Education Commons^™

Educational Genocide: Examining The Impact Of National Education Policy On African American Communities, Christopher Knaus, Rachelle Rogers-Ard

Christopher Knaus

Abstract This paper clarifies the cumulative impact of the current national education policy on African-American children, which ultimately aims to limit local control of urban schools. The authors argue that urban schools in the United States are increasingly required to rely upon temporary teachers who are trained to implement a curriculum focused on standardized testing. The No Child Left Behind Act and the current Duncan administration’s approach to closing (and re-opening) schools combines to further exclude low-income community involvement in local schools. These efforts to control the development, hiring, and evaluation of local educators further expands educational racism that silences …

Urban Education Reform- Case Study: North Forest Independent School District, Jay Aiyer, Michael Adams, Subria Lapps

Jay K Aiyer

Education reformers and advocates have conducted extensive studies and produced significant research around various models of school turnaround and reform. As a case study for policy in relation to models for school district turnaround, we will explore Houston’s North Forest Independent School District (NFISD). The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, as a study of policy we will retroactively explore the key factors that led to the proposed closure of NFISD. Second, using existing strategies of school turnaround, we will explore potential models of reform that may be applied to NFISD. Third, we will discuss biases and recommendations concerning …

Lessons In Citizenship: Using Collaboration In The Classroom To Build Community, Foster Academic Integrity, And Model Civic Responsibility, Ann Biswas

Ann E. Biswas

The rise in academic integrity violations and the connection between dishonest behavior in college and civic behavior after graduation signal a call to educators that more should be done to prepare students to be ethical, responsible citizens. Through collaboration, particularly on written projects for their peers, students can feel more a part of an academic community and realize its many virtues. The author explores how collective authoring models the complex dimensions of responsible citi­zenship, which are often overlooked during the undergraduate experience, and can better prepare students to participate in their civic communities with honesty and integrity.

Presidential Succession Planning For Governing Boards In Higher Education, Timothy Channell

Timothy L Channell

This study examined desired characteristics presidents of colleges and universities exhibit through the perspective of the governing board chairperson. Three overarching characteristics investigated in this study were leadership ability, the ability to articulate a defined mission, and the ability to work with others. Comparisons were made between characteristic-determining questions to institution type and institution size. Participants were selected from a random sample of regional public colleges and universities and public community colleges that held membership in the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the American Association of Community Colleges, respectively. Through the use of the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire …

An Exploratory Study Of Teacher Empowerment And Technical Education In Kentucky, Lee Wall

Lee Ann Wall

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of empowerment and principal use of power within career and technical education in Kentucky. The researcher posits that, with the continual process of educational reform, principals need to understand what empowers teachers to perform as additional expectations and responsibilities are being mandated. The researcher used a mixed methods design to examine power bases that career and technical education teachers perceived were used by their principals to identify teachers’ perceived empowerment, as well as influencers and barriers. Data were collected with a survey and two open-ended questions from …

University Business Models And Online Practices: A Third Way, Beth Rubin

Beth Rubin

Higher Education is in a state of change, and the existing business models do not meet the needs of stakeholders. This article contrasts the current dominant business models of universities, comparing the traditional non-profit against the for-profit online model, examining the structural features and online teaching practices that underlie each. It then offers a third option for existing non-profit universities that would enable them to continue offering multiple value propositions while increasing efficiency and quality of outcomes. This involves emphasizing online instruction, separating research from teaching, and adopting a more complex structure based on differentiated faculty roles that would enable …

Six Questions For Entrepreneurial Leadership And Innovation In Distance Education, Connie Reimers-Hild, James King

Connie I Reimers-Hild, PhD, CPC

Institutions offering distance education courses and programs may benefit by encouraging administrators, faculty, staff and students to be more entrepreneurial. Organizational cultures designed to support this type of environment are characterized by entrepreneurial leadership, innovation and change. This article provides information on how distance education institutions can incorporate entrepreneurial leadership and innovation into their organizations. Six questions for administrators of distance education to consider are presented in an effort to provoke discussion and thought on the importance of incorporating entrepreneurial leadership and innovation throughout distance education organizations.

A Semi-Automatic Approach For Project Assignment In A Capstone Course, Mark Chang, Allen Downey

Mark L. Chang

This paper presents a semi-automatic approach to assigning students to project teams for a year-long, industry-sponsored senior capstone course. Successful assignment requires knowl- edge of at least individual project requirements, student skills, student personalities, and student project preferences. This mix of hard skills, soft skills, and interpersonal impres- sions requires human involvement to produce a high-quality assignment. The importance of faculty input often requires that the assignment process be labor- and time-intensive.

Our approach attempts to reduce the time required to perform this assignment by selectively automating parts of the task flow. An automated search uses a randomized greedy algorithm …

The Effect Of Learning Management Systems On Student And Faculty Outcomes, Beth Rubin, Ron Fernandes, Maria Avgerinou, James Moore

Beth Rubin

This study examines the effects of interactive and learning structures enabled by different Learning Management Systems (LMS) on satisfaction and learner engagement in online courses. An LMS can support or hinder active engagement, meaningful connections between segments of the course, easy communication, and formative feedback by making it easier or more difficult for faculty to communicate course requirements, provide open-ended feedback, and place course elements that are used together contiguous to one another. This study compares sections of the same course, offered by the same instructors using the same course materials in at least two different LMSs. It examines whether …