Small, private, women's colleges served an important role historically and continue to do so today. The number remaining after the advent of general coeducation at private colleges and universities provide a niche in the diversity of higher education institutions. Many of the women's colleges that remain today undertook significant changes in…

"Improving School Board Effectiveness" offers a clarifying and essential look at the evolving role of school boards and how they contribute to efforts to improve student learning. It examines how board members can establish effective district priorities, and it explores those board policies and actions that result in shared, districtwide…

School districts on the leading edge of the Birth through Third Grade movement have demonstrated unprecedented success raising the achievement of low-income students by developing coherent strategies focused on the early years of learning and development. These communities are not merely improving preschool. Rather, they are building aligned,…

An effective school requires an effective leader, but great principals rarely just happen. They are cultivated. This Wallace Perspective draws on a decade of foundation research and work in school leadership to show how urban school districts can play a major role in ensuring they have principals who can boost teaching and learning in troubled…

The creation of the Massachusetts Board of Regents by legislative act in 1980 marked a major departure from a loosely coordinated system of higher education that had been in place in the state since 1965. The new public system created a central governing board with strong budgetary and program authority. (MLW)

Describes service-learning programs in three schools: Sullivan Elementary School in North Adams, Massachusetts; Turner Middle School in southwest Philadelphia; and Miami High School in Oklahoma. Identifies common elements in the three programs. Describes what school boards can do to support service-learning programs in their districts. (PKP)

Jobs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are the backbone of the Massachusetts economy. They comprise a substantial share of employment: about 13 percent of the state's jobs and one-third of its gross state product are related to STEM. And they also generate jobs in other fields, such as business and professional services,…

Although numerous theories have been proffered, to date activist boards are an empirically unexamined force in public higher education governance. Using the concept of institutional entrepreneurship, this case study examines the reciprocal role that board members and staff played in the organizational development of board activism. In the case of…

The complex interactions which led to the implementation of the court-ordered desegregation plans for two cities in Massachusetts involve not only the courts but many levels of government. The school departments, the school committees, the mayors, the State Board of Education, the legislature, the governor, and the citizens of Massachusetts, all…

This volume attempts to document ways in which several communities have dealt with the problems of declining school enrollments. Each case study outlines some type of public participation in the task of adjusting to population changes and fiscal pressures. The first chapter supplies an introductory overview of issues related to declining…