Parents and community members who want to improve their schools are often told that things "must" be done a certain way because of rules and regulations. Often union contracts are blamed for why certain changes cannot be made. Union contracts may not be the barrier to change, however; management inaction may be the real culprit. This…

This report uses data from the base year and first follow-up to the 1995-1996 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study to answer questions about college student employment and the persistence of employed students in higher education. Findings from the study show that among those who expect to earn a certificate from their first…

The major tenets of a pedagogy of place are that nature teaches; understanding place is indispensable to community; where and how a student learns is as vital as what a student learns; and respect is integral to learning. Environmental literacy is the capacity to perceive and interpret the relative health of environmental systems and to take…

On October 15-16, 2005, FPRI's Marvin Wachman Fund for International Education hosted 45 teachers from 14 states across the country for a weekend of lectures and discussion on Teaching 9/11 and the War on Terrorism. Sessions included: (1) Presidential Leadership in Times of Crisis (David Eisenhower); (2) Terrorism in Historical and Comparative…

This paper was prepared for the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment and Training Taskforce on Teacher Quality & Educational Leadership. It covers the following broad areas: (1) How can a national definition of "Good Teaching" be developed, and what should it include?; (2) What should a "National Standards…

Surveys have repeatedly shown that vast numbers of young people are interested in and concerned about environmental issues. Good youth work is concerned with the interests of young people, so the idea of environmental youth work--taking a youth work approach to environmental education--is a logical development for both environmental and youth work…

This study identified seven categories of influence of local college governing boards, based on how they were established and their members appointed. Information was drawn from questionnaires sent to staffs of statewide coordinating bodies and multicampus governing boards; from statutes, local board policies, bylaws, and handbooks; and from…

This collection of papers addresses two issues of critical importance to higher education: leadership and changing the way that schools and colleges of education conduct the business of teaching and learning. The book contains an introductory paper, seven studies written from the perspective of the deans leading the change, and a concluding paper.…

This paper considers the viability and applicability of student learning outcomes used as a measure of professorial productivity. While student learning outcomes need to be assessed in order to evaluate faculty productivity, examination of student learning as a concept reveals the difficulty of finding consensus on how to define it. The issue is…

The Native American Rights Fund seeks to "tribalize" formal education through developing tribal education laws and reforming state and national Indian education legislation. The Indian Education Legal Support Project advances Native American rights in education by emphasizing the legal rights of tribes to control the formal education of…

This reference book provides 20 real-life examples of how to implement the "Guidelines for School and Community Programs to Promote Lifelong Physical Activity among Young People," developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The book also summarizes the CDC guidelines. Based on the recommendations from national…

This digest summarizes the rights and responsibilities of parents of children in the special education process under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997. Among 15 rights listed are a free appropriate public education for every child, informed consent concerning evaluation and programmatic decisions, evaluation…

This brief provides an overview of three recent state court cases in Alabama, Wyoming, and Ohio that uniquely address the constitutionality of state special education finance systems. In each case, the courts found the special education finance systems to be unconstitutional due to inequitable or inadequate funding for children with disabilities.…

The Commonwealth Higher Education Support Scheme (CHESS) 1996 workshop was designed to facilitate the development of women managers and leaders in the universities of the British Commonwealth. The management of change by women leaders in higher education was especially emphasized. The 36 participants represented 16 countries and were senior…

The Commonwealth Higher Education Support Scheme (CHESS) 1997 Workshop was designed to promote the professional development of women in leadership positions in higher education. Participants were drawn from senior university academics and administrators from five countries: Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Specific objectives…