Retention of minority college students is elusive because many institutions have not made a full commitment to it, as is apparent in faculty, curriculum, and corporate culture. Unrealistic expectations, racism, funding, college environment, faculty interaction with students, and parental role must be addressed before a solution is found. (MSE)

Challenges the argument that tenure fosters indifference to student learning. Draws on Department of Education data to show that inadequate faculty involvement with students primarily reflects the declining numbers of tenure track faculty relative to the increasing number of students. Argues that full-time tenure track faculty are more productive…

Increasingly, high school students are earning college credits while still in high school, through dual enrollment or advanced placement, which enable some to earn bachelor's degrees in three years or with 12-credit semesters. The trend can reduce student costs, but has sparked debate among professors about whether students are unwisely skipping…

This paper argues the importance of moving beyond the state of affairs that makes victims "either" of children "or" of teachers by exploring the conditions of possibility for the idea of a victimless school. The argument is developed drawing data from a study being conducted by the authors into the impact of risk management on…

School nurses occupy a unique position in relation to school health policy. In addition to facing the demands of promoting and maintaining the health of students, they collect the information that is used to document the implementation of school health policy. Effective school health policy is guided by reliable, credible data regarding what…

The purpose of this article is to advocate for proactive content in discipline codes of conduct. Proactive discipline codes integrate Positive Behavior Support (PBS) strategies (Sugai & Horner, 2002) and attend to the academic needs of students (McEvoy & Welker, 2000). Proactive discipline codes of conduct have meaningful participation by key…

Disproportionality in special education is a widespread problem for racial minorities, particularly for African and Native American students. Furthermore, special education placements for racial minority students tend to be highly restrictive and permanent. School personnel might approach this problem through a focus on prevention. That is,…

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) Making Schools Safer for LGBT Youth: Despite Signs of Progress, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Students Say Harassment Persists (Michael Sadowski);…

In the 2008-09 school year researchers from EdSource and Stanford University conducted a large-scale study of 303 middle grades schools in California. The team surveyed 303 principals, 3,752 English Language Arts (ELA) and math teachers in grades 6-8, and 157 superintendents of the districts and charter management organizations that oversee the…

ACE is an independent national charity, whose trained advisers have been providing parents with support and legal advice for over 45 years. Parents ring the ACE advice line when they have a problem with their children's education. They call in with a broad spectrum of issues, ranging from what to do when their child has been excluded to how to…

In answering the question posed in the title, the author begins with a story that businessman Jamie Vollmer told to educators a few years ago. In examining business involvement in U.S. school reform, the author looks at the 1890s through 1920s and the 1970s to the present--two points in history when business leaders and educational entrepreneurs,…

This paper describes the planning and implementation of a school-wide home page at California Lutheran University (CLU) (Thousand Oaks, California). A working team created a balanced web site which represents all areas of the CLU community. The Internet Task Force implemented general computing policies, standardized University home page design,…

This document is a detailed outline of how to develop long- and short-range plans to fulfill a university mission with the aid of student outcome measures. Step 1 is to define university philosophy and mission so that plans are in accord with it. Step 2 is to analyze internal and external environments in order to be better prepared to respond to…

This paper provides a copy of the non-academic employees job evaluation and rating manual and a brief discussion of the process used to develop this manual at Atlantic Baptist College (New Brunswick). Atlantic Baptist is a small, private, Christian, liberal arts university founded in 1949. Over 7 months a four-member ad hoc Staff Compensation…

An overview is provided of community college involvement in providing job training for industry on a contract basis. Part 1 provides background on the changing role of community colleges and the introduction of contract training as a means of addressing the growing need of organizations to train and retrain staff. Part 2 offers a national…