The crunch in the student-loan market, a weak U.S. economy, and declining home values are all conspiring to make this an unpredictable year for college enrollment. Some middle-income families have found it cheaper in recent years to borrow against their home equity to help pay for college, rather than take out private student loans. However, this…

Areas of our country are headed toward significant social and political unrest if education ignores the demographic trends reshaping our schools. This article describes how one teacher training program in South Carolina examined its cultural context, accreditation standards, and course offerings to restructure its curriculum to address cultural…

The free and open publication of course materials (OpenCourseWare or OCW) was initially undertaken by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and other universities primarily to share educational resources among educators (Abelson, 2007). OCW, however, and more in general open educational resources (OER), have also provided well-documented…

"The First-Year Seminar: Designing, Implementing, and Assessing Courses to Support Student Learning and Success," a five-volume series, is designed to assist educators who are interested in launching a first-year seminar or revamping an existing program. Each volume examines a different aspect of first-year seminar design or…

It is important for administrators, faculty, and policy makers to understand and consider how policies commonly associated with non-tenure-track faculty roles and working environments impact student learning. Many policies impede the ability of faculty to provide effective instruction that is aligned with departmental and institutional goals for…

The hiring of middle school teachers to positively impact student achievement--is this a process of teacher selection or teacher attraction for schools, respectively, with low teacher turnover and schools with high teacher turnover? Since research indicates that the most important variable influencing student achievement is having a highly…

Rural educational issues cannot be addressed by a one size-fits-all approach to school improvement, but current research offers some solutions and insights into turning around low-performing rural districts and schools. Of the four possibilities set forth by the U.S. Department of Education, the transformation model holds the most promise for…

Many rural school districts face declining enrollments. A few districts have taken the unusual path of recruiting international students in order to boost their enrollments. This study examines a community using this strategy and the resulting financial, academic, and social situations for the school, community, and students, both local and…

"The Measures of Success" (MoS) project set out to develop, implement, and present the results of an evaluation model that could assess longer-term outcomes of workplace education programs for increasing literacy and Essential Skills. The model was tested at 18 work sites in Manitoba and Nova Scotia and included training programs that…

One way to improve struggling schools' access to effective teachers is to use selective transfer incentives. Such incentives offer bonuses for the highest-performing teachers to move into schools serving the most disadvantaged students. In this report, we provide evidence from a randomized experiment that tested whether such a policy intervention…

As more technology has become available in many parts of the globe, a new type of student population has emerged. The traditional student image of higher learning has been somewhat limited in many countries, but given the impact of the Internet, this traditional "student body" has changed. Rather than being limited to regional…

The data and research findings for this paper were derived from two studies. The first was commissioned to the National Afterschool Partnership (NAP) by the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate effective practices at the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLCs). The purpose of this study was to develop resources and professional…

The purpose of this mixed-method design study is to evaluate how well the Maryland Task Force on the Principalship recommendations have been implemented throughout the state of Maryland. The study examines Maryland principal perceptions as to whether or not the Task Force recommendations have been implemented in their county school districts. The…

National and state-level policies recognize the critical role that talented teachers play in ensuring that all students learn and in building capacity for instructional excellence in schools. Teachers influence student learning more than any other factor in the school, and the dividends of effective teaching are cumulative (see "Defining the…