Because migrant students are among the most educationally disadvantaged students in our nation, Congress created the Migrant Education Program in 1966. Identification and recruitment are critical activities since migrant funding is based, in part, on an annual count of eligible migratory children. Funds come directly to the state, which contracts…

This audit report addresses whether New York school districts have established comprehensive school safety plans and completed necessary violence-prevention and response steps, and whether the New York State of Board of Education and State Education Department provided sufficient monitoring over school districts' efforts to keep schools safe from…

Rather than try and shield themselves from organizational change, language departments should turn current administrative attempts to streamline the campus to their advantage, particularly in the trend toward internationalization of the curriculum. Areas for expansion include languages across the curriculum, area studies, study abroad, comparative…

A study of the faculty evaluation system at Nene College (England) is reported and compared with studies in other British universities. Evaluator, faculty, and administrator views of the program were generally positive, particularly concerning the opportunities the evaluation interviews present for discussing issues. Assessment by line manager…

Discussion of systematic faculty evaluation for performance and career development looks at government policy changes in the United Kingdom and compares two institutional programs. The City University of Hong Kong views the faculty performance plan/appraisal as its contribution to the institution; the University of Glasgow (Scotland) treats the…

Presents the results of an assessment of undergraduate courses and instruction-related services. Students answered a 148-item questionnaire concerning advising services, career services, departmental communications, research and field experiences, and departmental courses. Discusses the results and includes statistical tables of the collected…

Maintains that, despite great strides in geographic education, many social studies methods professors still are using outdated geographic materials, methods, and techniques. Describes an intensive four-day conference bringing together social studies methods and geography professors. (CFR)

The efforts of the biology department at William Paterson College, a state college in New Jersey, to use strategic planning at the department level are chronicled. Planning focused on establishing a direction for hiring faculty, developing curriculum, purchasing equipment, and training students. Results, unanticipated outcomes, and lessons learned…

By helping faculty collaborate to enrich their teaching abilities and by supporting them when faculty/student relationships occasionally fail, the department chair models leadership skills that faculty themselves can use. The skills of leadership correspond very closely to good teaching skills, and can be combined with the skills of principled…

Discusses the response of Hope College (Michigan) language departments to shifts in language enrollments, particularly the rise in Spanish enrollments and declines in other languages. Strategies include using the smaller classes as an opportunity to enhance the teaching-learning environment and make those courses more attractive, placement…

Gives an overview of the Ball State University (Indiana) academic assessment program, from its origins through present and future efforts. Several current assessment activities are described--university-wide, in general education, and discipline-specific. Areas of strength in the program and challenges to conducting successful assessment are…

This document contains the executive summary and the detailed report which provide an independent evaluation of Kentucky's new system for assessing student performance, the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS). The summary gauges progress to date, highlights some strengths to be built on and problems to be solved, and provides…

A nine-state survey determined fiscal policies regarding educating children with disabilities residing in state institutions of mental health or mental retardation. States included California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. It was found that predominantly state-appropriated dollars…

This document describes a procedural alternative to current practice predicated on a critical analysis of the literature concerning the funding of public institutions of higher education. The document is partitioned into five sections. The first section describes the development of the formula concept. The next section describes how funding…

While the concept of the teaching portfolio is variously defined, portfolios generally provide the opportunity to display teaching abilities and accomplishments, as well as reflect on one's teaching. In using teaching portfolios, the departmental chairperson must create a climate in which faculty understand that putting together a portfolio will…