Many people view the coming of January 1 each year as an opportunity for a new beginning. The conditions that are facing school and university administrators and educators make it difficult to approach the coming year with optimism. The effects of the recession that crippled state and local budgets have yet to ease, and schools and universities…

Two years after Congress made the federal government's largest one-time investment in the nation's public schools, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act--the economic-stimulus package--has prevented massive teacher layoffs, spurred states to devise sweeping education overhaul plans, and invigorated the national conversation about turning…

States are finally arriving at the "funding cliff"--the point where about $100 billion in federal economic-stimulus aid for education runs out. The loss seems certain to compound severe budget woes and could mean thousands of school layoffs and the elimination of popular programs and services in districts across the country. The bulk of…

In autumn, most colleges' football fields are covered with a thick carpet of grass or artificial turf and are adorned with yard lines. But the football field at Paul Quinn College was carved up by plowing and planting. This past fall, portions of the college's gridiron were covered with sweet potatoes, watermelons, peppers, rosemary, and sugar…

Family harmony, an important Confucian ideal in Chinese society is believed to determine family happiness and therefore health, but is this accurate? This is a qualitative study of 41 Hong Kong Chinese family members. Individual recorded interviews were thematically analysed describing perceived interactions between harmony, happiness and health.…

Relatively little is known about legal entanglements and suicide risk. This matched case-control study estimated the risk of suicide associated with legal strains using online court archives, a novel source of exposure data. Court records linked to suicide deaths (N = 315), controls (N = 630), and unintentional injury and poisoning deaths (N =…

During the summer of 2010, school districts across the country reported almost daily on their plans to lay off staff because of sharp declines in aid. Hundreds of thousands of teachers' jobs were on the line. If these losses materialized, class sizes would skyrocket and educational enrichment activities would be lost. Some districts shortened…

The harsh reality of debt among college-aged students is a growing problem. According to the Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy, 54 percent of college student respondents had overdrawn their bank account and 81 percent underestimated the time it would take to pay off a credit card balance by a large margin. In a climate where even…

Postsecondary programs offering vocational training and college credit to eligible inmates have had difficulty finding a place in the U.S. correctional system. Politically motivated restrictions preventing inmates from receiving federal funds for college resulted in drastic program closures. Although new laws restored funding to select inmates,…

While China has a long history of private institutions of higher learning, they disappeared almost entirely after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and did not re-emerge until the 1980s. Their reappearance is one of the ramifications of economic marketisation and privatisation in China. But private higher education…

Prior classroom management training makes a big difference in faculty's ability to handle disputes with students. This type of training should be included in faculty orientation activities. The research presented in this article indicates that success in dealing with behaviorally challenging students is possible if the likely areas of dispute are…

Ethnic and generational differences in motivation and achievement have been well-established. However, minimal research has examined the role of social factors on educational outcomes among individuals from diverse backgrounds. With a longitudinal sample of 408 Latino, Asian, and European-American students, we examine family, discrimination, and…

It should come as no surprise that a large share of this year's business books focus squarely on the 2008-09 financial crisis and security-backed mortgage implosion. Investing books followed the trend as either alarmist titles advocating selling stocks, or books urging readers to take advantage of this time to buy undervalued investments. An…

The "Great Recession" of 2009 has brought an unprecedented level of financial chaos to public higher education in America. Programs are being reduced, furloughs and layoffs are widespread, class sizes are increasing, sections are being cut, and students can't get into classes needed for graduation. Reports of budget cuts in public…

Recent events should force everyone who teaches macroeconomics (or finance, for that matter) to reconsider their curriculums. In this short article, the author shares his thoughts about what should and should not be changed in the way economists teach macro principles to beginning students. Two tradeoffs are paramount and must be faced by every…