In this review of dissertations, the researcher presents summaries of 10 of the most recent and cutting-edge dissertations focusing on the ever-growing and complex field of the community college baccalaureate movement. These studies focus on the gamut of specific legislation, case studies of particular programs and schools, financing of such…

In response to heightened standards and calls for accountability, schools have dramatically intensified their work to meet the growing challenges. Schools require strategies for improvement that will transcend demographic factors such as SES. Research has shown the construct of academic optimism as contributing to student achievement despite a…

The rise in student loan debt has directed critical attention to the growing pace of college costs as well as the reliance on loans to finance those costs. For graduates entering the workforce in recent years, many are finding that they are unable to find the type of job they thought they were securing when they received their degree, if they are…

Many barriers can prevent students from entering and succeeding in college, including financial difficulties, family obligations, and personal problems. However, the most significant impediment is inadequate academic preparation. As higher education widens its focus from college access to degree completion, a new relationship between K-12 and…

The one-university idea--that the University of California is a single institution whose campuses are united in the pursuit of a common mission and common standards of quality--has been a guiding organizational principle since UC President Robert Gordon Sproul first articulated it in the 1930s. This paper examines the origins of the one-university…

In 2010, Jobs for the Future (JFF) contracted BTW "informing change" (BTW) to conduct a study on developmental education (DevEd) practices and policies in the state of Florida. This study was undertaken with two purposes. First, JFF wanted to see what common threads could be identified among the strategies and approaches of community…

More than 70 percent of the students who access higher education in Washington do so first at a two-year institution. Washington's two-year colleges account for a higher percentage of public and private college student enrollments (49 percent) than in the United States in general (34 percent). The Higher Education Coordinating Board's (HECB)…

Middle grades are a critical time for capturing the interest and imagination and developing the potential of mathematically promising students. This is a time for students to make sense of mathematics, build a solid foundation and enthusiasm, and set the course for the highest levels of mathematics in the future. This is a time to explore their…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Education Appropriations Bill Signed into Law: U.S. Department of Education to Receive $1 Billion Increase in…

Since the inception of mandated testing in reading and mathematics, social studies instruction has been marginalized in elementary and middle schools. After the genesis of several state-mandated testing programs and nearly a decade after the launch of the No Child Left Behind legislation, the effects of limited K-8 social studies instruction are…

The importance of school transitions for pupil adjustment, particularly their impact on later well-being and attainment, remains contested. This paper draws on data from a longitudinal, school-based study of over 2000 Scottish pupils, first surveyed in 135 primary schools (age 11) in 1994, and followed up in 43 secondary schools (age 13 and 15)…

Early school transitions provide students with opportunities and challenges that will impact their academic and developmental pathways, but the role that the elementary school counselor can play in these transitions is often overlooked in school counseling literature. The transition into kindergarten and the transition from second to third grade…

A review of theoretical or conceptual writing on teacher education reveals numerous examples of the term "social justice" in discussions of preservice preparation. Despite this widespread use, little research documents if and how teacher education programs utilize the concept in their programs. This study examines how institutions that included…

Like the "phoenix," technology education (TE) can, under the right circumstances, give life to new programs--curricula with different emphases and directions from technology education, yet sharing a common heritage: the belief that applied technology will continue to shape the world. How that shaping process takes place--and the problems that it…

This study describes the school-wide motivation culture of an elementary music program that has an exceptional record of stimulating students' continuing motivation to participate in music ensembles on the middle school level. Participant observer techniques and open-ended interviews were used to gather data that were analyzed using the…