THE ROUNDTABLE ON HIGHER EDUCATION: CREATING A NORTH DAKOTA UNIVERSITY SYSTEM FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

The Roundtable on Higher Education brought together the key stakeholders of the North Dakota University System (a unified system of 11 colleges and universities, including 5 community colleges) to establish consensus on a common vision, a clear set of expectations and the results for which the system would be held accountable. The roundtable effectively engaged these stakeholders at the front end of the process in a manner that made them active participants and led to the stakeholders taking ownership of the effort. Although there was an element of risk in this approach, the benefits have far exceeded expectations. This initiative is resulting in the development of a new relationship between the University System and the state's executive and legislative branches, as well as a new relationship between the University System and the private sector. Roundtable members refer to this new way of doing business as "public and private partnerships built upon mutual trust and a common purpose." Building these meaningful partnerships has taken a considerable commitment in North Dakota, but the results will likely have a major impact on the future of the state. The Roundtable on Higher Education has reached a level of accomplishment beyond the expectations of the State Board of Higher Education, the college and university presidents and those directly involved in the roundtable. For example, the landmark and comprehensive legislation passed during the 2001 legislative session was virtually identical to what was submitted. The State Board of Higher Education has authorized an entirely new funding model for the University System (as recommended by the roundtable), and the legislature granted the University System "flexibility with accountability"--a change that will be vitally important to the system's ability to play an expanded role in growing the state's economy. One challenge will be to maintain the momentum of this initiative, as well as the engagement of key stakeholders, especially since the initiative does not have an anticipated end date. Rather, it will be an evolving process with continued involvement by the key stakeholders. As targets are met and needs change, new recommendations will need to be defined. A high level of commitment will be essential to realizing the full potential of the roundtable. It is anticipated, however, that the project's success will help sustain it. The fundamental concept of engaging key stakeholders in developing consensus upon which to build a visionary plan is not original, nor is it unique to this initiative. Executive and legislative branch leaders in a number of states are attempting to better connect the tremendous resources and power of their higher education systems to the public agenda of their respective states. What is original and somewhat uncommon about this initiative is the application of effective leadership principles that help transform "knowing what needs to be done" into "making it happen." This leadership component is, undoubtedly, the most critical factor in the success of the Roundtable on Higher Education to date.     

Misbehavior or Missed Opportunity? Challenges in Interpreting the Behavior of Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are increasingly being included in early childhood classrooms that include typically developing peers and in general education classrooms once they enter school. Many of these learners have the requisite academic skills to be successful, yet their social communication and behavioral challenges often impede their successful inclusion in general education settings. The challenges educators may experience when interpreting and responding to some behaviors exhibited by young students with ASD are explored and analyzed using an illustrative case vignette of a Kindergarten child with ASD. Recommendations for analyzing the communicative function of children’s behavior and for embedding social communication opportunities in inclusive classroom settings are described.     

Unraveling the Relation Between Reading Comprehension and Print Exposure

The purpose of this study was to test the directionality of influence between reading comprehension (RC) and print exposure (PE), thereby estimating genetic and environmental effects of this relation. The sample consisted of 910 twins in fourth through ninth grades (M_age = 12.33 years, SD = 1.41) from the Florida Twin Project on Reading, Behavior, and Environment. Using direction-of-causation model in a twin design, results supported a direction of influence running from RC to PE. This relation was underpinned by genetic and environmental factors of RC as well as PE. Implications for reading education are discussed.     

A capability approach to children's well-being,agency and participatory rights in education

This article applies a capability approach to examine how children's agency, well-being and participation rights can be developed and supported in educational settings. We introduce Amartya Sen's concepts of agency and well-being freedoms and achievements to highlight the tensions and trade-offs between risks to children's agency and well-being in and through educational processes. We draw upon selected empirical examples to illustrate this relationship further. By positioning the development of children's agency as an explicit and important goal of education, alongside well-being achievement, we aim to broaden the evaluative space for assessing what constitutes quality in children's education. We conclude with some reflections on implications for policy and practice going forward.     

Precision Education Initiative: Moving Toward Personalized Education

This article propose the Precision Education Initiative, which is the tailoring of education to the specific characteristics of the individual student. Mirroring precision medicine, the author lays out both near‐term and longer term goals that educational research, and importantly educational practice, should follow.     

Hierarchies in mathematics education

In mathematics education literature the term hierarchy is used in a number of ways. It is important that the mathematics educator consider the usefulness of the hierarchies presented by various researchers and theorists, in the light of their application to teaching. Current works on mathematical learning hierarchies are illustrated and in particular the work of the mathematics team of the research project Concepts in Secondary Mathematics and Science is examined.