In the wake of the Common Core State Standards and teacher evaluation reform, school leaders increasingly look to district leaders for support, coaching, and leadership. District leaders--superintendents, assistant or area superintendents, specialists, principal supervisors, and school business administrators--can hold varying and multiple roles…

This book is the author's second book on preschool. His first book, "Investing in Kids: Early Childhood Programs and Local Economic Development" (2011), explored the connection between early childhood programs and the economic development of American states and metro areas, and compared early childhood programs with business tax…

The attitudes of 100 Alabama legislators toward higher education and about major issues facing higher education in the State were investigated. Surveys were returned by 79 house members (75 percent) and 21 senate members (60 percent). Attention was focused on legislators' views of the mission of higher education, how higher education should be…

Practical lessons in lobbying at the state level include the following: practice friendly persuasion and good timing; accentuate the positive; and be consistently accurate and honest. Lists 19 do's and don'ts of lobbying. (MLF)

This digest of a full-length report provides a review of state level budgeting for higher education in terms of the underlying interplay of human and external forces coupled with factors that are present in the budgeting process itself. The environmental context includes historical, political, economic, and demographic factors. These factors…

Reviews a Minnesota study of tax concessions to private school parents and provides an analysis of the strategy of constituency mobilization. The Minnesota experience shows that a mobilized, powerful issue constituency can enforce political accountability on the bargaining process and influence educational policy. Such single issue linkages…

This sourcebook contends that arts education is essential to a good education, and that legislators and others interested in educational reform will find that arts education can help to solve broader problems in education and help students succeed. Organized into five chapters, the first chapter discusses a recent movement that has worked for an…

A study was conducted to compare the priorities of college administrators with those of strategic external constituencies regarding the activities of the Maricopa Community Colleges and Central Arizona College. The strategic constituencies for the colleges were defined as all 90 state legislators, 21 state board members and staff, and a sample of…

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: Something good is happening in Indiana that may be a model for the nation. The Indiana Congress on Education, which convened for the first time last June, could be an unconventional but effective way to change public policy. Throughout the fall, we've been treated to demonstrations of the…

Individual members of state legislatures wield the greatest influence in state level policy formation. This was one of the findings of a study that identified the power and influence context of state-level policymaking. Data were gathered from six states (Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois) using an instrument…

Calls on school administrators to protect education from further damage from federal legislation by being in closer touch with federal policymaking. Describes a Congressional shift away from instructional issues toward issues affecting noninstructional operations and a corresponding shift in lobbying effectiveness from a Washington-based emphasis…

The paper addresses the need for reform in the trusteeship of public higher education that will address coming economic, political, and social challenges. It suggests the need for clearer definition of the roles and responsibilities of lawmakers, trustees, and public higher education leaders, and key reforms that include: (1) the recruitment,…