From secrecy to sunshine: An overview of presidential search practice

The process by which American colleges and universities select their presidents has undergone considerable change in recent years. Once conducted entirely in private by a small group of trustees, presidential searches occur today in a climate of constituency participation and access to information. This paper draws upon survey data to examine the range and frequency of current search practices regarding constituency involvement and confidentiality and disclosure. The paper first considers search committee membership, noting the composition and size of presidential search committees. It then examines the range of policies regarding constituent access to information about candidates and search committee deliberations. Three policies are described: complete confidentiality, full disclosure, and limited disclosure. Finally, the paper discusses the causes of unintended disclosure and evaluates the impact of these leaks on the search.     

Motivation coaching training for instructional coaches: a pilot study of motivational interviewing skills training

In our paper we describe a newly developed teacher coaching model that provides training on motivational interviewing (MI) to improve instructional coaches’ effectiveness with classroom teachers. Participants were 38 coaches who completed a three-day coaching training. At pre- and post-test, the participants completed role plays with an actor who played the role of a new teacher. Then, these sessions were coded for MI-consistent behavior. The results of our study revealed that the majority of the coaching conversations were inconsistent with effective MI. At baseline, conversations were primarily characterized by questions (60%) followed by attempts to persuade without permission (20%). Following training, coaches did not change their conversational style. Because an MI-inconsistent conversation style is associated with decreased self-efficacy and motivation for change, the findings suggest a need to help coaches develop interactions that are more consistent with best practices of MI.     

OLDER ADULTS EARNING UNIVERSITY CREDITS: A DESCRIPTION

Of only 72 persons aged 62 and older who are enrolled for credit on campuses of the University of Wisconsin system, 48 responded to a questionnaire designed to assess demographic characteristics, attitudes toward lifelong education, and class format and group make‐up preferences. Respondents were more likely to be employed (60.4%), home owning (79.2%), and younger (M = 67.1, SD = 8.19; than both auditing and nonparticipant elders previously described (Hooper & March, 1978). Female credit earners reported preferring seminar format, while male credit earners preferred lecture format; these preferences are opposite to those expressed by auditing respondents in the earlier study. Only 16.3% of the credit earners had fewer than 12 years of education, and only 4.8% had no previous experience of the university through their own participation or that of members of their families. Implications of the findings for teachers of older students are discussed.     

Grief and Loss Education: Recommendations for Curricular Inclusion

Currently, the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (2009) does not require course work on grief and loss, and it is possible for counselors to practice without any formal training in the area. The purpose of this article is to highlight the need for additional grief and loss education in the curriculum, provide a brief overview of the current literature surrounding grief and loss, and suggest pedagogical strategies for counselor preparation.     

Science Teacher Attitudes Toward Inquiry-Based Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this study was to determine teachers’ attitudes, values, and beliefs about inquiry. The participants of this study were 275 middle grade and secondary science teachers from four districts in North Carolina. Issues such as class size, accountability, curricular demands, and administrative support are perceived as constraints, impeding the use of inquiry. These are the issues that must be effectively dealt with in the professional education and professional development of all science teachers.     

Allowing the Voices of Parents to Help Shape Teaching and Learning

The authors observe that the nature of knowledge is multidimensional, and that current efforts to shape curriculum are guided by patterns of cognitive interests. Building from an example related to teacher education, they argue that higher education experiences represent a clash between freedom and conformance that relates to these curricular interpretations. They discuss the impact of these ideas on teacher education curricula and posit a curriculum model that emphasizes depth and connectedness at all levels, calling for a reconceptualization of curriculum to bring about a more fulfilling learning process.     

Rural–Nonrural Differences in College Attendance Patterns

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, this study documented college attendance patterns of rural youth in terms of the selectivity of first postsecondary institution of attendance, the timing of transition to postsecondary education, and the continuity of enrollment. The study also examined how these college attendance patterns among rural students differed from those among their nonrural counterparts and which factors explained these rural–nonrural differences. Results showed that rural youth were less likely than their nonrural counterparts to attend a selective institution. In addition, rural youth were more likely to delay entry to postsecondary education compared to their urban counterparts. Finally, rural students were less likely than their urban counterparts to be continuously enrolled in college. Much of these rural–nonrural disparities in college attendance patterns were explained by rural–nonrural differences in socioeconomic status and high school preparation. Policy implications, limitations of the study, and future research directions are also discussed.     

Content Analysis in Science Education

Summaries

English

The analysis of subject matter (content analysis) is an important facet of science education, especially in connection with studies of learning, student evaluation and curriculum planning. Of the various methods suggested for such analysis, the authors have adopted the semantic network technique by Rumelhart and Norman and by Lindsay and Norman. In this article, they describe this technique and explore its application to the area of genetics.