Legal tenets from federal and case law as well as existing guidelines concerning appropriate academic adjustments for college students with learning disabilities. Recommendations are offered focusing on institutional, program, and course requirements, documentation of the student's learning disability, student qualifications, and "reasonableness"…

Universities and industry have a long history of collaboration and there are many benefits in forming partnerships for universities and industry alike. For universities, these partnerships can provide financial support for their educational, research and service missions; broaden the experience of their students and faculty; identify significant,…

The present state of Japanese educational reform is a mystery when seen from the outside. Although internationally known as one of the most highly achieving nations on international tests since the end of the 1990s, the Japanese have been engaged in a heated achievement crisis debate over the newest reforms to the national curriculum implemented…

During the past twenty years, the accountability movement and its attendant testing have raised fears in the arts education community that schools will feel pressure to divert instructional time and resources toward tested areas of the curriculum, such as reading and math (Eisner 2000). This paper presents the results of studies on the impact of…

Most of New Jersey's charter schools are located in the state's poorer, urban school districts, or "Abbott" districts, and exclusively serve students from those communities. A number of other schools are located outside of the Abbott districts but enroll students from these districts. Specifically, of the 50 charter schools operating in…

There is now a need, just like in industry, for quality assurance in education, for injecting systematically planned and formal processes, precise definitions, objectivity, and measurability in education. The demand for educational excellence in industry is "out there," and companies in more advanced countries are partnering educational…

This paper addresses the recommendation made by a recent study that the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree be rejected as the graduate degree in education and the corollary of this recommendation, that the Doctor of Education degree (Ed.D.) be the standard degree for advanced study in education. This paper reviews data on trends in the incidence…

At least 600 athletes failing to meet minimum academic standards to compete in college sports as freshmen are enrolled in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I institutions. The second annual NCAA survey shows that this year, as last, a high percentage are Black. (MSE)

The following arguments are offered in criticism of Hargens' theory that consensus may be measured by scholarly journal rejection rate: (1) Hargens fails to specify adequately the meaning of "consensus"; (2) all sciences have similar levels of relatively low consensus; and (3) journal rejection rates are influenced by other variables…

Cole, Simon, and Cole identify the following variables that may affect scholarly journal rejection rates: (1) field-specific publication norms; (2) diffuseness of journal structures; and (3) differences in training practices. However, they do not explain why the variables they identify covary across disciplines. (BJV)

This paper discusses the importance of teacher professional development to student achievement. Section 1, "The Imperative: Investment in Human Skill and Knowledge," explains that despite contradictory evidence, prevailing assumptions asserts that teachers learn most of what they need during preservice education. Section 2, "The Knowledge Gap in…

This essay examines the delicate balance of accreditation, the federal government, and the self-regulation of higher education. It explores the challenge of distance learning and what is needed to keep this balance in check. It briefly addresses two related areas in which the responsibilities of institutions and accreditors are growing because of…

The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1997 clarified that special education was to fully participate in educational accountability systems related to standards-based reform. Special education students could participate in the general assessment, with or without accommodations, or in an alternate…

This report provides a comprehensive account of the performance of students with disabilities on state assessment measures. Following an overview of the issues, it explains the laws that govern the reporting of assessment results (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 (IDEA) and Title I of the Elementary and Secondary…

Asserting that there is so little understanding of what "opportunity" means within the context of access to higher education that use of the word may cloud rather than clarify policy debate, this concept paper served as a resource document to aid participants at a 1999 seminar sponsored by the Council for Opportunity in Education. The paper…