It was critical that the U.S. Supreme Court have the best empirical evidence available to help inform its decisions in "Fisher." The "amicus" brief filed by 444 researchers from 172 institutions in 42 states was the result of a collaborative effort among members of the social science, educational, and legal communities. In her role as counsel of…

New England's long winter and seemingly interminable wait for spring has this author thinking about what colleges could do with their campuses during the summer. The options are almost infinite, although the cost-benefit analysis clearly varies. For some students, being on campus in the summer is preferable to going home, where the environments…

This essay explores the contributions of student affairs professionals to religious and secular pluralism and interfaith cooperation in higher education. The authors propose a preliminary model of competencies necessary for student affairs professionals to engage in conversations effectively with students about issues of religion, spirituality,…

The Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) represents teachers and researchers of composition and communication in all possible genres, media, contexts, and exigencies; for the purpose of these guidelines, "writers" and "writing" will be all-encompassing, and the term "researcher" will refer to…

In this article, the author presents an interview with two former and the current president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities: John W. Chandler, Paula P. Brownlee, and Carol Geary Schneider. John W. Chandler was president of the association from 1985 to 1990, Paula P. Brownlee was president from 1990 to 1998, and Carol Geary…

We live in difficult times--socially, economically and politically--and it is right that learned societies, such as the British Educational Research Association, reflect on their purpose and direction. We cannot take for granted the social contract that supports the funding of social science and educational research. This paper reflects on…

There is discouraging evidence that many beginning teachers quickly abandon the practices advocated and modeled in their teacher education programs at colleges and universities and regress to imitate the kind of instruction that they experienced themselves as students, or conform to the dominant model in schools where they feel great pressures to…

This commentary brings together the topics of geographically-oriented diversity, minority-serving institutions, and educational leadership programs. The geospatial context for this discussion about school administrator quality focuses on Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United…

This dialogical article reflects stories of encounter. The unexpected collision of our worlds and thoughts, and the familiarities and tensions we came to recognize in each other's experiences when facilitating collaborative research in two communities of dance teachers, has given birth to this shared line of inquiry. We have come to acknowledge…

Despite years of controversy about what counts as rigorous educational research and significant amounts of taxpayers' support for related reform of U.S. public schools, serious inequities in U.S. K-12 education remain. The authors of this essay bring the perspectives of two tenured university teacher educators who share a background of over 40…

This commentary discusses the emergence of youth development research and evaluation in the nonprofit arena over the past 10 to 15 years. Included in this discussion is the establishment of the context for youth development research in nonprofits, a brief description of key examples of research from three youth nonprofits that illustrate the…

This article presents the author's confessions about being an anthropological poser. He shares a series of short fragments that evidence the ways he has drawn the line around his work. He draws some lessons about how to work collaboratively and effectively as Natives, scholars, and Native scholars. He closes this confession by admitting that he…

All the countries of the United Kingdom have something to learn from nations facing comparable challenges elsewhere in Europe. Seeing these challenges through a European lens can help these countries understand them and their selves better. The author thinks they need to join in solidarity with adult educators across Europe and, indeed, further…

This article reports on the growing influence of informal and not democratically legitimised authority within the educational field in Europe. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the Bologna Process and the European Qualifications Framework are discussed as instances of neoliberal strategies of modernisation that change the…

This article is a commentary on Australia's involvement in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests. It provides a rationale for Australia's participation in the PISA programme, the influences of PISA involvement on education policies and practices, and considerations and implications for school leaders and education…