Based on analysis of faculty responses and review of other studies, argues that externally mandated posttenure review has failed in its primary objective to motivate the faculty to improve quality and quantity. Asserts that for it to become an effective policy intervention, faculty and administrators must devise processes that deliver meaningful…

With statistical controls for confounding influences, including precollege learning orientations, attendance at a two-year versus four-year college had modest but significant positive effects on student growth in first- and second-year Openness to Diversity, second-year Learning for Self-Understanding, and first-year Internal Locus of Attribution…

A survey of postsecondary institutions in New England regarding recent changes in their admission processes and the factors that influenced those changes found that traditional admissions criteria continue to be weighted heavily in the admissions process and that recruiting and retaining underrepresented minority students remains a concern of many…

This case study of faculty culture focused on the dynamics of a small, rural, two-year branch campus of a large state university. It reports descriptive themes concerning the isolation and rural location of the campus, its diminutive size, faculty role perspectives, and factors related to faculty role implementation. It provides a portrait of this…

Explored how a select group of retired community college presidents constructed their concepts of themselves as leaders. Through in-depth interviews these former presidents mapped the course of their leadership through seven approaches: empowering, energizing, healing, inspiring, revealing, cultivating, and humanizing the organization and its…

In this chapter, the authors aim to review recent, sociocultural studies of classroom-based research in science education in light of a sample of practice-based research within the field of science studies. They provide a framework for examining the discipline of science that can also be useful for assessing its impact on students. The framework…

Scholars, practitioners, and laypeople at one time or another have questioned what learning is and how it can be measured once it is defined. Many use the term interchangeably with growth, change, development, knowledge, education, cognition, or acquisition as it is commonly considered in educational practice. However, most generally assume a…

Inclusive education is a highly visible yet contentious notion in contemporary education reform because of conceptual, historical and pragmatic reasons. The purpose of this chapter is to examine and expand the evidence on inclusive education, with particular attention to the views of learning that inform this work. The first challenge was to work…

In this chapter, the authors review three distinct theoretical discourses--educational measurement, hermeneutics, and sociocultural studies--to support the development of validity theory for the routine use of assessment by professionals working in complex, dynamic, and always partially unique educational environments. They review validity…

The growing interest in assessing the quality of education outcomes can be seen in the ever-increasing frequency of use of international and national surveys (e.g., Program for International Student Assessment [PISA], the Progress in Reading and Literacy Study [PIRLS], or the Third International Mathematics and Science Study [TIMSS]). These…

The goal of this chapter is to lay out some new conceptualizations and research directions for understanding the relation of culture and learning in the shifting terrains of globalized economies and media flows, youth cultures, and transnational migration. In a time when young people's experiences and life pathways are increasingly forged in the…

Over the past decade, "out-of-school time" and "after-school programs" have been identified as objects of research, funding, and policy initiatives across federal and state agencies as well as public, private, and nonprofit foundations. The increasing attention to and funding of programs that engage youth outside of the formal institution of…

This chapter begins with a scenario contrasting two seemingly different images of child and media from before and after the "digital revolution." The author argues that there is much greater continuity in how this relationship has been conceptualized over the period than is commonly imagined. While not offering a comprehensive study of recent…

The proliferation of online courses underscores the need to re-examine the foundations upon which courses are grounded. In particular, an emerging perspective in science education requires designers to account for scientific inquiry in student-centered science learning environments. With a focus on open-ended learning environments and grounded…

A methodological framework for the delivery of knowledge, performance, and learning (KPL) systems is presented. The role of the KPL system is currently taken by learning management systems or learning and content management systems, and many of these systems facilitate the technical aspects of learning objects. However, they are still rooted in…