On 22 February 2011, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake killed 185 people in Christchurch, New Zealand. On 11 March 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck eastern Japan, and was followed by a devastating tsunami and a nuclear plant crisis. As of 16 November 2011, the official death toll in Japan had reached 15,839, with a further 3467 people still…

Disasters happen worldwide, and it is necessary to engage emergency management agencies, health and social services, and community-based organizations in collaborative management activities to enhance community resilience. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has been widely accepted in public health research as an approach to develop…

State takeovers were an infrequently applied strategy to address the problems of financially and academically troubled schools for many decades. Although 23 states had the right to take over individual schools and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) required states to address persistently low-achieving schools, only five states had exercised their power…

Since 2013, Oaxacan Indigenous educators have experienced "seismic aftershocks" from three tumultuous developments: the massive 8.2 earthquake in September 2017 along Oaxaca´s Pacific coast, immediately followed by other earthquakes and continuing tremors; homogenizing federal education reforms imposed since 2013, including the projected…

Service learning holds the potential to educate for citizenship, preparing students as individuals who can respond not only to the daily challenges of an interconnected yet fragmented world but also to the emerging calls to rebuild disaster-stricken communities. Although seen by some as a cumbersome pedagogical approach, service learning can offer…

This study identified secondary school students' alternative conceptions (ACs) of climate change and their resistance to instruction. Using a case-based approach, a diagnostic test was administered to Secondary 3 male students in a pre-test and post-test. The ACs identified in the pre-test were on the causes of climate change, the natural…

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which killed an estimated 316,000 people, offered many lessons in mass-fatality management (MFM). The dissertation defined MFM in seeking information and in recovery, preservation, identification, and disposition of human remains. Specifically, it examined how mass fatalities were managed in Haiti, how affected…

Despite a growing body of literature on campus crisis management and the breadth of research on organizational change, little is known about organizational changes prompted by campus crisis. The purpose of this study is to examine the changes made to the operational profiles of Gulf Coast institutions during the process of recovering from major…

In this article Huriya Jabbar examines how the regulatory environment in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans has influenced choice, incentives, and competition among schools. While previous research has highlighted the mechanisms of competition and individual choice--the "invisible hand"--and the creation of markets in education, Jabbar…

This paper draws on Jean-François Lyotard's (1984) seminal study "The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge" to reflect on two macro-level catastrophes: the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2009 (and its continuing effects throughout the Eurozone and elsewhere) and Fukushima. These two case studies probe aspects of these grand…

The term "state of exception" has been used by Italian political theorist Giorgio Agamben to explain the ways in which emergencies, crises and disasters are used by governments to suspend legal processes. In this paper, we innovatively apply Agamben's theory to the way in which countries prepare and educate the population for various…

There is little published literature on operational coordination during a real time disaster regardless of the setting. This study describes a university's emergency management plan and its execution in response to a specific natural disaster, the May 8, 2009 "inland hurricane," which was later classified as a "Super Derecho."…

The February 2011 Canterbury earthquake was a dramatic reminder of the need for schools to have emergency management plans in place. A number of other disaster and hazard events have historically caused New Zealand schools to close temporarily, and often within a short time frame. At such times principals must act decisively and communicate…

Increased rates of student success and persistence have been positively linked to community colleges with student-centered cultures. A student-centered culture is one in which policies and practices promote a consistent message of concern and respect while expecting high standards of academic accomplishment. Developing a student-centered culture…

Leaders of many institutions of higher education are not equipped to manage a major crisis or disaster, and presidential leadership during a disaster is essential, as university presidents are ultimately accountable for the well-being of their institutions. Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, flooding 80% of the city for many weeks…