Head Start, the federal government's pre-K program, is at a crossroads. The program has been used as an anti-poverty measure by the government for over 45 years. It has grown significantly since its inception and provided many children with a valuable, high-quality early education, and in FY2012 served more than 960,000 children under 5 on a $7.9…

The close connections between industry and academe, in which students simultaneously train and study, are gaining ground in the United States. Inspired by Germany's model, states are encouraging community colleges and manufacturers to work together on training programs. This offers a possible solution to a problem that continues to vex the United…

Teacher certification trends in the United States since World War II paint a complicated picture of powerful interests at different levels making demands and trying to institute disparate reforms. These patterns have varied over time, often because of teacher supply and demand. The federal government initiated its involvement when education…

The steadily growing body of literature on universities' contribution to democracy and civil society has repeatedly called for a re-examination of the nascent purposes of higher education and the nature of higher education's compact with society. Although more faculty and administrators explore ways to produce public scholarship, infuse their…

In this analysis, I argue that inequitable social and educational policies and practices hinder equity in the U.S. educational system. I challenge and critique the status quo, and the nation's current efforts toward educational equity. I then propose a radical shift in educational policy--a surrendering of social and political systems for the…

Despite the federal government's historical effort to ensure educational equity via policies targeting issues critical to U.S. urban cities, a transformation has taken place in the discourses shaping educational policy solutions. While policies targeting educational equity have not completely vanquished, they have been largely re-written by…

In this article, we provide an overview--a primer--of the rise of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) as context for understanding the contemporary place of these institutions in our broader system of higher education. We also demonstrate how the emergence and the evolution of MSIs stem from our nation's struggle to provide equal educational…

Many policies and initiatives have been proposed or implemented to address the unique needs of military families who face special challenges while supporting the service of their military member(s). Some of those policies and initiatives have sought to focus on military-connected children (MCCs) and the particular academic challenges they face.…

The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the Census of Governments and the Annual Surveys of State and Local Government Finances as authorized by law under Title 13, U.S. Code, Sections 161 and 182. The Census of Governments has been conducted every 5 years since 1957, while the annual survey has been conducted annually since 1977 in years when the Census…

Based on a fall 2017 survey of officials from 45 state education agencies, this report highlights early state efforts to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The report highlights states' views on ESSA's shift in control from the federal government to states and school districts regarding accountability and school improvement…

At the request of the National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Research Universities, the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), the Association of American Universities (AAU), and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) have assembled a set of ten recommendations for regulatory reform that would improve research…

The Australian federal government's 2009 Excellence in Research Australian (ERA) policy initiative gave Australian LIS researchers the opportunity to review their listings of preferred journal titles: listings that were to act as a component of measured research activity in the new federal government funding regimes. The Australian research…

For legal issues in the field of disability compliance, this is an exciting time in postsecondary education. The twentieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) signals a reawakening of the commitment to provide equal access to individuals with disabilities. This chapter explores three of the compliance issues that will be of…

William Faulkner famously wrote, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." He would not be surprised to learn that Americans, 150 years after the Civil War began, are still getting it wrong. Did America's most divisive war start over slavery or states' rights? The author says that too many people--including educators--get it wrong. The author…

Many social scientists have recently commented on the high levels of income inequality in the United States. Indeed, the last time income inequality was as great as it is today was 1928, the year before the stock market crash ushered in the Great Depression. In this article, the authors offer a historical look at income inequality and taxation in…