Performance funding--the linking of allocation of resources to accomplishment of certain desired outcomes--is an idea that is once again finding favor with policymakers. It has intuitive appeal; what's not to like about paying for results? While it is a notion that makes common sense to most decisionmakers, it is an idea with a very checkered…

America's present economic unraveling has attracted intense interest among policy makers and the public. A far greater number of analysts that predicted the crisis now seem to know a path out of it. To be sure, the new president does not lack for advice on how to fix the situation. While the financial and regulatory underpinnings of the current…

Six out of ten Americans now say that colleges today operate more like a business, focused more on the bottom line than on the educational experience of students. Further, the number of people who feel this way has increased by five percentage points in the last year alone and is up by eight percentage points since 2007. These are highlights from…

To promote sustainable development within the global knowledge-based society, the Japanese government is urging the nation's higher education institutions to internationalize. Although a select number of Japanese universities are highly regarded in world university rankings, many observers argue that the majority of Japanese higher education…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts and mathematics seek to better prepare students across the nation for college and careers, raising both expectations and achievement in every state that chooses to adopt them. Created through an initiative led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School…

The economic meltdown has hit U.S. college campuses, and higher education is on the chopping block in state budgets, with cuts totaling hundreds of millions of dollars already approved and hundreds of millions in more cuts on the way. As veteran legislators, the authors have seen this story play out before in previous recessions. The mindset on…

Community colleges play an important role in the U.S. economy, providing access to higher education for low-income young people, a path to higher-earning employment for low-income workers, and a supply of well-trained employees for local industry. In order to remain competitive with other major economies, however, the U.S. must sharply increase…

In this paper, a framework for developing first-year students' learning is proposed. Its aim is to increase university managers' and teachers' awareness of two issues: (1) that the currently predominant "skills" approaches to the enhancement of student learning are based on a deficiency model and achieve little more than remedying the overt…

This long-awaited sequel to Richard Hofstadter and Wilson Smith's classic anthology "American Higher Education: A Documentary History" presents one hundred and seventy-two key edited documents that record the transformation of higher education over the past sixty years. The volume includes such seminal documents as Vannevar Bush's 1945…

The South Dakota Opportunities Plan is being presented to the South Dakota Legislature in fulfillment of the Legislature's directive from the 2006 session (House Bill 1238). The plan is intended to provide insight into the critical issues confronting higher education in South Dakota, responses made by the Board of Regents to these situations, and…

One of the significant issues in vocational education and training is student pathways and how students use them to achieve their personal goals. These "pathways" can be within or across sectors, as well as into and out of paid work. This study focuses on the pathways--to and fro--between vocational education and training (VET) and…

Strong relationships between presidents and boards are built on communication, education, transparency, and accountability. Boards that are well educated and informed, involved in establishing policy and strategy, and fully aware of new initiatives will support a president through difficult times. This paper offers a comprehensive, knowledgeable…

This report provides information on the outcomes of the Intervention for College Attendance Program, a program of competitive grants awarded to postsecondary institutions, professional organizations and community-based organizations. Funded programs focus on increasing the access and success of groups traditionally underrepresented in higher…

The major purposes of this literature review were to locate and describe existing programs that assist beginning teachers, and to describe the evaluation of these programs. Of particular interest was literature in which the problems of beginning teachers were described. Literature covering the following topics is reviewed: (1) why extended teacher…

The lists presented in this volume include individuals and institutions that may serve as resources to educators developing or modifying programs to assist beginning teachers. These lists were generated by contracts made in the course of the study of induction programs for beginning teachers. The first list is of locations and directors of the…