The "Professional Growth & Support System Self-Assessment" is designed to help school systems evaluate their current Professional Growth & Support strategy. The self-assessment is organized around the "Eight Principles of Strategic Professional Growth & Support." Each section allows school leaders to identify the…

This study examined Ohio's community college performance funding model that is based on seven student success metrics. A percentage of the regular state subsidy is withheld from institutions; funding is earned back based on the three-year average of success points achieved in comparison to other community colleges in the state. Analysis of…

Research indicates that precision agricultural education (PAE) in Oklahoma affects environmental quality, water conservation, and crop yields. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the nature and perceived effectiveness of PAE in Oklahoma secondary agricultural education classes. The study was framed by the diffusion of…

The current study investigated the methods that school counselors utilize to identify children of substance abusing parents (COSAPs), the support services being offered in the school, and the potential barriers to providing support to COSAPs in the school. This study revealed the most used methods of identifying COSAPs in the schools, for instance…

Using the central information technology unit (CITU) on the North Dakota State University (NDSU) campus, this project triangulated two independent studies in an effort to converge data findings. The studies were conducted in an effort to determine whether CITU's budget constraints were known to its stakeholders and how the extended use of the…

When it comes to reforming American education, today's would-be reformers only get it half right. On the one hand, they correctly argue that statutes, rules, regulations, and contracts make it difficult for schools and school system leaders to drive improvement and lead. On the other hand, they wrongly overlook the fact that school officials have…

The Smithsonian's rich and vast collections differentiate them from every other museum on the planet, but it is their people that truly distinguish them. From astrophysics and American art to sociology and zoology, they represent a staggering breadth of knowledge and depth of commitment, yet the most exciting thing to watch is what happens when…

This study examines the state's "Top-to-Bottom" ranking, which has been repeatedly criticized by educators for appearing to be correlated with school poverty rates. Mackinac Center research finds that schools that serve more lower-income students tend to receive lower scores on the TTB list. These results matters because TTB rankings are…

America faces a two-pronged problem in higher education: increasing costs and low completion rates. Despite the recent expansion of federal Pell Grants, many students still are left with unmet financial needs and may drop out of college because of financial concerns, pressing work responsibilities, and fears of taking on too much debt. One idea…

Counselors who work in a college environment are aware that financial aid is available to help students with college costs, but they may not be aware of all the financial pressures on students that may influence a student's psychological well-being. This article gives an overview of financial aid programs and financial factors affecting students,…

One of the major challenges that face the deans of many business schools is obtaining funding for their academic operations and research to sustain world-class educational quality. Business schools raise resources in their own way, but ways of financing strongly vary when comparing educational institutions among world regions. The purpose of this…

State appropriations for higher education are highly cyclical, with downturns in funding during difficult financial times followed by increases in funding when state finances improve. This policy brief shares recent research about whether the duration of recoveries from cuts in appropriations for higher education has changed over time and which…

This study examines the relationship between prestige and institutional funding profiles. Specifically, it analyses the relationship between increases in institutional prestige and an institution's dependency on traditional revenue sources, defined as tuition, fees, and state appropriations. Research and theory suggest that increases in prestige…

Strengthening after-school programming for city youngsters has long been an objective of The Wallace Foundation, a national philanthropy based in New York City. In its work over the years, Wallace has found that weak financial management of the nonprofits running many high-quality programs hampers their ability to improve and expand. In 2009,…

Research on philanthropy has not sufficiently examined whether charitable giving to religious causes impinges on giving to secular causes. Examining three waves of national panel data, we find that the relationship between religious and secular giving is generally not of a zero-sum nature; families that increase their religious giving also…