The Senate confirmation hearings concerning Robert Gates as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) highlight the problems evaluators share with the CIA of keeping policy imperatives out of the search for truth. The CIA at least has a structure for keeping information pure, but many evaluations do not. (SLD)

Discusses the relevance of general education to the associate degree and the shortfalls of current accreditation methods in properly evaluating the success of such programs. Suggests that accreditation agencies may play a role as a change agent in transfer, faculty credentials, and the integration of general education into career curricula. (MAB)

Describes the composition and operation of the New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC). The NASDC will design new high-performance learning environments for U.S. children. The seven design teams are to unveil new high-performance schools after two to three years, presumably by marketing designs. (SLD)

Many state optometric licensing boards require a scaled or percentage score of 75 on each section. A study of multiple criteria and pass-fail rates suggests that high failure rates are a result not of candidate ability but of arbitrary classification of test content. State boards are encouraged to resolve these problems. (MSE)

As advances in technology create world economic and social interdependence, governing boards should make a long-term commitment to an expanded international agenda of curriculum and program development to prepare students at United States colleges and universities for excellence in the world community. A checklist is presented to assess…

College presidents who are successful at fund raising believe they are responsible for creating their institutions' fund-raising climate and that their enthusiasm for their institutions' mission and goals enhances giving. The president's effectiveness is an important factor in whether an institution prospers. Trustees should help through active…

Four works are reviewed that contrast cases of constructive state government/university partnerships with examples of inappropriate involvement, and profile the primary political and governing bodies influencing higher education. The quest for quality without undue intrusion emerges as a recurrent theme. (Author/MSE)

A discussion of accreditation in higher education looks at current external criticisms and internal weaknesses of the system and suggests that to continue this privilege of self-regulation, higher education must address issues of educational quality and revise the accreditation model to be more effective. (MSE)

In light of recent debate over the censorship of articles, college alumni publications editors are seeking to establish professional guidelines for publication content and clearer lines of authority within institutional administration. They feel alumni magazines should be interesting and reflect current issues on campus, even when controversial.…

Reports the experiences of the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies at Portland State University (Oregon), formed seven years ago in an effort to connect higher education resources to critical issues facing communities in a six-county metropolitan area. Eight lessons learned concerning the institute's role, its operation, staffing, local…

Examines the challenges and opportunities faced by the University of Washington's Institute for Public Policy and Management, a university-based applied-research institute that has grown through intellectual entrepreneurship into an organization that shapes policy for the state of Washington and the Northwest. The institute and its specialized…

Increasing numbers of Mexican teenagers immigrate to the United States illegally to work, and few find their way to school. Instituto del Progreso Latino--an alternative high school in Chicago--serves these youth successfully. Youth agencies must provide services that allow these youth to attend school and discourage gang involvement. (SV)

In the current context of standards-based reform and heightened accountability for school performance, state education agencies (SEAs) have an important, but not yet well-articulated, role to play in local school improvement efforts. This article starts to articulate such a role by examining the variety of approaches and strategies used by 7 SEAs…

This is the first paper from a project which is part of the Economic and Social Research Council's programme of research into "Teaching and learning". The project, entitled "The impact of policy on learning and inclusion in the new learning and skills sector", explores what impact the efforts to create a single learning and…

Two construals of agency are evaluated as possible innate biases guiding case-marking in children. A BROAD construal treats agentive arguments of multi-participant and single-participant events as being similar. A NARROWER construal is restricted to agents of multi-participant events. In Hindi, ergative case-marking is associated with agentive…