Background: Schools in K-12 have generated mission statements as ways of focusing their efforts and energies in specific areas. These mission statements vary by institutional setting as a function of the stakeholders and constituent groups who facilitate their development. To date, no studies were located in which the mission statements of…

This book examines tribally controlled Indian colleges established since the early 1960s and provides perspectives on their educational philosophy, history, and present status. Chapter 1 is an overview of four centuries of abortive efforts by churches and the federal government to provide higher education for American Indians, including profiles…

Despite the existence of a college-wide Committee on Access, Equity, and Cultural Diversity and other efforts, minority retention rates at Illinois' Parkland College remained disproportionately low. In 1996, the college received a grant through the Higher Education Cooperation Act to develop an approach to recruit and retain minority students.…

This paper documents recent government policy changes and discusses the likelihood of their having significant, long-term impacts on policies to assist the educationally disadvantaged. It begins with an examination of traditional federal and state efforts to equalize educational opportunities through legal access guarantees, targeted categorical…

One of the most significant distance education developments within the Pacific region in recent years has been the diminishing quality and increasing inequality created by ad hoc competition. Four views of quality are relevant: (1) quality has no existence as an absolute, it is inseparable from context, always relative; (2) indicators for quality…

This report addresses the problem of school wastage in developing countries, provides the latest data on trends in repetition and drop-out, and deals with three questions: (1) how extensive is school wastage? (2) what are its causes? and (3) what can be done to make schools more efficient? Wastage is defined as the missed opportunities for…

Noting that the English-Only movement (which advocates that English be the official and only language used in the United States) dramatically influences the lives of language minority children, this Digest first examines the ideologies undergirding the English-Only movement. It then reviews the consequences of imposing this legislation on the…

This report was written in compliance with the New Jersey Higher Education Restructuring Act and evaluates current and projected higher education needs across the state, including the need to establish, close, or consolidate institutions of higher education. The report addresses: (1) capacity issues, concluding that there is no need to establish,…

Research on the provision of vocational education and training (VET) for Australia's very culturally diverse work force with non-English-speaking backgrounds (NESBs) considers the extent and nature of the disadvantage. The current definition of NESB limits membership to those born overseas; a proposed two-pronged approach is based on "first…

This study examined the role perceptions of full-time faculty members at a large mid-Atlantic community college, focusing on role conflicts and levels of job satisfaction. One hundred and seventy-seven faculty members responded to surveys, and 20 participated in four focus groups organized according to race and gender, which yielded descriptive…

This report presents survey results addressing the reinvigoration and redefining of the union-academic connection in higher education. The survey's purpose was to provide illustrations of what is being done in this area and offer models for cooperative projects. The report is divided into five sections. Section 1 presents the quantitative data…

Non-Formal Education (NFE) is traditionally defined as any organizational activity outside the established formal education system. In India two major types of NFE exist. The first type is literacy courses, available for students of any age; these are taught in the evenings. The second type is vocational training, which often takes place during…

Issues in school choice--constitutionality, feasibility, equity, and educational productivity--are examined in this book. The controversy requires an ongoing analysis of the origins of the school-choice movement, the kinds of plans proposed and implemented, their educational and social consequences, and the philosophical assumptions underlying the…

This study is a comparative analysis that addresses the question: to what extent has the relationship between parental socioeconomic characteristics and educational opportunities changed over time and why? The document suggests six hypotheses regarding change in the effects of social origins on education transitions: (1) modernization hypothesis:…

Telecommunications technologies can provide residents of rural communities with an array of educational opportunities unavailable in the past. This digest describes six programs that illustrate the range of providers, programs, and technologies that can be used to better meet the educational needs of adult learners in rural areas. The program…