Many states across the nation are working to improve school leadership, some on a substantial scale. Several factors encourage state-level work focused on principals, including: research evidence of principal effects on student learning, flexibility in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), new national professional standards for principals,…

This report, based on surveys completed by all 50 State Education Agencies (SEAs) and the District of Columbia (DC) and nationally representative samples of districts and schools during spring 2011 and 2012, examines implementation of the key education reform strategies promoted by the Recovery Act in 2011-12, the extent to which implementation…

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare key elements of the actions that states in the USA and Australia took to implement the Common Core State Standards or Phase One of the Australian Curriculum, and what processes and products they used to facilitate implementation of these innovations. A rubric adapted from a diagnostic tool,…

According to national survey data, access to and participation in professional development varies widely across states, and the quality of professional development across most states is far from meeting research-based definitions of effective professional development, with a few pockets of excellence in some states. In this study, "Teacher…

A comprehensive research project conducted by the Community College Section of the National Communication Association (NCA) investigated the status of communication education in U.S. community colleges. Contacts from 290 public community colleges in the U.S. responded to a survey targeting five areas of inquiry: (a) institutional, (b)…

Non full-time faculty--whether adjunct, part-time or contingent--has become the lifeline of a vast majority of colleges and universities. They teach many of the foundation and core courses taken by first- and second-year students, teach professional courses in which their own life experiences are invaluable, and step in at short notice to fill-in…