This publication provides a closer look at data reported annually by South Carolina's public institutions of higher education as part of institutional effectiveness reporting and as part of the process of performance funding. Prior to the January 2000 edition, this document was entitled "Minding Our P's and Q's: Indications of Productivity…

This report provides an audit of state policies in Ohio affecting access to, and success in, community colleges for students of color and low-income students. It was commissioned by Lumina Foundation for Education as part of a series of policy audits of the states involved in Achieving the Dream. Lumina Foundation is the primary funder of the…

At institutions of higher education across the United States, faculty have increasing opportunities to define their research and teaching activities as components of the evolving "scholarship of engagement" field. Using an "interpersonal relationship" framework outlined by Bringle and Hatcher (2002), this article presents some…

This third edition of the "ES Review" brings together, in one setting, some of the best work from 2008-09. It features: (1) K-12 Accountability (Measuring Skills for the 21st Century (Elena Silva); Beyond the Bubble: Technology and the Future of Student Assessment (Bill Tucker); Testing the Limits (Bill Tucker); Changing the Game: The…

Increased demands for colleges and universities to engage in outcomes assessment for accountability purposes have accelerated the need to bridge the gap between higher education practice and the fields of measurement, assessment, and evaluation. The "Handbook on Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation in Higher Education" provides higher…

The Southern Regional Education Board was the first education organization in the nation to stress that states not only should set goals for education but also should measure progress toward those goals and monitor trends. Now, the SREB Challenge to Lead Goals for Education in the 21st century make a dramatic statement: "SREB states can lead the…

On June 9, 2005, the Board of Governors adopted the State University System of Florida Strategic Plan 2005-2013. This plan provides for a systematic and ongoing evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of state universities. As established in the Strategic Plan, goals for the system for 2012-2013 include: Goal 1: Access to and production of…

This report, produced by the Illinois Community College Board, summarizes the results of academic, career and technical education, adult education, and developmental education programs that were reviewed during fiscal year 2004. Summaries include both program strengths and the common challenges colleges face in keeping instruction relevant while…

The Performance Report is an accountability initiative addressing important indicators and outcome measures that are built around the Policy Areas from the Illinois Board of Higher Educations' Illinois Commitment. The Illinois Commitment was developed based on the premise that higher education must be part of the process of providing a foundation…

This paper discusses outsourcing as one solution to the college cost crisis. It is not presented as the solution; rather, it is put forth as an attractive strategy characterized by minimal financial and programmatic risk. To explore the basic policy considerations associated with outsourcing, this paper briefly reviews why institutions consider…

The Community College Student Success Think Tank, part of the Community College Student Success Project, funded by Lumina Foundation for Education, brings student and academic affairs officers together with institutional researchers to reflect on trends and issues surrounding data-driven decision making in community colleges. Participants consider…

Recognizing the growing importance of the quality of teaching in America's schools and the need to prepare a record number of teachers in the coming years, the Congress included a new focus on improving teacher preparation when it reauthorized the Higher Education Act in 1998. Title II of the new law created three Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant…

This chapter uses a case study to develop a set of contexts and conditions for improving the alignment of purposes of alumni survey research within and across higher education institutions. (Contains 2 tables.)

Increasingly, the viability of university programs to develop in school leaders the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed to bring about reform are being questioned. This article uses case study methodology for looking at how an increasing emphasis on collaborative inquiry in one university's program influenced a school principal several years…

A few years ago, while interviewing for a tenure-track position at a large, public institution in the Midwest, the author was informed that several faculty members suspected him of being "an activist posing as an academic" because the faculty thought that his research lacked "objectivity." Based on subsequent conversations the author had during…