Discussions about human capital and school improvement typically center on teachers, not administrators, and that's a mistake. Principals, who are responsible for selecting and developing the teachers they know are so important, are a critical driver of school success. So it is imperative that states do everything they can to find, deploy, and…

University administrators at George Mason University have aggressively solicited local corporations for donations to help finance faculty salaries in competitive fields such as engineering. They attribute their success to a "symbiotic relationship" with the Northern Virginia business community. (MLW)

Ten years ago higher education scholars predicted a major faculty turnover in the late 1990s and into the twenty-first century--a prediction based on demographic data on an aging faculty. The turnover is under way, accelerated by early retirement policies. Currently blocks of faculty positions are opening up at regional colleges and universities,…