This executive summary presents the broadest look yet at a growing trend in America's cities: the emergence of city-led efforts to build comprehensive afterschool and out-of-school time (OST) systems that meet the needs of children and youth in their communities. Mayors and other municipal officials who have demonstrated leadership in this area…

Successful schools that provide positive, productive, and vibrant teaching and learning environments do not occur by accident. Instead, the most effective schools are led by principals who are equipped with the skills and possess the attitudes required to be exceptional school leaders. The good news is there is a growing research base that clearly…

Racial and ethnic disproportionality in gifted education is a persistent and perennial inequity in many school districts. This report describes the root causes of this disproportionality and discusses ways in which this issue can be addressed. Whereas most of the attention has been paid to assessment, specifically the use of nonverbal tests to…

United States schools and American Overseas (A/OS) schools depend upon educational technology (ET) to support business operations and student learning experiences. Schools rely upon administrative software, on-line course modules, information databases, digital communications systems, and many other ET processes. However, ET's fragility compared…

The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) were developed as part of a broader effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers to develop common state standards in key subjects. Released in 2010, the CCSSM are intended to provide a blueprint for the…

Textbooks too often hinder rather than help students because of their prohibitively expensive prices. Colleges and universities facing intense pressure to lower education expenses while increasing access, retention, and achievement now find addressing the textbook problem more and more urgent. Used textbook sales have grown dramatically over the…

At a time when the OECD (2007) is advocating more local engagement for higher education institutions, this study looks at a number of community initiatives in Australia where local universities have played a key role. All were studied as part of the PASCAL Universities and Regional Engagement (PURE) project, which involves a total of 19 regions…

The objective of the research reported in this article is to understand the extent of e-learning implementation practices currently in use in Jordanian government universities. In order to achieve this objective, a survey of e-learning implementation practice in Jordanian universities was conducted. A detailed description of the survey procedures…

This study examined the entrepreneurial, nontraditional fundraising behaviors and activities of 23 community college presidents using interview and survey data. The institutional characteristics that facilitate entrepreneurial action and how presidents are raising these new revenues were explored. "Best practices" and implications for…

Despite increasing requirements for counselor proficiency in crisis response, there is an absence in the standards for counselor preparation, certification, and supervision of consistent criteria on which best practice in crisis prevention and intervention, and postcrisis recovery can be gauged. The authors present a conceptual framework that…

Dr. Byron McClenney is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Educational Administration and serves on the staff of the Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas-Austin as Project Director for Achieving the Dream. He was previously the President of the Community College of Denver. As President of the Community College of…

This article describes an educational program evaluation conducted by Dr. Eric Barela. Barela is a senior educational research analyst with the research and planning division of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). He joined the division as an urban education research fellow and has been an internal evaluator with LAUSD for almost six…

Journal publication is an important indicator of research productivity for individual researchers, as well as academic institutions. However, for novice faculty members, the publication process can appear equivocal and daunting. If the academic does not actively engage themselves early in this process, then her or his career becomes an uphill (and…

Recent state policy and federal funding initiatives are driving the demand for clean energy in both the short and long term. This increased demand has created the need for many more workers trained or retrained in a variety of clean energy jobs. In response, states are utilizing funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009…

This is the second in an occasional series called "Promising Practices: What Works in the Midwest." The series was launched to showcase innovative initiatives and effective ways to address common challenges and unique opportunities in higher education. Promising practices enable educators and policymakers to compare and benchmark…