to implementation of faculty performance appraisal. Overall, staff felt the appraisal had little tangible benefit. Ambiguity over the objective of performance appraisal, as a management tool or for faculty development purposes, is seen as a concern.…

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin was created as an upper-division and graduate institution for community college transfer students. It instituted many innovations, including elimination of departments, integration of undergraduate/graduate education, year-round enrollment, contract study, modular classrooms, a faculty trained at…