The responsibility for the academic success of our nation's children historically has been shouldered by the school principal. In many school communities today, that accountability has been mandated by state law. The Indiana equivalent of the accountability movement sweeping the nation is Public Law 221 (P.L. 221), which makes the principal solely…

Since the 1970s, finding alternative permanent families for children in foster care who could not return to their birth parents has been a primary goal of the child welfare system. Since that time, significant gains have been made in helping such children find permanent homes through adoption and guardianship. This article analyzes these trends…

This report examines policies and procedures in the use of substitute teachers. A total of 488 school systems in 49 states responded to a survey that included items on substitute program organization; application, selection, evaluation, and dismissal procedures; absence policies for regular teachers; size and costs of substitute teacher forces;…

The Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) Project is a collaborative effort of academic scholars, IR staff, and academic and administrative leaders at each of the UC (University of California) undergraduate campuses and at UCOP (University of California Office of the President). The objective is to develop new types of data and…

This paper was developed to help teachers teach English to adult students while introducing basic concepts about the environment and individual environmental responsibility. These concepts can help the newly-arrived be part of cleaner and healthier communities by understanding and practicing the "3Rs" of solid waste management: reduce, reuse, and…

Since 2002, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) has been studying state high school exit examinations--tests that students must pass to receive a high school diploma. Each year, a national report has been published with findings about the 26 states that have or will soon implement exit exams. In addition, occasional reports have been published…

Most colleges and universities have a tripartite mission composed of teaching, research, and service. For faculty seeking tenure, though, this mission can seem very heavily weighted toward research. In fact, the phrase "publish or perish" is widely understood both inside and outside the academy as the primary path to a successful career…

The U. S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) commissioned a six-year study that generated information needed to assess the achievements of students with disabilities in their elementary and middle school years in multiple domains. The Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study (SEELS) is documenting the…

This paper includes almost 250 stories about higher education institutions that are leading the way to a sustainable future. It is organized into 8 chapters covering: Institutional Change; Education & Outreach; Social Responsibility; Green Building; Energy & Climate; Food & Agriculture; Transportation; Waste, Water, Procurement, and Landscaping.…

This article, based on a larger, autoethnographic qualitative research project, focuses on the first-hand experiences of 27 faculty of color teaching in predominantly White colleges and universities. The 27 faculty represented a variety of institutions, disciplines, academic titles, and ranks. They identified themselves as African American,…

The basics of No Child Left Behind (NCLB)--adequate yearly progress benchmarks, provision of supplemental services, and a "highly qualified" teacher in every classroom--are known. The intense scrutiny of the "how to" of those basics has resulted in a mix of impassioned criticism and effusive praise. What has been left largely…

The Information technology (IT) leader within higher education can be viewed from three scenarios: (1) the IT leader as plumber; (2) the IT leader as gardener; and (3) the IT leader as alchemist. In the first scenario, the college or university network consists of pipes, and the role of the IT leader resembles that of a plumber, who keeps the…

In this article, we report some of the findings of a study of the perceptions of secondary teachers about their experiences as full-time second-year teachers in urban public schools. The frustrations felt by this groups of teachers emerged as a strong theme; it is the nature of these frustrations that we explore in this article.

This book describes a highly successful mentorship program in "how-to" terms that are easily applied and adaptable to a variety of situations. Following an introduction, chapter 1 addresses the question: When does a student really need the help of a professional mentor? Chapters 2-7 examine the underlying principles of the mentor program. Chapter…

This study of factors leading to early departure from institutions of higher education used case studies of five newly hired faculty members who left their institutions with five matched (for cohort, institution, and department) newly hired peers who remained. Survey data were gathered from newly hired faculty at five institutions during the 1991…