Surveys conducted in 50 urban school systems nationwide investigated the impact of perceived school performance, race, and religion on private school enrollment. Results show some evidence that perceived public school quality may affect enrollment, consistent with claims that competition spurs improvement. Results also suggest that religion and…

There is a childhood saying about a confused dog who thinks he sees a possum in a tree. The problem is that the possum is actually in a different tree so the dog barks up the wrong tree. American education is constantly playing both dog and possum. Sometimes they are the prey, and sometimes they are just confused about what and where the prey is.…

In the wake of the civil rights movement, new organizations formed which were based on the collective interests and identities of their constituencies. Some of these organizations brought together national origin groups who often differed by ethnicity, language, culture, religion and immigration history. In this paper, I focus on the conditions…

School Health Profiles is conducted biennially to assess characteristics of school health programs. State and local departments of education and health select either all public secondary schools within their jurisdictions or a systematic, equal-probability sample of public secondary schools to participate in School Health Profiles. At each school,…

In April 2003 the first European Science Olympiad took place in Dublin City University in Ireland. In this competition second level students were asked to carry out a number of tasks involving biology, physics and chemistry. Students had qualified initially in competitions in one of these subjects and were organised into integrated teams which…

I utilize longitudinal data covering all public school students in Florida to study the performance of charter schools and their competitive impact on traditional public schools. Controlling for student-level fixed effects, I find achievement initially is lower in charters. However, by their fifth year of operation new charter schools reach a par…

Regardless of recent curriculum revisions, physical educators, faced with reduced time and/or inadequate equipment and facilities, continue to offer competitive team sport activities for a high percentage of their program time. When competition is only experienced as a win-lose situation, possibilities that students will derive any morally…

This article defines management as a source of organizational competitive advantage and from the view that managers are some of the employees most vital to a firm. According to influential theories in the field of strategic management, such human assets should be protected, governed, and developed internally. In contrast to the traditional view of…

Will head-to-head competition among degree programs lead to greater quality or less? States are pursuing several policies that increase market competition, such as funding distance education and virtual universities. Planning professionals need to understand what factors mediate whether competition does, in fact, occur, such as the market…

Of the many books read by this author over the past several years, one in particular held his attention: "Becoming human" by J. Vanier (1998). In this book, Vanier spells out several interconnected principles for promoting and practicing a curriculum of "becoming human." Vanier's first principle is that "all humans are…

Background: It is important to determine how programmes serving the individual with intellectual disability may also help to reduce stress in parents of adult children with intellectual disabilities. The aim of this study was to test whether parents who frequently watch their children at Special Olympics (SO) competitions report less stress than…

In this article, the author presents "Fresh Wood", a book that features award-winning student furniture projects. Woodworking teachers use the new book to get students inspired and motivated to excel with their own woodworking projects. The book features the impressive work of more than 40 high school and college students who submitted…

This study is an examination of motivation orientations (mastery, intrinsic, cooperative, individual, competition, ego, approach success, avoid failure, hypercompetition, personal development competition) and musical self-concept in relation to measures of academic achievement and career goals of preservice music teachers. The research questions…

The Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP) is an independent, nonprofit research center based in Washington, DC that is dedicated to researching public policy and economic issues relating to postsecondary education. CCAP aims to facilitate a broader dialogue that challenges conventional thinking about costs, efficiency and…

Almost everyone agrees that colleges have become costly to attend and are a growing burden on society to finance. Rising tuition costs threaten the ability and desire of students to attend college. Are there things that can be done to significantly reduce the cost of college? The answer is an emphatic "yes." The Center for College Affordability…