You do not have to look far to see the impacts that the pandemic has had on schools and communities over the past two years. Recognizing this, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) is proud to be working with the National Alliance for Hispanic Health (NAHH) in support of the Vacunas CVN Network, a national network for community-based…

The issue of school safety is of paramount concern but what is lacking is clarity on the best course of action aimed at bolstering safety in public schools. We sought to answer the following research questions: What topics are addressed in school board policies related to arming employees? What outlying policy topics are addressed in school board…

Purpose: This article examines the relationship between educational and residential segregation in three school districts with differing approaches to student assignment. Racial and income segregation within school districts is often only examined at the school level, even as school patterns are often related to residential and attendance zone…

Many school districts have recently revised, or tried to revise, their policies for assigning students to schools, because the legal and political status of racial and other kinds of diversity is uncertain, and the districts are facing fiscal austerity. This article presents case studies of politics and student assignment policy in three large…

Many layers of education governance press upon U.S. schools, so we separated state actors into those internal to and those external to the system. In the process, we unpacked the traditional state-local dichotomy. Using interview data (n = 45) from six case-study states, we analyzed local leaders', state-internal actors', and state-external…

Purpose: This article examines factors that affect school board policy making about student diversity within two southern urban-suburban school districts experiencing changing demographics: Jefferson County Public Schools and the Wake County Public School System. Both districts have a history of voluntary integration efforts, and research shows…

As the first part of research on the student assignment plan that seeks to create and maintain diverse schools in Jefferson County, the authors surveyed samples of both parents and students across the county. These surveys were designed to learn more about their experiences with integration efforts after the implementation of Jefferson County…

The study was designed to provide information on Kentucky Hispanic school board members. The data was obtained from Kentucky school superintendents or their designees in the 174 public school districts through a survey mailed in the spring, 2009. The survey was mailed to Kentucky Superintendents on March 12, 2009. The follow-up survey was mailed…

A random telephone survey was conducted in July 1987 as part of a collaborative effort by the Kentucky School Board Association and the Appalachia Educational Laboratory to discover the public's perceptions about the local school board's role. Survey questions, fielded by trained and supervised interviewers, also addressed public opinions about…

This qualitative multi-site case study examines Kentucky's female superintendents: their professional work, identity, and entry to the role. Data sources were extensive interviews from twelve districts--superintendents, central office administrators, and school board members, plus questionnaires and district documents. Results revealed a web-like…

The Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990 was adopted after the Kentucky Supreme Court declared the state's system of schools unconstitutional. The purpose of this study was to identify the sources of information about KERA and to describe community attitudes toward KERA in rural Kentucky school districts during the first few months the law…

The role of advanced programs in urban universities and the relationship between large public urban universities and comprehensive state universities in less-populated areas are addressed. An overview of the issues, case studies in three states, a study comparing students in two doctoral programs, and information on the characteristics of large…

This report summarizes a survey of program organizational models used by 50 school districts in Kentucky to provide services to gifted and talented students. Models included: the pull-out model, self-contained classrooms, the cluster model, extra-school or after school programs, advanced placements, mentorships, and academic teams. Following a…

Costs associated with colleges and universities are addressed in this two-part report. Part one, a 20-page overview, Snyder's "Recent Trends in Higher Education Finance, 1976-77 to 1985-86," reviews rising national trends in tuition, enrollment, degrees, expenditures, and expenditure per student. A wide diversity is noted among…

This study examines postsecondary, less-than-baccalaureate occupational education opportunities in Kentucky, focusing on governance, coordination, availability, and participation in such programs. Program offerings and enrollments were determined through a survey of state vocational-technical schools, community colleges, four-year colleges and…