In "New York Times Co. v. Sullivan," the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment protects news media defendants from libel suits by public officials and public figures. Public college and university administrators are considered to be public officials under this ruling. To prevail in defamation cases, public plaintiffs must prove…

Justifies the creation of the Center for Public Integrity in light of the decline of investigative reporting by mainstream journalists in Washington, DC. The Center's efforts to make public officials more accountable, to take a systematic view of unethical behavior, and to find the causes for loss of trust in government are outlined. (DSK)

Surveys and interviews identified individuals who have achieved national recognition for college and university leadership and individuals from outside higher education who have had particularly strong influence on it. Profiles of former group (n=21) include deans, presidents, and heads of associations, foundations, and policy centers; profiles of…

Tibetan civilisation is over two millenniums old and, today, its struggles in diaspora open up a new chapter in Tibetan history. Diasporic Tibetans (e.g. in India and the USA) have made tremendous efforts over the last few decades to maintain their way of life. We focus on cultural identity in the Tibetan diasporas, with special attention focused…

This article profiles Shirley Chisholm (1924-2205), a 1993 inductee to the National Women's Hall of Fame. Born in New York, she was the oldest of four daughters. Her father was from British Guiana and her mother was from Barbados. In 1927, she was sent to Barbados to live with her maternal grandmother. She was educated in the British school system…

This article describes a specific effort to create a multimedia training technology (A Child Protective Service Investigation Simulator or CPS Simulator) for a representative group of street-level public servants--child protective service (CPS) workers. The article first provides some background on why bias in this area is a significant problem,…

This summer, "Instructor's" Editor in Chief, Bernadette Grey, traveled to Washington, D.C., for an exclusive one-on-one meeting with the U.S. Department of Education's high-profile leader, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. Appointed by President Bush, Spellings is responsible for the overall direction, supervision, and…

This practitioner issue brief outlines successful strategies and recommendations for state-level policymakers, administrators, schools, and districts that are based on a 5-year evaluation study on the learning environment for ELLs in the state of California. This brief offers four critical building blocks that should be in place to effectively…

Many urban school district students are dropping out and few of the remaining ones reach state or district achievement goals. These problems make governing urban schools both difficult and important. In 2005-06, the governance structure of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) was examined, debated, criticized, and praised by several…

This essay traces the emergence of the Mexican and Mexico-related narconovela. It examines perspectives on drug trafficking and traffickers expressed in novels by Elmer Mendoza, Leonides Alfaro, Gerardo Cornejo, Homero Aridjis, Arturo Perez-Reverte, and Paul Flores. The variety of positions taken refutes the tendency of the Mexican mainstream…

Peter Blake reports on new legislations and reforms in Virginia that provide colleges and universities more operational and administrative autonomy in return for their commitment to public goals for higher education. He traces the history and context of privatization in Virgina from 1988. During this time, the legislatively mandated Virginia…

Advocates for education reform are becoming increasingly frustrated with the pace of progress in school districts across the United States, especially those in urban communities. Low student achievement appears to be a fact of life in most of these districts, particularly among poor students and students of color. Results of the National…

Public schools are unique environments where the rights and responsibilities of one individual or group can easily, if unintentionally, infringe on the rights and responsibilities of other individuals or groups. This can leave public school employees wondering about the nature and scope of their rights. While it is well established that public…

In recent years, parents have benefited from a significant expansion of educational options for their children. Parents have many more opportunities than just a few years ago to choose from an array of public school options, including charter, virtual, and magnet schools. Expanding educational options for parents is one of the hallmarks of the…

An empirical study examined politicians' use of public speaking teleprompters (PSTs) when delivering major addresses to determine if audiences made aware of this practice would more seriously question speaker credibility, sincerity, and communicative ability. After completing an initial survey about political attitudes and awareness, subjects, 36…