Placement Evaluations and Remedial Education: Are Students Shopping for Bargains?

The purpose of this study is to provide evidence that students may be doing comparison shopping when it comes to community college placement in English and mathematics courses. Comparisons may occur because of the difference in the placement process across campuses and the variation in the levels of developmental education offered. The implications of students’ course shopping are discussed in terms of state policy.     

Mentorship Matters: Does Early Faculty Contact Lead to Quality Faculty Interaction?

This study seeks to understand the factors that contribute to a type of student–faculty interaction known to have particular benefits for students, faculty mentorship. Using three-time-point data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, this study employed structural equation modeling to investigate the relationship between contact and communication with faculty in the first year of college and faculty mentorship in the senior year. Results suggest that early interaction with faculty serves as a socialization process in college that leads students to have more meaningful interactions with faculty later in college, in the form of mentorship. The study extends the field’s understanding of faculty mentorship and offers important implications for institutional practices.     

Faculty: Thy administrator's keeper? Some evidence

Colleges and universities face a principal-agent problem. There are information asymmetries over the actions chosen by administrators. Because non-profit constraints limit the financial stake of trustees there may be insufficient monitoring of administrators and, consequentially, shirking. It is conceivable that faculty will serve as “delegated monitors” given the proper incentives. Faculty monitoring will most likely benefit a university when: (1) monitoring costs are low and (2) administrators cannot impose significant punishment costs on faculty. The practices of organized faculty participation in governance and tenure naturally achieve such ends. Empirical evidence from a sample of colleges and universities in the United States supports the hypothesis that features of a faculty's employment have significant effects on a university's financial performance.     

The National Grid for Learning: Panacea or Panopticon?

Although not fully established, the National Grid for Learning (NGfL) initiative is already being presented by both government and industry as offering students, teachers and school extensive freedom and autonomy in their day-to-day work. However, this paper argues that the official discursive construction of the NGfL in this way, as a 'panacea' to educational problems, obscures vital issues of power and control that may only become apparent once the initiative is fully integrated at the classroom level. Drawing initially on the work of Foucault, and then Poster's more recent conception of the electronic 'SuperPanopticon’, this paper re-examines the basis of the NGfL and its role in extending and reinforcing existing power configurations in education. The paper concludes by considering directions for future research into the NGfL, and educational use of the Internet in the light of this analysis.     

Futures for Children's Literature: Evolution or radical break?

As electronic media increasingly dominate narratives for children, not merely the form or the content but the very nature of narrative is changing. Future narratives for the 'computer reader', using the Internet and multimedia may seem to be no more nor less than individual, unassessable chaos. But these readers still need to subsist in a linear educational system and teachers will have to negotiate the profound intellectual shift that the mediation between old and new narratives implies. At the most basic level this will involve revising what we mean to be 'literate' and to be a 'good reader'.     

Tools for the classroom? An examination of existing sociometric methods for teacher use

Despite the recent technical and theoretical advances in the investigation of children's social relations, the inherent complexity of these methods may prevent their easy integration into the classroom. A simple and effective tool can be valuable for teachers who wish to investigate students' social realities in the classroom. Therefore, the present study aims to identify an effective sociometric method for educator's use in the classroom. Nine separate sociometric categorisations were created from peer reports of grade one students (N = 748). Methods that have different collection methods (nominations or ratings) show surprisingly low agreement, unlike those with the same collection method. Methods based on peer nominations showed the strongest correlations with students' behavioural traits. Based on these results, we discuss the relevance and usefulness of such methods for use by classroom teachers in identifying students' social realities.     

Educating all for positive peace: Education for positive peace or oppression?

The absence of indirect or structural violence is termed positive peace. In this paper the author attempts to apply the concept of positive peace to the concept of education for all, the way this concept was defined at the World Conference on Education for All (WCEFA) in Jomtien, Thailand, in March, 1990. The discussion focuses on three points raised at the Jomtien conference by countries from the South: the effects of the structural adjustment policies (SAP) on the education sector; the effects on higher education of a concentration of resources on basic education and the effects of EFA on the possibilities of strengthening indigenous culture. The discussion shows, through new research results and concrete examples, that the effects of SAPs like the reintroduction of school-fees in a poor country like Tanzania lead to greater inequalities and greater structural violence against the poor, especially the girls from the poorer homes. It further shows that there is a process going on in African countries of undermining local curriculum development and the local textbook industry thereby threatening the indigenous culture. An example from Zimbabwe of sustainable education which does not rely on external sources is given.     

The University Presidency: Do Evaluations Make a Difference?

High turnover and short tenures are the norm for state university presidents in the last part of the twentieth century. Depending on the type of institution, the average state university president stays in office about four years, some three years shorter than the national average of seven years for all higher education institutions. The article discusses this trend and relates length of tenure to the formal and informal evaluations of presidents. Beginning with a presentation of presidential tenure (time in office) data and a discussion of the benefits of longer terms, the article continues with a dialogue on the role of the president in state institutions of higher education. It is argued that the position of president necessitates constituent leadership with presidents often expected to please all constituencies. Included in this discussion are the nature, role, and effectiveness of evaluations of university presidents. The authors conclude that evaluations of presidents make little difference in decisions to retain or remove presidents. Even a good or great evaluation does not offset the impact of the unforseen event or changes in political leadership within a state or on a board. The authors agree that annual reviews or reports are valuable in improving a presidents performance and leadership. Evaluations make a difference when they are supervised by individuals with direct knowledge of the job, are fair in terms of expectations from often divergent constituent groups, and focus on maximizing the ability of the president to improve the institution.     

An Analysis of Prospects for Changing Faculty Roles and Rewards: Can Scholarship Be Reconsidered?

Ernest Boyer's book, Scholarship Reconsidered (1990) is examined through use of Sarason's (1982) construct of regularities, and Lewin's (1976) force field analysis model for understanding behavior. It is concluded that prospects for implementing Boyer's proposals for renewal of the American university through restructuring faculty roles and rewards will depend less on simply urging the case for reform, and more on devising strategies that respond to forces shaping the present regularities of academic life. In particular, it is asserted that successful change in the definition of scholarship will be possible only through reduction of the resistance produced by legitimate concerns about altering the present system.     

Care or Control?: Defining Learners' Needs for Lifelong Learning

Concerns about non-participation in lifelong learning may indicate an emerging moral authoritarianism arising from pessimism about the future. Low expectations of potential for social progress, human agency and learners' motivation to take part in formal learning, exacerbate moves towards a 'minimalist pedagogy' regulated by government agencies and encourages the idea that lifelong learning should be compulsory for adults 'at risk'.     

Social Heteroglossia: The Contentious Practice or Potential Place of Middle-Class Parents in Home–School Relations

Middle-class parents have often been characterized as individualistic in their endeavors with schools and have been shown to advocate to the cultural advantage of their own children with questionable consequences or counter results for the children of others. This research paper situates the activity, influence, and multiple perspectives of the middle class upon school activity, even within a reform effort characterized by and supportive of diversity and community. School people and parent leaders in this research operated under the mandate of promoting partnerships to increase parental involvement and school participation to encourage the social, emotional, and academic growth of children. Findings feature contrasting elements of middle-class activity influencing and structuring home–school relations within a diverse school community. The research illuminates the tensions and possibilities within this urban community, raises questions, and offers alternative interpretations of middle-class activity to a greater degree than usual. The Bakhtinian concept of heteroglossia allows interpretations of the actions and motivations among parents, providing options when parent populations comprise contrasting social groups. The conclusion not only highlights middle-class standards at work within partnership activities but also raises questions about how to best utilize leadership potential of strong cadres of parent volunteers in activities of organizations like PATHWAYS and Parent Teacher Organization.     

Gender Differences in Faculty Member Job Satisfaction: Equity Forestalled?

Guided by Hagedorn’s (2000) theory of faculty job satisfaction, mindful of social and organizational structures of higher education, and acknowledging recent changes in the academic labor market, this study examines satisfaction for approximately 30,000 tenured and tenure-track faculty members in 100 US colleges and universities. Findings revealed similarity between female and male faculty members in some aspects of work satisfaction, but difference in other areas in which women reported lower satisfaction. Findings also revealed that perceptions of department fit, recognition, work role balance, and mentoring are more important to women faculty’s satisfaction than male peers. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Adjunct Employment Preference: Who Wants to Be Full-Time Faculty?

Recent research suggests at least half of community college faculty who are teaching part-time would rather have a full-time appointment (Cashwell, 2009; Kramer, Gloeckner, & Jacoby, 2014). Little is known, however, about what distinguishes those voluntarily teaching part-time from those preferring a full-time faculty position. This inquiry draws from person-job fit theory to investigate adjunct faculty members’ abilities and qualifications, as well as their needs from the job itself (Edwards, 1994). Participants were 1,245 adjunct faculty teaching in 10 community colleges during the spring 2016 term. Two thirds of the participants were at least somewhat interested in becoming full-time faculty at a postsecondary institution, with 47% expressing strong, immediate interest in such a position. An ordered logistic regression model indicated that several dimensions of qualifications, job experiences, and socio-demographics predicted employment preference. Part-time faculty with higher levels of recent teaching experience in the community college setting were more likely to express a strong desire for a full-time position, as were adjuncts who utilized more job-related resources. Those who viewed the recognition and rewards given for adjunct job performance as adequate tended to be content in a part-time role. In terms of demographic characteristics, involuntarily part-time faculty were more likely to indicate economic need and self-identify as African American or Hispanic. The findings illustrate how careful attention to the distinctive backgrounds, experiences, and attitudes of part-time faculty subgroups may help college and university administrators more intentionally design policies and programs to better meet the needs of their increasingly diverse constituents.