The Montana University System Strategic Plan is the primary planning document of the Board of Regents. The Plan sets forth an agenda for higher education in Montana by delineating the strategic directions, goals, and objectives that guide the Montana University System (MUS). In July 2006, after several years of study, public dialogue, and internal…

Today, English language learners (ELLs)--students whose primary language is other than English--are the fastest-growing major school population in the United States. Between 2000-01 and 2010-11, the number of these students, whose level of English proficiency is not sufficient to support learning in a regular English language classroom, rose 18…

By late 2008, the United States was in the midst of its most severe economic recession since the 1930s, brought on by a collapse in real estate prices and exacerbated by the failure of many large banks and financial institutions. Heeding calls from economists, Congress and the Obama administration passed an historic law in early 2009 to stimulate…

This report explores state level governance as it is currently practiced in the states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Washington. After a brief introduction, section II's attention to the evolution of state boards offers a historical perspective of state intervention in educational policy-making, a review of major questions concerning the…

Low student achievement for Montana's Native American students has been a recognized fact since the beginning of the reservation period. The current push for mathematics and science education reform, coupled with federal and state accountability mandates, enhances opportunities for learning but also challenges Native students' culture and…

This report summarizes a series of studies on school size, poverty, and student achievement. These studies analyzed 29 sets of test scores from various grades in Georgia, Ohio, Montana, and Texas to examine the relationship between school-level performance on tests, school size, and community poverty level. The studies found that as schools become…

This report presents the results of surveys of Montana schools at all levels that offered business and office education subjects or units of instruction. Business education leaders from other states--representatives of the National Association of Business Teacher Education--were also surveyed. Chapter I is an introduction. Chapter II contains the…

These proceedings contain 48 presentations and 15 poster abstracts. Papers include "Computer Tasks Required in Selected Undergraduate Agriculture Courses" (Johnson, Ferguson, Vokinnns, Lester); "College of Agriculture Faculty Perceptions of Electronic Technologies in Teaching" (Dooley, Murphy); "Steering Through Turbulent…