In "The College Stress Test," Robert Zemsky, Susan Shaman, and Susan Campbell Baldridge present readers with a full, frank, and informed discussion about college and university closures. Drawing on the massive institutional data set available from IPEDS (the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System), they build a stress test for…

This study explored the impact of rural school district consolidation in eastern North Carolina. Wilkins County is a low-income, low-performing county with an average daily membership (ADM) of 1,501 students. This case study reviews the process of consolidation one year after the 2017-2018 consolidation in terms of academic, financial, and…

The decision to close schools, reorganize, or consolidate districts is perhaps the most troubling and painful challenge a community can face (Flowers, 2010). The purpose of this study was to explore and provide a better understanding of the school district whole-grade sharing, reorganization, and/or consolidation phenomenon as seen through the…

The New England Board of Higher Education "NEBHE" has been deeply interested in how New England higher education institutions can collaborate with one another and with other leaders to confront threats to their economic sustainability. These threats stem partly from shifts in academic content and delivery, student demography and…

State schooling is currently transforming Tibetans' perceptions and everyday experiences in Western China. Based on interviews with rural Tibetan parents and grandparents, and using subjectification as an analytical concept, this paper argues that schooling, alongside socio-economic changes, powerfully shapes the subjectivities of Tibetan parents…

Small mid-tier private schools tend to have modest endowments, and after decades of tuition hikes comparable to those of their elite peers, they are now at high risk of pricing themselves out of the market. The fiscal crisis of small private colleges will play out differently across the nation. States vary in their demographic projections and the…

While it is clear that not all mergers and consolidations are a success story, and some collapse under backlash from students, faculty, and other community members, the University System of Georgia (USG) has completed an astounding number of successful mergers between its institutions. This case study provides an overview of the timeline of the…

In the 1954 "Brown v. Board of Education" case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregated schools unconstitutional, and the process of school desegregation fell mostly to Black children. For over 35 years, Black families in St. Louis City have been using school transfers to cross boundaries in order to send their children to higher…

Little research examines the sociocultural aspects of consolidating two post-secondary educational institutions. In a previous study we collected baseline data and reported on the initial impact of consolidation of a research-oriented, health sciences university with a teaching-oriented, comprehensive university. In the study we report here we…

This paper describes and justifies the protocol for a research project investigating regional secondary school consolidation reforms in New South Wales, Australia. The study is designed to describe the experiences of those directly involved in the transition to a consolidated school in a way that has so far eluded educational leadership…

This study analyzes the implementation of schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS) for the staff of one middle school that implemented SWPBIS during a districtwide strike and school merger. The researchers developed a qualitative case study based on focus groups and interviews with the staff who remained at the school…

The purpose of this comprehensive multi-faceted research investigation was to collect evidence from various sources related to the impact of school building closings on rural communities. The researcher employed quantitative, qualitative, and US Census data analysis to collect information and comprehensively evaluate the impact of school closings…

In 1998, the People's Republic of China implemented an education policy, the "School Consolidation Policy", which entailed merging small rural schools with larger ones. It has had a massive effect on rural people across China, and as a result of it, over 60% of schools in outlying areas have closed. The policy's implementation and…

Island studies have rarely focused on the role of small schools on offshore islands. Island schools are often impacted by the decisions of national, regional and local educational authorities, particularly in today's world where diseconomic and disbenefit arguments highlight the non-viability of small schools. Such schools are seen as unable to…

This research examined the ways and means administration used to disseminate information concerning the consolidation of two technical colleges in the State of Georgia, USA. These means of information dissemination included press releases by the consolidating colleges and the Technical College System of Georgia (the system which the consolidating…