This chapter describes the concurrent reforms occurring in North Carolina--both campus-level changes focused on such issues as developing structured programs of study and state-level reforms aimed at supporting the campus efforts.

In September 2011, the Association of American Universities launched a major initiative to improve undergraduate STEM education. The overall objective was to influence the culture of STEM departments at AAU institutions so that faculty members are encouraged and supported to use teaching practices proven by research to be effective in engaging…

State education policy changes have contributed to a reduced interest in teaching and a decreased enrollment in education degree programs in North Carolina, USA. Pressure to cut budgets and generate revenue has added to a climate of academic capitalism influencing the ways in which deans lead schools of education. The purpose of this mixed-methods…

Lynette Brown-Snow, vice president of marketing and government relations for the Community College of Philadelphia, is one of several community college leaders across the country who have taken up one of the challenges proffered by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) in its 2012 report, "Reclaiming the American Dream:…

This document contains the proceedings of a two-day forum held in North Carolina that was designed to give individuals in education, government, and business, who would be involved in implementing the recommendations of the Carnegie Task Force, the opportunity to freely analyze and debate the teaching profession. The first address was presented by…

The At-Risk Children and Youth Task Force in North Carolina has spent almost a year grappling with the many and complex problems of at-risk children and youth. Presented are the recommendations of the task force. The recommendations are based on hours of indepth interviews, hours of reading, and time spent listening to parents, educators, and…

This paper describes how one North Carolina state university redefined its educational leadership program after facing state demands to alter leadership preparation. Concurrent with other national initiatives to reform preparation of school leaders, this initiative was designed to rethink the purpose and function of leadership preparation. After…

North Carolina's Basic Education Program was adopted in 1985 and will be completely implemented by 1993. The North Carolina General Assembly has furnished much of the necessary funds. The program provides higher standards, smaller classes, the chance to become fluent in a foreign language, more instructional materials, counseling, dropout…

These three essays are intended to provide an overview of southern efforts to help increased numbers of young persons make a successful transition from school to work with a future. The first paper, "Smoothing the Path from School to Work: A Promising Venture in Structural Change in a Southern State," by Peter B. Edelman and Myrtis H.…

The long range plan for the University of North Carolina system is the third edition of a plan initiated in 1976. The revised plan incorporates new information on and changes in the system and its programs: status reports on all new degree programs and program tracks previously authorized for planning; requests for authorization to plan new degree…

One of the goals of Professional Development School (PDS) programs is to provide preservice teachers with opportunities for developing in-depth knowledge and experience as they learn to teach (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, 2001). A theme-based PDS adds value to the PDS program model because it allows faculty members to…

In the 1990s, the nation's educational focus turned to troubled schools in the nation's poorest cities. Under the leadership of Luther Williams, then Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Urban Systemic Initiative was created to improve the teaching and learning of science and mathematics. Recognizing that high-needs…