Federal law defines English learner (EL) eligibility differently for Indigenous, compared to non-Indigenous, students, allowing for broader entry into the EL category, along with its accompanying resources and services. We interviewed EL leaders from 25 state departments of education to learn about their level of understanding of the…

Recent calls to reform undergraduate biology education, including Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education, have led biology departments to examine their curriculum to determine the extent to which it aligns with Vision and Change content and competency recommendations. The recently released BioSkills Guide translates the broad Vision…

In 2015, the U.S. Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that included provisions to support gifted and talented learners. The U.S. Department of Education's Consolidated State Plan template only required states to directly address the inclusion of gifted education under Title II, Part A: Supporting Effective Instruction (Section…

This article highlights a set of principles and guidelines, developed by a diverse group of specialists in the field, for appropriately including English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities in large-scale assessments. ELLs with disabilities make up roughly 9% of the rapidly increasing ELL population nationwide. In spite of the small overall…

Water, water everywhere--managing and conserving water resources is a major factor at campuses worldwide. Doing so is a challenge, since water is one of the most-used and ubiquitous resources in any environment. Water is often taken for granted and not measured by the people who use it the most, yet it might have the greatest potential for helping…

Competency-based education (CBE) refers to online and hybrid courses and programs that offer credit or degrees based on evidence of student learning, or competencies, rather than on the amount of time spent in a course. Students work at their own pace, receive personalized academic support, and demonstrate mastery as they progress through their…

Broaching the subject of student-athletes on social media is liable to cause many institutional leaders, communications officers, and athletics directors to reach for the antacid. The speed and reach of social media, particularly Twitter, combined with the youth and bravado of student-athletes can damage reputations and tarnish university brands…

Higher education institutions need to be able to adapt to changes, which requires flexibility and learning. Researchers have questioned whether higher education institutions are learning organizations, a concept of which university faculty have been traditionally skeptical. This article describes a study of faculty perceptions about their…

Seattle University has an industrially sponsored, yearlong, senior design program that has been in existence for more than 20 years. Students work in teams of three or four under the guidance of a liaison from the sponsoring agency and a faculty advisor. The students prepare a proposal in the fall quarter detailing their plan and a design report…

Statistically and historically speaking, most women's studies departments are headed by women. So when Dr. David G. Allen, a psychosocial and community health professor at the University of Washington (UW), was appointed chair of that institution's women's studies department last summer, it ruffled a few feathers. Dr. Nancy J. Kenney, an associate…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is not going away. In fact, it might not even undergo more than minor modifications before it comes up for reauthorization in a couple of years. The nomination of Margaret Spellings to replace Rod Paige as U.S. secretary of education foretells not only a single-minded focus on test-based accountability but also an…

Examines the relationship between community college faculty members' departmental affiliation and their curricular choices. States that data were collected from a random sample of community college instructors at the State of Washington's community and technical colleges during the 1999-2000 academic year. Reports that faculty teaching in…

Strategies to address the problem of work and family balance have begun emerging in recent years. Many American college and universities have begun to adopt this "family-friendly policies," such as tenure-clock extensions. Each of the policies to enable work and family balance, however, is situated within the broader academic culture.…

Reviews the first two years of implementation of Chapter 2 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act in Washington state, examining political and economic background factors, state responses to block grant authority, and local implementation. Concludes that the state adapted well and quickly to the shift in federal policy. (PGD)

North Carolina says it graduates 97 percent of its high school students, while Washington state reports it gives diplomas to just 66 percent. But researchers, using methods they believe are more accurate, estimate that the two states' graduation rates are essentially the same, at around 64 percent. Acknowledging that such disparities in data are…