What higher education state policy issues will be at the forefront of discussion and legislative activity throughout the United States in 2010? Provided herein is the consensus of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) state relations and policy analysis staff, informed by continual scanning of state policy activities,…

The governments of the USA and the UK have identified similar challenges facing their higher education sectors. Both governments believe in the centrality of market forces in meeting higher education demand, with government and academia playing subordinate roles. The public purposes of higher education must be restated if the potentially negative…

Linking teacher practice to pupil outcomes has proven challenging for teacher educators. Methodological problems occur when linking individual teacher actions with subsequent pupil performance, including substantial intervening variables, questions about appropriate measures of student learning, issues regarding the lack of test standardization…

The use of undergraduate liaison students in a lecture/laboratory course and in a lecture course is described. Facilitating laboratory procedures, helping students with academic material, and advocating student needs were among the activities of the liaison students who served as links between the class and instructor and/or subject matter. (JMD)

The criteria and methods for evaluating faculty who teach undergraduates only are discussed with special emphasis on those teaching at lower-division campuses. It is suggested that there would be more effort expended to teach well if faculty knew that effort and performance as teachers were respected and rewarded. (MLW)

An orientation workshop for graduate teaching assistants is described. Held prior to the first day of teaching, the workshop seeks to reduce anxiety, introduce the teaching assistants to educational problems they will face and to methods and resources for coping, and to acquaint them with available university resources. (JMD)

Working together, the author, an educator, and a police training officer used their professional expertise to develop a curriculum for a program in report writing. The team approach enabled the author to teach elements of narrative style while the training officer concentrated on the application of these elements to specific kinds of police…

A new look at the standard lecture/discussion format for the large introductory college course is offered, along with suggestions to upgrade its quality. Foci for improvement include organization of lecture material, teacher-student interaction, lecture delivery, feedback, discussion group supervision, and course evaluation. (JMD)

This report of the Task Force on Urban/Metropolitan Schools begins with several key assumptions. The Task Force, a creation of two higher education presidential associations, assumes, like No Child Left Behind, that all children in this country deserve a good education, no matter where their school is located. Furthermore, and this is a key…