Education Policy Commons^™

Challenges Of Growing Research At New And Emerging Heis, Ellen Hazelkorn

Books/Book chapters

Newer institutions are accused of adopting the accoutrements of traditional universities, actively copying their research profile and teaching programmes, and engaging in ‘academic’ or ‘mission’ drift. For others, however, these changes are part of the natural or inevitable process of institutional development and historical change, or a further step in the democratisation of the ‘Humboltian ethic’ (Neave, 2000, p265). If massification and expansion in 1960s differentiated the second stage in higher educational development from its elite origins, then the late 1990s marked the beginning of the third stage. By then, it was clear that a broadly educated population could no …

There's Good News From The Nation's Classrooms, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Last May at the finals of the National Geographic Bee held in Washington, DC, Alex Trebeck was getting concerned because he thought that he would be running out of questions for the ten finalists who came from throughout the country. Well, he did have enough, although it was close.

In the previous year it took just 80 questions to determine a winner of the Bee, an annual event sponsored by the National Geographic Society in which over five million kids nationwide from grades four through eight compete. In 1999, however, it took 140 questions before a winner was determined. In …

Higher Education In Maine: A Conversation With Sally Vamvakias, Sally Vamvakias

Maine Policy Review

This conversation between Sally Vamvakias, former chair of the University of Maine System Board of Trustees took place on October 5, 1999. At the time, Vamvakias had just completed her ten-year tenure as a trustee, the last four as chair. In this forward-looking conversation, Vamvakias talks about the change that electronic forms of knowledge transmission are bringing to higher education, and lays out the challenges to the University of Maine System as we begin the new millennium. This interview was conducted for Maine Policy Review by Luisa S. Deprez of the University of Southern Maine.

A Comparison Study Of The San Francisco Community Board Whole Schools Conflict Resolution Project, Kimberli Huston

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The key purpose of this study was to compare and contrast the San Francisco Whole Schools Conflict Resolution Project to the School Mediation Program utilized in Clark County, Nevada. The evaluation further assessed the impact the San Francisco Project had on incidents of school-related violence in order to project these figures to the Clark County Program.

The methods used in this evaluation included a review of the implementation processes and training components for each conflict resolution program. The researcher also conducted a pre- and post- training analysis of San Francisco Unified School District incidents of school-related violence. Additionally, the Clark …

Governing Massachusetts Public Schools: Assessing The 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act, John Portz

New England Journal of Public Policy

The Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 created a number of important changes in public education. In the area of local governance, the act was guided by a corporate model in which authority and responsibilities were reallocated among school committees, superintendents, principals, and newly created school councils. School committees in particular assumed a policymaking role, and superintendents became the chief executive officers of their school districts. This article, based on responses to a mail survey, is an early assessment of the act's governance changes. Superintendents are most satisfied with their role, especially their authority over principals and teachers. School committee …

Bylaws As Amended By The Board Of Directors, 1998, Society For Values In Higher Education

Bylaws / Constitution

Society for Values in Higher Education bylaws as amended by the Board of Directors, February 28, 1998.

Implementing Retrenchment Strategies: A Comparison Of State Governments And Public Higher Education, Marvin Druker, Betty Robinson

New England Journal of Public Policy

The authors present a comparative analysis of the processes and strategies by which public organizations implement retrenchment in the face of continued budget shortfalls. The focus is on the governments of the fifty United States and public institutions of higher education in the nine states of the Northeast. Special consideration is given to the programs that have been tried, sources of ideas for the strategies adopted, and constraints that institutions face when dealing with financial crises. While similarities were found for state governments and colleges and universities in use of past strategies and short-term fixes, differences were found in the …

Leadership In Higher Education: A Changing Paradigm, Allen L. Sessoms

Trotter Review

Senior administrators at public colleges and universities have previously been in the enviable position of managing reasonably stable institutions that have enjoyed an essential place in society. These institutions were born of society's desire to ensure access to the fruits of learning by a broad spectrum of citizens and to ensure that the knowledge developed was put at the service of industry and of the nation. In the past, and particularly after World War II, public institutions of higher education enjoyed explosive growth in both the numbers of students and in terms of public support. In addition, after the launch …

The Economics Of Free Parking: Transportation Policy At The University Of Nevada, Las Vegas, Richard A. Nielsen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper culminates a natural progression of studies done over the past two years examining parking and transportation policy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The purpose of these studies has been to evaluate the adequacy of these policies and to estimate the potential impact a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) program could produce on parking and traffic conditions and air quality improvement. Included in the report are results from a commuter survey conducted in April 1993, a simple rollback model developed to produce an estimation of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) at the University and any subsequent reduction of VMT …

Parent Involvement In Urban Schools: The View From The Front Of The Classroom, Frances Gamer, Kathleen Mccarthy Mastaby

New England Journal of Public Policy

American educational reform movements focus on efforts to restructure our schools to include all interested parties, especially parents, in the decision-making process. Nowhere is involvement more crucial than in America's inner-city urban neighborhoods. As parents are given a greater voice in their child's school, educators must join them as collaborators. This article identifies elements that impeded parental involvement and recognizes positive and encouraging techniques leading toward successful family-school-community partnerships. An alliance between groups too long seen as opponents rather than proponents must be established.

Why Is Boston University Still In Chelsea?, Glenn Jacobs

New England Journal of Public Policy

In the face of obdurate social, educational, and political failures, problems, and obstacles, Boston University persists in its management of the Chelsea public schools. It also persists in its refusal to share power with such Chelsea citizenry as the resistant Latinos whose leadership the university seeks to discredit. Jacobs examines the historical background of the city and its schools to decipher Chelsea's economic dependency and repeated fall into receivership and privatization.

Notes On Higher Education In The 1990s, Zelda F. Gamson

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article consists of a series of essays written for The Academic Workplace, the newsletter of the New England Resource Center for Higher Education, since 1990. The backdrop for the essays is the increasing inequality in higher education caused by changes in the political economy of higher education, especially in New England. The first essay analyzes the roots of contemporary faculty dissatisfaction with their work lives by tracing the impacts of the expansion of higher education, changes in the student body, and greater government involvement in higher education. Subsequent essays discuss multicultural education, faculty shortages, political correctness, responses to …

A Thoughtful Approach To Public Education Reform, John C. Rennie

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article restates the underlying rationale for the importance of high-quality K-12 public education. The author describes some of the difficulties reformers encounter in engendering support for and determining the most cogent elements of reform. The differences between the aims and capabilities of school-business partnerships, which essentially assist the current system, and systemic reform, which aims to change the system, led to the formation of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education. Rennie summarizes the process followed by MBAE in developing a framework for reform and meeting its objectives.

Affirmative Action Strategies In Elementary And Secondary Schools, Abigail Therstrom

New England Journal of Public Policy

Disproportionate numbers of black students do poorly on standardized tests; strategies to improve American education thus frequently target inner-city schools. These strategies often have an unrecognized affirmative action component. A search for more minority students or teachers is clearly an affirmative action effort. But the elimination of all tracking or competency grouping is another matter. Normally viewed as nothing more than a pedagogical strategy, it, like other affirmative action efforts, amounts to a conscious effort to alter the low-track status of minority pupils. Similarly, the demand for curricular reforms, racial sensitivity training, and more culturally "appropriate" tests, while not obviously …

The Changing Nature Of Universities, Ernest A. Lynton

New England Journal of Public Policy

Excessive emphasis on research as the dominant measure of institutional as well as individual prestige and values has created a critical mismatch between the activities of American universities and societal expectations. This article traces the origins of the resulting crisis of purpose to the post-World War II surge in federal research support and articulates the urgent need for basic changes in university priorities at a time teaching and professional services have acquired both new importance and new complexity. It further describes current efforts toward a more balanced view of the components of university missions and a resulting shift in faculty …

An Analysis Of And Revision Of The Board Policy Manual Of Red Hill Community Unit #10, Dennis W. Kimmel

Masters Theses

The purpose of this field experience was to analyze current board policy manuals in school districts surrounding Red Hill Community Unit School District #10 in Illinois and to revise and update the board policy manual of Red Hill Community Unit School District #10. This field experience was significant because the author believes a current board policy manual that is organized helps insure the efficient operation of a local school district in the state of Illinois. The job of school governance today is difficult and principles for school governance are essential.

The development of policy statements is a practice that must …

Fusing Educational Reform Policy And Action: Assuring The Development Of Local Leaders, George F. Marnik, Gordon A. Donaldson Jr.

Maine Policy Review

School change does not happen in a vacuum. It requires initiative and leadership. Because Maine's educational system features a strong local control component, successful educational change requires development of local leadership. George Marnik and Gordon Donaldson report on the Maine Academyfor School Leaders, an educational leadership development project in which they were involved. Among other things, the researchers learned that successful educational change is not likely to result from a one-size-fits-all state policy. Rather, successful reform occurs "one individual at a time, one school at a time."

Umass Selects A New President: Elements Of A Search Strategy, Richard A. Hogarty

New England Journal of Public Policy

The selection of a new university president, an event of major importance in academic life, is usually filled with tensions on the part of those concerned about its outcome. The 1992 presidential search at the University of Massachusetts exemplifies such tensions. There were mixed reactions to the overall performance. When they finished reviewing candidates, the search committee had eliminated all but Michael K. Hooker, who, they deemed, has the necessary competence, vision, and stature for the task. The main conflict centered on the question of "process" versus "product." The trustees rejoiced in what they considered an impressive choice, while many …

An Interview With John D. O'Bryant, Harold Horton

Trotter Review

The following is an interview with John D. O'Bryant, vice-president for student affairs at Northeastern University and former president of the Boston School Committee. A new, appointed, school committee was sworn into office on January 6, 1992. This interview with the former president should offer a unique perspective on past achievements and future hopes for education in Boston.

Searching For A Umass President: Transitions And Leaderships, 1970-1991, Richard A. Hogarty

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article traces the history of the five presidential successions that have taken place at the University of Massachusetts since 1970. No manual or campus report will reveal the one best way to conduct a presidential search. How to do so is not easy to prescribe. Suitably fleshed out, the events surrounding these five searches tell us a great deal about what works and what doesn't. It is one thing to offer case illustrations of past events, another to say how they might be put to use by other people in another era with quite different situations and concerns. In …

The Mission Of Metropolitan Universities In The Utilization Of Knowledge: A Policy Analysis, Ernest Lynton

New England Resource Center for Higher Education Publications

In the ecology of knowledge in modern society, efforts to enhance the utilization of knowledge are every bit as essential and as challenging as activities toward the creation of knowledge. An emphasis on the utilization of knowledge provides the defining mission of comprehensive or metropolitan universities. It demands a broadened conception of scholarship, and a high degree of interaction. In order to fulfill their mission, these institutions must develop appropriate internal and external bridging mechanisms, and make appropriate adaptations in the preparation, evaluation, and rewards of their faculty.

The Status Of Black And Hispanic Faculty In Massachusetts Colleges And Universities, Sandra E. Elman

New England Resource Center for Higher Education Publications

To implement policies and programs that facilitate recruitment and retention of minority faculty, educators and policymakers must first determine the status of Blacks and Hispanics in the Commonwealth's colleges and universities. The principal objective of this report is to provide that knowledge.

The study has a dual purpose: to develop a data base on the availability of and demand for Black and Hispanic faculty in Massachusetts institutions of higher education, and to enhance our understanding of the strategies and programs required to foster recruitment and retention of underrepresented faculty. Furthermore, it seeks to identify hiring trends in different types of …

The Impact Of The State Constitutional Convention Of 1917 On State Aid To Higher Education In Massachusetts, John P. Whittaker

New England Journal of Public Policy

The Massachusetts State Constitutional Convention of 1917 marked a turning point in the development of higher education in the state. An amendment adopted at the convention put an end to a long tradition of direct state appropriations to support the development of private colleges and to proposals for cooperative efforts between various state agencies and private institutions. After that time, only state institutions would receive state support. This decision resulted from an attempt to resolve an intense debate over the use of public funding for sectarian and other private institutions, which reflected the intense religious and class conflict inherent in …

Social Investment In Massachusetts Public Higher Education: A Comparative Analysis, Clyde W. Barrow

New England Journal of Public Policy

State expenditures on public higher education are increasingly viewed as a social investment that is necessary to sustain economic growth in a postindustrial economy. However, an analysis of comparative data indicates that state support for such education was below national averages during the 1980s and, when compared to its major competitor states, Massachusetts ranks poorly in support for these institutions. This article concludes that unless state support is increased over the next decade, Massachusetts will risk losing its competitive economic position, while educational administrators will be forced to choose between access or quality in public higher education.

The Academic Workplace: Perception Versus Reality, Sandra E. Elman

New England Journal of Public Policy

Why are faculty becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of the academic workplace? What accounts for burnout and low morale among so many college and university faculty? Is work life for professionals any more satisfying in the business world? What can academic leaders learn from business executives who work vigorously to reenergize their enterprises? Are corporate strategies aimed at enhancing the quality of work life applicable to improving satisfaction and productivity in our colleges and universities?

These concerns were addressed by a number of education leaders at a conference on faculty work life jointly sponsored by the New England Resource …

How To Keep Teachers In R.I., Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Should Providence city employees be forced to live in the city? The Home Rule Charter, adopted five years ago, requires them to do so. The executive secretary of the Providence Teachers' Union states that this requirement should not apply to teachers. But, is dropping the residency requirement the answer to the problem of finding adequate numbers of substitute and full-time teachers?"

The Search For A Massachusetts Chancellor: Autonomy And Politics In Higher Education, Richard A. Hogarty

New England Journal of Public Policy

Political scientists have not devoted much attention to the politics of higher education. Their reluctance is hard to explain since the material for study is close at hand and the subject offers ample research opportunities. The search for a chancellor conducted by the Massachusetts Board of Regents in 1986 aroused considerable public attention and controversy. This case study examines that controversy along with the tensions that arise when academic and political forces collide. Few searches in academia are perfect and none is a morality play. This one proved to be no exception. This article is an attempt to reconstruct the …

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Policies In Central Illinois: A Survey, Analysis, And Model, Daniel Lathrop

Masters Theses

One purpose of this study was to develop model policies for school districts to use in dealing with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). A second purpose was to identify which school districts in the Educational Service Region (ESR) comprised of Clark, Coles, Cumberland, Edgar, Moultrie, and Shelby counties had addressed the issue of AIDS policies. The population surveyed in the initial phase consisted of 22 superintendents within the ESR. A survey was developed utilizing many items from a national study (Keough and Seaton, 1987). The survey was administered during a monthly meeting of superintendents hosted by Regional Superintendent Rosemary Shepherd. …

The Public-Private Forum: Good Intentions Randomize Behavior, Robert Wood

New England Journal of Public Policy

Public and private institutions of higher learning coexist throughout the United States in a pattern of diversity that is unknown in any other postindustrial society — and Massachusetts is a prime example of U.S. pluralism in education. In an era of scarce resources and mounting costs, the contrary instincts for cooperation and competition are at work. This article is an account ofa voluntary attempt among private and public colleges and universities between 1973 and 1976 to forge a fragile partnership — the Massachusetts Public-Private Forum — which first flourished, then foundered. Tracing the course of its early successes and final …

Dropping Out Of High School: An Inside Look, Michelle Fine

Publications and Research

In September, 1984, I began an ethnography of student life in and out of a New York City public high school to figure out why urban students drop out of high school at such extraordinary rates. By December, why urban students stay in high school through graduation struck me as an equally compelling question.