This article describes two decades of workplace basic skills efforts in the United States (mid 1980s to early 2000s). Private- and public-sector groups defined the problem of inadequate basic skills in the incumbent workforce. They raised awareness of this problem as it affected various segments of the workforce and diverse industries. They…

This paper examines how colleges respond to the introduction of broad merit aid programs. Previous research has emphasized the impact of merit aid on enrollment, student choices, and post-matriculation outcomes. Yet much less is known about how state-implemented merit aid programs affect colleges' financial decisions. To explore impacts, college…

The "Marland" Report was the impetus and structure to provide a more systematic approach to building state and regional gifted programs. One of the strategies used to proliferate the spread of programming for gifted students throughout the states was the National/State Leadership Training Institute on the Gifted and Talented…

What was the impact of government grants on the emerging national elementary school systems of the nineteenth century? This article deals with this question through a study of the introduction of matching government grants in Sweden during the latter part of the nineteenth century. The analysis shows that, although the government grants increased…

Historians have often recognised important links between the processes of university and civil service reform in mid-nineteenth-century England. Yet such connections are usually seen as forming part of a wider project of modernising reform with any conservative or counter-revolutionary aims largely discounted. However, as this article suggests,…

This article summarizes the research base on teacher effectiveness in physical education from a historical perspective and explores the implications of the recent emphasis on student performance and teacher observation systems to evaluate teachers for physical education. The problems and the potential positive effects of using student performance…

This article is the third in a larger study of schooling during the Great Depression that seeks to elucidate specific examples of elementary social studies teaching and learning in the South during this time, particularly in Arkansas. Responding to Christine Woyshner's (2009) concern that histories of social studies should look beyond national…

In this article, we examined the extant literature regarding college-readiness in math for students entering community colleges. Included in this review are the following topics: (a) the role of community colleges between secondary and postsecondary institutions; (b) national initiatives for college-readiness standards in math; (c) Texas…

Teaching artists work in a field with a long, rich history, and many roots and strands of development. One of TAJ's roles is to try to make this history more accessible and useful to working teaching artists. In this article, the author outlines the evolution of teaching artistry in the United States.

Since its inception in 1993, Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program has provided thousands of state residents the opportunity to pursue a college education. This study examines the history and recent changes to the merit-based program along with interesting consequences resulting from its implementation. This study demonstrates how the program has…

In November 1996, forty-five higher education technology leaders convened in Washington, D.C., to discuss the virtual university (VU). The Western Governors Association had announced establishment of the Western Governors University (WGU). As a result, VU initiatives were emerging from, or being contemplated by, almost every state-level higher…

Various approaches to the professional development school (PDS)--each designed for its respective audience, mission, and purpose for engagement--have shaped the professional development school effort during the past 25 years. Central to these approaches is improving teacher quality in the service of student learning. This provides direction for…

Prior to 2003, virtual universities were being created at a rate that would question the usual perception that higher education rarely changed, or changed (if at all) at a glacial speed. No comprehensive study of what was actually being created had been done; nor had anyone tapped the experiences of the developers in the states to see what was…

People do not want to know the history, minutiae of policy, or operations, or even the political intrigues of a virtual consortium. People want to know if the consortium has value, whether it can help them, and if it is a threat. In this article, the author focuses on the operating principles and policies that have proven successful in the…

This case study reviews the emergence and evolution of eCore (the University System of Georgia's electronically delivered undergraduate core courses) over eight years and summarizes the issues, ongoing challenges, and lessons learned from interinstitutional collaboration in offering and administering a "virtual" shared core. The bulk of…