Outdoor field experiences have long been part of the traditional curriculum in geoscience-related disciplines and are considered a key aspect of professional development in these areas. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of many field excursions around the world, geoscience departments were forced to make abrupt changes to the ways…

While U.S. voters delivered a significant change in the 2024 federal elections, they opted for steady leadership at the state level. No state board of education shifted in partisan control, and only five seats saw a shift in political party out of 27 races that were contested in the general election. This policy update looks at the results of…

Faculty members are important agents in the socialization of doctoral students into academia, but little training is available in preparation for the role of doctoral supervisor. In this self-study, we consider the personal and sociopolitical challenges that Kevin faced as an early career teacher education faculty member who had just begun…

The research funding patterns at ten doctorate-granting universities across the country were investigated. These universities were classified by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education as R2: Higher Research Activity institutions. Findings pointed to patterns in funding and research growth and the relationship between research administrators…

The Sticky Floor Effect, a relatively new career advancement barrier concept, theorizes there exist obstacles for women preventing them from advancing to first level management positions. Of significant importance to institutions of higher learning's colleges of business, the Sticky Floor Effect highlights issues of consistency, moral…

There is a pervasive and ongoing perception that leadership preparation is a problem. Important questions remain about the intentions, capacity, and impact of state departments of education engaged in leadership preparation program redesign. In this essay, I take up several issues concerning this state policy work, including whether a one size…

The purpose of this paper is to take a closer look at the states that have designed strong history standards and note what has made them exceptional so other states might do the same. They include Alabama, California, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, and South Carolina. The report draws on interviews with individuals from each state who sat on…

Heeding the advice of Young, Petersen, and Short (2002), the Educational Leadership Program at Auburn University included a variety of stakeholders in the reform of its preparation program. Collaborative partnerships were formed with school districts, local and state educational agencies, and with a variety of other educational stakeholders. This…

The survey on hot topics was added in 2007 to the annual survey of state directors of community colleges conducted by the University of Alabama Education Policy Center. The survey data provided an opportunity for examining the personal attitudes toward the hot topics and the associations between these attitudes and state contexts. This study finds…

This study examined the coverage of sexual orientation topics within 77 public university secondary teacher preparation programs across seven US states, and represented programs preparing 8,300-11,500 teachers annually. Findings indicated that 40% of programs did not address sexual orientation as a diversity topic. Further, even programs that did…

The chapter prepared for inclusion in a handbook for school board members focused upon the important relationships of boards, as boards, and individual board members with external organizations and agencies. The handbook was produced by the Alabama Schools Boards Association for its membership and for its use in the orientation of new board…

As a move to strengthen the preparation of and induction of first year teachers into the challenges of their chosen profession, the State Department of Education was making moves in the direction of providing additional support in that transitional process. Bradshaw with encouragement from his major professor who was involved in planning the…