In 1906, the Carnegie unit, or credit hour, was introduced to standardize U.S. public education. It defined the precise number of minutes students needed to learn a particular subject and the number of credit hours required to earn a high school or college degree. At the dawn of the 20th century, the Carnegie unit served the important purpose of…

Although growing numbers of graduate students nationwide express interest in developing and documenting boundary-spanning skills in community-engaged research, teaching, and outreach, formal opportunities to do so are often limited, especially at the large research institutions producing most future faculty members. This article focuses on initial…

This report focuses on one of the State University of New York's (SUNY's) applied learning initiatives that includes work-based activities, e.g., co-ops, internships, work study, and clinical placement (SUNY Works). With funds from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, SUNY asked the Rockefeller Institute of Government to examine applied…

Our nation's educational system has scored many extraordinary successes in raising the level of reading and writing skills in younger children. Yet the pace of literacy improvement in our schools has not kept up with the accelerating demands of the global knowledge economy. In state after state, the testing data mandated by No Child Left Behind…

In 2007, a consortium of more than 50 schools of education came together to transform doctoral education for practitioners--in so doing creating the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate. The project's goal is to redesign the degree to make it the highest-quality degree for the advanced preparation of school practitioners and clinical…

In an ongoing study, RAND researchers are evaluating the effectiveness of Carnegie Learning's Cognitive Tutor Algebra I (CTAI) curriculum, a technology-based curriculum that combines classroom instruction with individualized instruction by a computer-based tutor. While the effectiveness of the curriculum in raising student achievement is the main…

While a growing body of scholarship has focused on the personal, professional, and organizational factors that influence faculty members' involvement in publicly engaged scholarship, the nature and scope of faculty publicly engaged scholarship itself has remained largely unexplored. What types of activities are faculty members involved in as…

Research suggests that institutional commitment to community engagement can be understood by examining levels of student, faculty, and community involvement in engagement; organizational structure, rewards, and campus publications supporting engagement; and compatibility of an institution's mission with this work (Holland, 1997). Underlying all of…

After two decades of major education reforms without seeing major gains for low-income students, state leadership is coming to the conclusion that there is something inherently wrong with America's K-12 system. States have called into question the time-based system built around the Carnegie unit and are now rapidly advancing an alternative. By…

Outreach, engagement, community involvement, student engagement, and economic development--the concept takes many related forms; but they all point to the fact that higher education institutions are responding to society's increasing requirements for accountability. Colleges and universities large and small, public and private have emerged from…

One of the continuing areas of controversy surrounding higher education is affirmative action. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear "Fisher v. Texas," and their ruling may well influence universities' diversity initiatives, especially if they overturn "Grutter v. Bollinger" and rule that diversity is no longer a…

Assessment is a worthwhile undertaking when meaningful data are generated, evidence-based improvement initiatives are thoroughly considered and discussed, and results are ultimately used to improve educational effectiveness. National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) results are oriented toward such practical use. Each year, more campuses use…

Dubai has long competed with its wealthy Persian Gulf neighbors to become a regional hub of higher education. Yet its Knowledge Village, a collection of nearly 20 foreign-university campuses and local educational institutes, has been overshadowed by Qatar's Education City, which is home to the branch campuses of a number of high-profile American…

With the creation of the Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute) in 2000, the National League of Cities (NLC) strengthened its capacity to assist municipal officials in their efforts to improve the quality of public education and develop programs and initiatives that help ensure the successful development of youth. As part of…

Building a stronger teacher workforce requires the thoughtful orchestration of multiple processes working together in a human capital system. This white paper presents a framework that can be used to take stock of current efforts to enhance the teacher workforce in school districts or educational organizations, as well as their underlying theories…