Fall 2013

Students across institutions of higher learning come equipped with pocket-sized devices that allow them to record images, audio, and video from their classrooms, and instantaneously edit and share recorded content with a limitless audience. Prior to commencing instruction, postsecondary instructors are advised to learn the policy of their institutions related to student use of technology, to anticipate student use of personal technological devices, to brainstorm possible eventualities, and to create and communicate careful, comprehensive classroom policy addressing student use of technology in their classrooms.

The study investigated the influence of school environment on the management of secondary school education in Makurdi Metropolis of Benue State. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The survey design was adopted for the study. Four hundred (400) teachers from 20 grant aided secondary schools in Makurdi Metropolis of Benue state constituted the sample for the study. The study selected its respondents using simple random sampling technique. A structured 10-item four point rating scale questionnaire titled ‘Influence of School Environment on Management of Secondary School Questionnaire’ (ISEMSSQ) was constructed by the researchers and used to collect data for the study. The data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation to answer research questions while chi-square (x2) test of goodness of fit was deployed to test the hypotheses at p<0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that there was a significant influence of leadership style and school-community relations on secondary schools in Makurdi metropolis of Benue state. It was recommended that School heads or administrators should adopt the most appropriate leadership style based on school situation for effective management of their environment and that schools host communities be considered in the running of schools, especially in matters concerning students’ welfare.

This study examines the teacher readiness of Black graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) relative to non-HBCUs. To accomplish this objective, this paper identifies several components of preparation available from the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 2008/2009 (B&B: 08/09). Of the K-12 teaching preparation factors, significant differences were found between HBCU and non-HBCU graduates within a bachelor’s degree teaching major. In addition, the study revealed that HBCU graduates maintained the highest proportion of teaching preparation across all variables, with the exception of awareness of the Teach Grant Program.

Adequate funding for the nation’s schools to meet the call for higher student achievement has been a litigious issue. Spending on schools is a political choice. The choices made by state legislatures, in some cases, have failed to fund schools adequately and have incited school finance lawsuits in almost all states. These proceedings are generally brought to compel state legislatures to fulfill their state constitutional responsibilities to children and their families for the appropriation of fiscal resources to fund public education. Furthermore, student and school accountability measures that carry sanctions enforced by the states can be said to set up a reciprocation of duties. This reciprocal duty is where schools have the responsibility of providing effective instructional environments and the states have the responsibility of allocating sufficient resources to schools to provide educational opportunities for students to meet state achievement goals (Schrag, 2003).

Examining the relationship of funding to levels of student achievement can reveal deficits in state school finance policy that will require redress if states and their public school districts are to attain commonly acknowledged goals of increased student achievement indicating improves readiness for college and future careers.

Public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) continue to receive inequitable funding at state-levels (Gasman, 2010; Minor, 2008). The Higher Education Act of 1965 designates an HBCU as an “institution whose principal mission was and is the education of black Americans, was accredited and was established before 1964” (UNCF, 2013, para. 1). The current funding situation is problematic because HBCUs have successfully educated African Americans, low-income, and underprepared students (Gasman, 2010). Perhaps with equitable state support, the educational gains of HBCUs may improve. The purpose of this article is to analyze three policy alternatives that would improve resources at HBCUs. First, attention is given to funding trends for HBCUs at federal and state levels. Second, three policy alternatives are introduced along with evaluative criteria to analyze each policy alternative. Finally, a policy recommendation is offered based on the policy alternative that appears to be the most feasible.

This article provides lessons learned about community building and child assessment training from an external evaluation of an Arizona statewide initiative for early childhood programs.

The underrepresentation of administrators of color in higher education is one of the most important ethical dilemmas facing colleges and universities today. Arguably, in no place is this more evident than at historically white colleges and universities (majority institutions). Prior to the 1960s, the lack of administrators of color in higher education’s Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) was viewed as common place and a cultural normative due to the existence of segregation and widespread racism during that era. It was not until the American Civil Rights Movement that higher education was forced to expand, at which point, state and federal civil rights mandates–prompted by social justice concerns–began to challenge institutions that excluded minorities (Chang, 2005). Many of these mandates became known as affirmative action policies. Mostly race-sensitive in nature, these affirmative action policies aimed to increase access and opportunities for promotions, salary increases, and career advancement for minority employees.

However, not all PWIs immediately welcomed the demand for a culturally diverse leadership upon their campuses (Arthur & Shapiro, 1995; Kawewe, 1997; Payne, 2004; Perna, Gerald, Baum, & Milem, 2007; Wilson, 1995). Studies on university hiring practices revealed that in many instances, once a minority hiring goal was met, departments stopped seeking minority applicants. In some cases, institutions took direct and intentional action to cease the recruitment of minorities (e.g., by pulling their ads from minority publications) regardless of the number of vacancies that occurred from then on (Wilson, 1995). Meanwhile, over time, legal disputes to affirmative action programs began to expose flaws amidst the policy’s good intentions.

Over 40 years after the American Civil Rights Movement, many of today’s college and university policy makers have shown a willingness to embrace racial diversity. However, efforts to do so have proven that positioning a diverse administrative leadership to reflect the values, issues, and concerns on campus is a multidimensional and complex task (Cabrera, Nora, Terenzini, Pascarella, & Hagedorn, 1999; Holmes, Ebbers, Robinson, & Mugenda, 2000; Jackson, 2004; Jackson & Rosas, 1999; Watson, Terrell, Wright, Bonner, Cuyjet, Gold, Rudy, & Person, 2002). The purpose of this article is to summarize scholarship on the challenges of increasing administrative representation for people of color in higher education and to address implications for policy and practice.