In 2011, the New American Colleges and Universities established a national award to honor the legacy of Ernest L. Boyer by recognizing an individual whose achievements in higher education exemplify Boyer's quest for connecting theory to practice and thought to action, in and out of the classroom. The 2014 Boyer Award was presented to Edward L.…

Here is a brief history of the work of two of Australia's most famous scientists, Sir William Bragg and his son Sir Lawrence Bragg. Jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in 1915 for their groundbreaking research into the use of X-rays to study the chemical structure and function of molecules, they have contributed to our heritage and to science at an…

In "What Excellent Community Colleges Do," Joshua S. Wyner draws on the insights and evidence gained in administering the inaugural Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. This book identifies four domains of excellence--degree completion, equity, student learning, and labor market success--and describes in rich detail the policies…

The Military-connected Learner Educational Initiative at Kansas State's College of Education, initiated in 2012, provides a college-wide framework preparing in-service and pre-service personnel to serve military, veterans and their families in educational settings. This article describes the college-wide initiative which includes: (1) providing…

Previous studies have identified many school variables which can have significant effect on academic optimism. However, most of these identified variables are leadership or psychological constructs; thus, it is often too abstract for school administrators to translate into real practice. Therefore, this study adopted the perspective of school…

Background: Scholars of children's literature have been investigating portrayals of females and racial groups for several decades, yet few have examined depictions of social class. Research on social class depictions in children's literature is needed in order to identify books that affirm children's class identities and offer…

What do school librarians fear most? Hands down, their biggest fear is a formal challenge to a resource in the school library. There are no accurate statistics about the number of challenges to school library resources. The staff of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom estimates that only about 20 percent are reported to ALA annually. For the…

This report provides data regarding state-funded expenditures for student financial aid and illustrates the extent of efforts made by the states to assist postsecondary students. Information in this report is based on academic year 2014-15 data from the 46th Annual National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP) survey. Data…

For 30 years, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) has advocated on behalf of Hispanic higher education in the U.S. and around the world. The mission of the association is to Champion Hispanic Success in Higher Education. HACU fulfills its mission by: promoting the development of member colleges and universities; improving…

Like the best teachers in any subject, Dana Hamant is a consummate student. In his 31 years as a music instructor, he has attended every single annual Music Educators Association conference in his home state of Kansas and missed only two Kansas Bandmasters Association conferences. (He is also a frequent attendee at NAfME and other professional…

The Language Leader Award, created by Rachel Hawkes and run by Routes into Languages East "helps pupils learn to lead, using language teaching as the medium. Throughout the year-long programme they develop their leadership and [linguistic] skills, growing in confidence and enhancing their future careers" (Hawkes, n.d. c, p. 1). Some…

Background/Context: There is a strong sense in education that creativity should be nurtured in classroom settings, yet there is little understanding of how effective and creative teachers function (Cropley, 2003; Robinson, 2011; Sawyer, 2011). Existing research has recognized that successful/creative people in any discipline use creative…

In 2002, the Monroe County, Georgia, school system was, according to its then-superintendent Scott Cowart, "underperforming." Test scores were low, and several schools faced interventions under the new No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). One decade later, the 4,000-student school district in central Georgia is one of the highest-performing…

This study investigated the potential causes behind a drop in student athlete recruitment and graduation at a NCAA Division III school (hereafter referred to as "Collegiate U"). Collegiate U has historically enjoyed success on the football field as well as in the classroom, but recruiting and graduating successful student athletes has…

This report combines the previous Annual Accountability Report and University Work Plans into a single document more closely aligned with the Board of Governors' 2025 System Strategic Plan. This document enhances the System's commitment to accountability and strategic planning by enabling comparisons between past goals and actual data to better…