Assessing the Worth of the College Degree on Self-perceived Police Performance

Many formal policies have suggested that officers need a college degree; however, policies forced little change in practices of American police organizations. Six hundred-fifty patrol officers employed in 12 medium-sized police departments in three Midwestern states were surveyed as to their current educational attainment and job performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between educational level and police performance.     

Aspiring to include versus implicit ‘othering’: teachers' perceptions of inclusive education in Wales

Wales, one of the four nations of the UK, is currently undergoing major education system-level reform. From the curriculum, through to a new additional learning needs (ALN) system, there is a renewed focus on inclusive education. Research has shown the importance of teachers' attitudes towards inclusion in creating inclusive learning environments. This research study is based on data from a survey of teachers in Wales (n = 253) exploring their perceptions of inclusive education. Thematic analysis of open-text responses revealed that while teachers were able to articulate the ‘ideal’ of inclusion, these positive ideals were often caveated by both implicit othering of learners with ALN and by the explicit limitations of behaviour, training, and finance and resources. This article critically evaluates the implications of teacher perceptions of inclusive education in Wales, suggesting that without a change in teacher attitudes, the vision of an inclusive education system may be compromised.     

Governance in Higher Education Corporations: A Consideration of the Constitution Created by the 1992 Act

This article argues that the constitutions of higher education corporations created by the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act are flawed. It argues that the constitutions were created with insufficient regard both for precedents for the creation of universities and also for emerging problems and principles of corporate governance. This resulted in a model of governance which maximised the role of the vice–chancellor or chief executive and 'independent members' of governing bodies, limited the participation of staff and students, and allocated a restricted role to academic boards. This article examines a number of the problems arising from inadequacies in governance in a number of post–1992 universities and their similarity with problems arising in further education colleges who shared common governance arrangements from the 1992 Act. This article compares these problems with governance problems in Australian universities and concludes that there is a need to reform the governance arrangements created by the 1992 Act.     

Women in interdisciplinary science: Exploring preferences and consequences

For at least a decade, U.S. funding agencies and university campuses have promoted the expansion of interdisciplinary research. At the same time, federal and local programs have sought to increase the participation of women and minorities in science, mathematics, and engineering. Research has focused on each of these trends independently, but very few studies have considered their interaction by asking how intellectual preferences for and professional consequences of interdisciplinary science might be influenced by gender, race, and/or ethnicity. Focused specifically on gender, this paper considers the expectation that women will be more drawn to interdisciplinary research, and explores the learning styles, work preferences, and career behaviors that might anticipate and/or explicate gender differences in interdisciplinary science. Principal mechanisms by which researchers engage in interdisciplinarity - cross-fertilization, team-collaboration, field-creation, and problem-orientation - are tested for evidence of gendering using preliminary empirical data from three studies. The results of this exploratory analysis offer clues about possible tendencies and raise questions about the potential costs and benefits for those who adopt them.     

ACHIEVING PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Public schools are functionally provided through structural arrangements such as government funding, but public schools are achieved in substance, in part, through local governance. In this essay, Kathleen Knight Abowitz explains the bifocal nature of achieving public schools; that is, that schools are both subject to the unitary Public compact of constitutional principles as well as to the more local engagements with multiple publics. Knight Abowitz sketches this bifocal nature, exploring both the unitary ideal and its parameters, as well as the less understood forms of multiple, organic publics that come into being in response to localized problems in schools or districts. These publics often fail to realize their potential in the development of increased capacity for enhanced teaching and learning. The essay ultimately points to a practical application: that educational leadership of all types, and with some very specific kinds of habits and skills, is needed to help achieve public schools.