The purpose of this study was to identify selected characteristics of current Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) members in Florida and then compare the results between Florida and non-Florida institutes. This study was primarily quantitative and employed the Demographic and Behavioral Trends Survey (DBTS) with the addition of four…

"What am I without paid work?" Some would say, "A non-person." Others might say, "Free!" The experience of retirement is explored using creative writing for therapeutic purposes. Written from the perspective of fictional British retirees from different workplaces, the paper offers a view of how expressive and…

Higher education institutions are seeking to ease faculty retirement transitions and to identify ways in which retiring faculty can continue to make contributions in retirement. The University of Southern California and Clemson University, among others across the United States, have established emeritus colleges and retiree centers to offer…

Voters in Marin County have long been willing to pass parcel taxes to fund their schools. In 2016, taxes faced unprecedented opposition from local activists; taxes in Kentfield and Mill Valley were defeated or passed by previously unheard-of narrow margins, respectively. What changed? This case study uses district financial and demographic data as…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common neurological disorders in the world, and it is increasing in incidence and prevalence in the United States. Some 10,000 new cases of MS are diagnosed each year in the US (Kalb, 2016). Initial symptoms are most often evident during early adulthood, typically between the ages of 20 and 50 (Kalb,…

Ideas and norms about disability shaped the experiences and careers of every teacher and prospective teacher in the Los Angeles public schools between 1930 and 1970. Medical doctors created and conducted the extensive medical examinations that teaching candidates and practicing teachers needed to pass to enter or remain in the classroom. The Los…

Interest in older adult education (OAE) is intensifying for several reasons. The number of older adults in Canada is growing, increasing the proportion of older people in the population. Many older adults are now more active and want creative challenges, opportunities to learn, and chances to contribute to their community. In turn, cognitive and…

Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings is the former Kellner Family Distinguished Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She served as president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in 2005-2006. Dr. Ladson-Billings has contributed widely to the development of…

California will need a stable, high-quality teacher workforce to weather the COVID-19 crisis and support student learning in the coming years. However, persistent and worsening teacher shortages threaten the state's ability to meet that need. Teacher shortages, which are often most acute in high-need fields and high-need schools, more severely…

The number of United States professors aged 65 years and older is growing. This older professor presents the stories of four teaching experiences which belong to the larger story of faculty longevity during the past five decades and its subsequent conflicts with retirement. The first was in the 1960s, when she was a new professor, not much older…

One would hope that as benefit costs increase, districts would correspondingly bump up their overall K-12 spending to ensure at least as much funding gets to classrooms as before. Unfortunately, that is not the case across the country or in the vast majority of states. In our new report, "Benefits Take Larger Bite out of District K-12…

A growing educator shortage is having significant impacts in schools and communities throughout the United States. In response to this growing concern, the Kansas Teacher Retention Initiative was launched in the summer of 2021, with a focus on measuring, understanding, interpreting, and disseminating data-driven insights regarding the driving…

Based on Nancy Schlossberg and her colleagues' extensive interviews with 100 retired adults, Susan Komives describes six predominate pathways retirees took to make meaning of this new transition in their lives. These pathways identified people as continuers, adventurers, easy gliders, involved spectators, searchers, and retreaters. Using the…

As state leaders consider needed updates to the Commonwealth's school funding formula, they should remember just how well the approach taken by Tom Birmingham, former Massachusetts state Senate president, and co-author of the 1993 Education Reform Act worked. Beginning in 1993, Massachusetts' SAT scores rose for 13 consecutive years. The state's…

In 2011 Rhode Island replaced the stand-alone defined benefit pension plan it provided to state employees with a hybrid plan that reduced the defined benefit component and added a 401(k)-type, defined contribution component. Although controversial, the new hybrid plan will boost retirement incomes for most of the states public school teachers. Our…