National Career Development Association (NCDA) is excited to release the re-imagined 7th edition of their influential guide to career assessment. Re-conceptualized and renamed to "A Comprehensive Guide to Career Assessment," the "Guide" contains important information career counselors, educators, and practitioners will find…

Good assessment is part of all good learning communities, and this article provides a useful set of best practices for learning community assessment planning: (1) articulating agreed-upon learning community program goals; (2) identifying the purpose of assessment (e.g., summative or formative); (3) employing qualitative and quantitative assessment…

The "Practitioner Data Use in Schools: Workshop Toolkit" is designed to help practitioners systematically and accurately use data to inform their teaching practice. The toolkit includes an agenda, slide deck, participant workbook, and facilitator's guide and covers the following topics: developing data literacy, engaging in a cycle of…

The problem of racial and ethnic discipline disproportionality is both long-standing and widespread. Educators must address this issue by identifying rates of discipline disproportionality, taking steps to reduce it, and monitoring the effects of intervention on disproportionality. The purpose of this guide is to provide a reference for…

Enrollment is rising across the nation's community colleges, but completion rates remain untenably low. Reformers are focusing on the importance of using comprehensive, high-quality data on student progress and completion to bring about change. A core tenet of Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count has been to embed a culture of…

As external forces demand change in the delivery of postsecondary education and institutions seek to take advantage of new opportunities, the potential for achieving higher levels of student and institutional success is vast. New technologies, communication tools, data use, and organizational constructs present key factors in improving the…

Higher education differs from other service enterprises in its social responsibility and the context for decision making. An integrated marketing strategy based on the identified positioning of the institution plays a crucial role in successful enrollment and long-term institutional development. Marketing can make a significant contribution to…

Planning in higher education has evolved as a response to changes in the environment, such as expanding enrollments, student unrest, economic recession, and pressures for financial accountability. Strategic planning has emerged as one way institutions can handle and overcome the adversities of the future. Definitions of strategic planning are…

Presents a systems theory approach to strategic planning and a framework for conceptualizing and managing the process more effectively. Reviews problems in past strategic planning efforts, presents a synopsis of systems theory, and applies the systems approach to planning and decision-making processes. Includes two figures and 26 references. (MLH)

A recognition of pradigmatic diversity and the contribution of multiple paradigms to planning greatly enriches both theory and practice. This analysis groups planning definitions into two general models, associates both with hard and soft systems thinking, and examines conceptual roots. The interpretive/humanist paradigm often highlights…

This paper addresses the problem of shaping new strategies in the face of current enrollment declines at many colleges and universities. It describes an approach that applies a long term planning model that can incorporate the short-term realities of lower enrollments and budget constraints with projections for new strategic initiatives. The paper…

This essay reviews 10 imperatives for higher education planning that are needed to meet the challenges of the next century. It is argued that higher education leaders must: (1) reaffirm the development of the human mind and character as education's major goal; (2) accept responsibility for educating and developing institutional leaders; (3) apply…

Master campus plans of the University of California at Santa Cruz and the University of California at Irvine are compared. The two plans had similar origins but very different outcomes. The former, based on an innovative academic idea, was revised several times from 1965 to 1993. The latter, similar to other University of California campuses, has…

Offers insights on the use of the charrette for long-range planning, drawing from the experience of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). Defines charrettes, explains their benefits and limitations, lists requirements for successful charrettes, and explains the process used by the VCCS to incorporate the charrette into long-range planning.…

Policy analysis provides the framework for enrollment planning in the Arizona university system. The new planning model consists of a statement of principles, a five-year strategic plan, an enrollment demand model, determination of institutional capacities, development of strategies to meet demand, and analysis of policy choices and consequences.…