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In this paper we present the Advancing Racial Equity in Community College Model which maps out the organizational conditions shaping institutional transformation. Focused on two dimensions, the level of "organizational support" and "shared responsibility" to enact equity, we describe four quadrants with distinct organizational conditions that shape how equity advocates design, build, and sustain equity efforts. With well-documented racial inequities and renewed calls for racial justice across higher education, it demands new ways of exploring and understanding how institutional actors leading equity efforts are nested within differing organizational contexts that can enable as well as restrict the enactment and success of racial equity efforts. Our model helps equity advocates gain an "awareness" of known barriers to implementation in higher education, assess the readiness of their campus for racialized change, and take action to build the necessary institutional support and capacity to move the work forward.

Professional societies (ProSs) are instrumental in shaping science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) cultural norms. Existing legacy structures designed to serve majority groups and constructed in service of dominant norms and values present a clear obstacle to attracting, retaining, and serving minoritized STEM professionals, such as women, particularly women with additional intersecting marginalized statuses (Solebello et al., 2016). In this perspective article, we in the Amplifying the Alliance to Catalyze Change for Equity in STEM Success project, known as ACCESS+, explain our development of an adapted diversity, equity, and inclusion assessment tool. ACCESS+ is an NSF ADVANCE Partnership that is adapting a pre-existing tool known as the Diversity and Inclusion Progression Framework, which was developed in the United Kingdom jointly by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Science Council (2021). As with the original version, the purpose of the U.S. adaptation--the Equity Environmental Scanning Tool, or EEST--is to provide STEM ProSs with a way to benchmark their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, discern areas of organizational strength, and identify foci for organizational remediation. In this piece, we share background information for EEST refinement, including content adaptations and structural changes.

When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into fruition in the early 1990s, there were high hopes and expectations on what this emerging economic block could achieve. Although the agreement involved extensive conversations that led to regulations that facilitated trade across the region--the main intent of NAFTA--the same was not true for the higher education environment. Critics have argued that NAFTA's heavy focus on trade left little room for similar harmonization on issues like higher education. From this perspective, it is evident that if efforts to improve higher education are to gain traction in the trilateral relationship, they must be linked with regional trade and competitiveness. Yet even though NAFTA was not the vehicle for further cooperation on higher education, colleges and universities across Canada, Mexico, and the United States did embrace the opportunity and enthusiastically engaged in conversations that prompted trilateral collaboration. This article follows the key agreements that influenced and guided the early stages of NAFTA collaboration among higher education institutions, as well as developments that kept engagement across the three countries active. It also provides an initial list of areas in which future collaboration might focus. [The report was published in partnership with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. This working paper will be published as a chapter in the forthcoming book, "North America 2.0: Forging a Continental Future."]

Holistic student learning has been a hallmark of U.S. higher education since the early 20th Century when the American Council on Education (ACE) published the "Student Personnel Point of View" (SPPV) in 1937, reaffirming time and again that learning happens both inside and outside of the classroom. To consider students' holistic development, various scholars and organizations have developed learning taxonomies and learning outcome frameworks. The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) provides tools and resources to guide the development of holistic learning and development outcomes that employers and higher education professionals wish to see in college graduates. CAS consists of a consortium of experts from various areas of higher education engaged in developing standards for professional practice as well as resources for self-assessment for functional areas of student support in higher education. Based in holistic learning and incorporating 47 functional areas involved in student learning and development, the CAS Standards serve as a validated, reliable resource in this data-driven, accountability-focused higher education environment. CAS Standards align with multiple other learning frameworks, are endorsed by higher education organizations and associations, and have multiple uses in research, evaluation, and assessment of student engagement, learning, and development. This paper explores how the CAS learning domains and dimensions can be used to identify and achieve various division-level or functional unit goals, to advance self-assessment, and to inform institutional effectiveness.

Libraries are the central resource for supporting faculty and students in their research and information needs, both physically and remotely. This essential role of libraries and library faculty has remained consistent amid significant technological and pedagogical changes within the community college system. As librarians continue to determine their other roles within the California Community Colleges System and local districts in response to evolving demands, the inclusion and engagement of library faculty in college decision-making processes, program development, and other academic and professional matters are critical. Just as each student body and community is diverse with its own characteristics, needs, and goals, so are each of the libraries throughout the California community colleges. This paper provides encouragement for library faculty, administrators, and staff to apply the various recommendations outlined throughout its text to meet their individual campus needs and requirements in providing impactful and equitable library instruction and services. It outlines the importance of library faculty in facilitating student success and provides information on the core roles of library faculty in the California Community Colleges System. The content of the paper may be used to inform the development of local and external policies, regulations, and guidelines that pertain to the operation and performance of California community college libraries and assist in the ongoing dialog among library faculty, staff, and administration regarding the role, services, design, and development of libraries and librarians. [The paper was developed by the Transfer, Articulation, and Student Services Committee of the Academic Senate in partnership with the Council of Chief Librarians.]

In a pilot program during the 2016-17 admissions cycle, the University of California, Berkeley invited many applicants for freshman admission to submit letters of recommendation. This proved controversial within the university, with concerns that this change would further disadvantage applicants from disadvantaged groups. To inform this debate, we use this pilot as the basis for an observational study of the impact of submitting letters of recommendation on subsequent admission, with the goal of estimating how impacts vary across pre-defined subgroups. Understanding this variation is challenging in an observational setting because estimated impacts reflect both actual treatment effect variation and differences in covariate balance across groups. To address this, we develop balancing weights that directly optimize for "local balance" within subgroups while maintaining global covariate balance between treated and control units. Applying this approach to the UC Berkeley pilot study yields excellent local and global balance, unlike more traditional weighting methods, which fail to balance covariates within subgroups. We find that the impact of letters of recommendation increases with applicant strength. However, we find little average difference for applicants from disadvantaged groups, although this result is more mixed. In the end, we conclude that soliciting letters of recommendation from a broader pool of applicants would not meaningfully change the composition of admitted undergraduates.

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that schools and districts should establish DNAR policies, protocols, and practices that enable each student to receive best practice care, as designated by clear and specific directives for the individual, throughout the entire course of their condition while they are in school. Each student with a Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR) order benefits from having an Individualized Healthcare Plan (IHP) and an Emergency Action Plan (EAP), developed by the registered professional school nurse (hereinafter referred to as school nurse). As professionals who bridge education and health and who advocate for students, school nurses work closely with school teams, families, and students' healthcare providers to appropriately meet the special healthcare needs of students with a DNAR. This statement provides the background and rationale for NASN's position. [This Position Statement was initially adopted in 2014 and revised in June 2018.]

Scholars have developed a wide range of theories to explain both stability and change in policy subsystems. In recent years, a burgeoning literature has emerged that focuses on the application of network analysis in policy research, more formally known as Policy Network Analysis (PNA). This approach, while still developing, has great potential as an integrated theoretical framework that brings together multiple theories under a single conceptual paradigm. In this paper, the authors demonstrate how the insights of three other established policy theories--namely, the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), Punctuated-Equilibrium theory (PET), and the Policy Entrepreneur Model (PEM)--may be augmented under a synthesis theory of policy networks to provide a more conceptually coherent theory of policymaking that may be useful for explaining periods of both stability and change.

This article examines institutional and demographic variables associated with successful joint partnerships between US and Chinese institutions of higher education. Understanding those variables requires an appreciation of overarching issues or catalysts bringing both nations together and, as well, how postsecondary environments differ and the implications of such differences for success. The authors do not assume complete alignment in the interests promoting cooperation between the U. S. and China, but a convergence of mutual interests. The paper discusses different operational realities leading to partnerships between smaller private and larger public institutions and the authors identify factors (forces promoting cooperation, need for alignment in organizational infrastructure, faculty support and what are referred to as "administrative nuts and bolts") associated with meaningful and long term agreements. Although it may sound trite, this paper argues an essential ingredient for success is leadership, but not in the traditional sense of the word as it is often used in academic environments. Leadership in this context entails using power and influence to change the status quo and assign resources to new ventures. The essay further argues that absent faculty support (which goes hand in hand with resources for faculty), partnerships will not flourish. Finally, the role of an "internal advocate" i.e., one who has the requisite organizational authority and stature, who can overcome organizational inertia, petty territorial jealousies and legitimize international cooperation using, in the best and fullest sense of the word, the "support" of the President or Chancellor, and sometimes the governing board, is fundamental to success. Bibliographic sources are provided.

Charter schools have generated support from politicians in both major American political parties, while stimulating intense debate among interest groups. We investigate whether and how public attitudes come to mirror interest group polarization or politician consensus in order to understand what drives public attitudes as policy debates mature and citizens learn information that drives advocates to opposite sides. Using survey experiments, we assess how views change in response to policy cues. Mirroring debates among advocates, we assess whether the role of private companies and non-union teachers polarize opinion. We find that the public responds to cues linked to unions and polarizes based on liberal and conservative ideology as well as attitudes toward unions. This helps to explain how ideological polarization can grow even in the absence of strong partisan sorting among top political leaders. The report includes a bibliography.

One of the State Board of Education's (SBE) strategic plan goals is to advocate for an effective, accountable governance structure for public education in Washington. The development of this goal comes from Board members' experiences over the last five years to understand and address the complexity of Washington's education system and their role in it. The Board has been engaged in many projects, including the successful work in accountability and new high school graduation requirements. Other projects have caused the Board to pause and reflect about its role as well as that of other agencies in areas such as systems planning. Several of those projects are examined through case studies in this paper. This paper is organized into the following sections: (1) What is Washington Trying to Achieve?; (2) Governance: a Definition, Literature Review, and Analytical Framework; (3) Education Governance in Washington and Other States; (4) Washington's History of Education Reform Efforts in K-12; (5) Washington Case Studies on Governance; and (6) International Education Systems Governance and How They Compare to the U.S. (Contains 20 resources and 37 footnotes.)

In 2005, an estimated 48 million children aged 0-18 years--12 percent of all children in sub-Saharan Africa--were orphans, and that number is expected to rise to 53 million by 2010. One quarter of all orphans are orphaned because of AIDS, and about 2.6 million children are currently infected with HIV. Untreated, most children born with HIV will die before their fourth birthday, most likely in the first two years of life. UNICEF concludes that, although they represent a smaller percentage of all orphans, the youngest orphans are the least resilient and have the greatest need for physical care and emotional nurturing. Although it is recognised that the focus of support must be on all children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, including those living with sick parents or in extreme poverty, the youngest are often invisible to programme planners, despite their vulnerability. In response to the general awareness of the increasing number of these children, a global initiative to develop national plans of action (NPAs) for these orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs), or children affected by HIV and AIDS, has been launched. Between 2003 and 2007, a number of countries did a rapid assessment of the living conditions of children affected by HIV/AIDS and developed plans and costing estimates for appropriate interventions. The plans of 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa were reviewed, comprising all of the high prevalence countries whose NPAs were finalised. The review found that there is a wide range in the developmental appropriateness of the plans within the 17 countries. The evidence suggests that there is a clear and significant trend over time for increased incorporation of developmentally informed perspectives into plans, with the more recent plans having many more components. This change has been influenced by a series of advocacy efforts by the early childhood development (ECD) community and the HIV/AIDS community. However, these plans remain vague and not well defined. More efforts are needed to ensure that they will in fact be implemented, and that there will be sufficient quality in the responses. A number of assumptions were noted in the plans, such as the belief that funds allocated to a family in general will go equally to all members of the family. As a result, the author makes the following recommendations: (1) Evaluate assumptions; (2) Provide adequate funding for the NPAs to include ECD measures; (3) Build the case with evidence; (4) Develop capacity in ECD at the country level; (5) Strengthen the role of the health sector for young children's development and develop new platforms for care; (6) Strengthen structures at local, regional, and national levels for an integrated approach; (7) Support women's rights; and (8) Link the NPAs with other plans in order to effectively implement them. (Contains 4 tables, 5 figures and 6 footnotes.)

The research reviewed and the current responses identified in this paper show that at local, national and international levels there are gaps in programming and policy to engage ideas and mobilise resources to address the needs and experiences of very young children infected/affected by HIV and AIDS. Chapter one identifies some key areas where the lives of very young children are affected by the pandemic. Chapter two reveals that HIV and AIDS and early childhood development (ECD) programming has shown a limited response so far. Finally, in Chapter three, conclusions are drawn that indicate that services are required urgently to support very young children both directly and through the families and communities in which they live. (Lists 9 resources and 11 online resources.)

An evaluation is presented on the impact of HIV/AIDS on the education sector in the Asia Pacific region. The spread of HIV/AIDS not only brings illness and death, it also threatens the efforts already made to achieve the goal of Education for All (EFA). Education can combat the negative consequences wrought by HIV/AIDS. Tactics include (1) promoting knowledge and changes of attitude about the epidemic through school curricula; (2) minimizing stigma and discrimination by fostering of a caring environment. The potential of schools and school directors should be tapped to play a more active role in the combat of HIV/AIDS. In the Asia Pacific region, recent changes and reforms in the education sector have brought changes in the status of schools and school administrators. Some schools have become more independent in administration and management as a result of decentralization. School directors who are active in policy work have become influential figures in the community. Such changes make advocacy on HIV/AIDS awareness more advantageous at the school level. The authors conclude that there should be more development of toolkits on HIV/AIDS and education for school directors and administrators in the region. [For Discussion Paper No. II in this series, see ED496227.]

In an era of devolution in much social policy, many initiatives seek to improve child, youth, and family well-being through locally-governed, data-driven partnerships. These partnerships are not limited to savvy technical reform of policies or programs. They target a change in political will, policy agendas, and policy implementation arrangements, all driven by broad and sustained local movements on behalf of children. Part of a larger project on how community problem solving is evolving worldwide, this paper critically examines what such locally-based efforts actually do, noting the key strategic challenges they confront. It emphasizes the distinct dimensions of political work implied in an era of partnership-driven problem solving, explores the roles of coalition building in local politics, and analyzes the special challenges that partnerships face when they are, at once, interest-driven coalitions that ensure political support and operational alliances through which players seek to jointly produce the better outcomes they seek. Special attention is given to the roles of intermediary players that help other players navigate these challenges and to the multiple demands made of grassroots and elite stakeholders. (Contains 80 references.) (Author/SM)

This white paper examines the relationship of child care to business interests. Areas explored include: (1) the relationship between a robust economy and increasing family stress; (2) family-friendly benefit options and the bottom-line rewards for employers who offer them; (3) how businesses are getting involved in partnerships to address issues of early care and education both inside and outside of Virginia (includes numerous short program descriptions); and (4) projected changes for the new workforce and economy. The paper concludes with recommendations for action by business and government leaders and other advocates across Virginia for improving child care quality. (EV)

In order to improve the quality of child care services in the United States, the child care workforce must be better compensated. This paper describes the movement to improve child care compensation over the last 25 years as viewed by one of the leaders in that effort. The paper focuses on three distinct phases of this history: (1) 1970-1985, the first signs of a movement as teachers of young children articulated the problem of poverty-level wages; (2) 1985-1995, characterized by research linking low wages and the quality of services, community and labor organizing, public awareness campaigns, and public policy initiatives; and (3) 1995-2001, a more visible movement through sustained grassroots organizing efforts and public policy responses. Each phase is explored with respect to the economic and policy climate, key players, the primary assumptions and key strategies employed by activists, accomplishments, missteps, and challenges. The paper explores how each phase of the movement has influenced the next, and how the various challenges facing the movement around organizational form, strategy, and the structure of the industry have been resolved or have persisted. The final section of the paper focuses on the current tasks facing the compensation movement. (Contains 56 references and 35 endnotes.) (KB)

This document describes the rationale and the strategy of the new United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Initiative for literacy: LIFE. The Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) is designed as a global strategic framework through which national governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society, the private sector, UN agencies, and bilateral and multilateral agencies collectively revitalize and accelerate literacy efforts in countries where illiteracy poses a critical challenge. LIFE is a strategy for action to support basic education through promoting competencies in reading, writing and numeracy for the achievement of Education for All (EFA) and to substantially increase literacy learning opportunities within the framework of the United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD). LIFE will be implemented in 35 countries with a literacy rate of less than 50 percent or a population of more than 10 million without literacy competencies. Presently 85 percent of the world's population without literacy competencies and life skills live in these countries, the majority of whom are women. LIFE will, therefore, aim to empower women and girls, in particular, who have inadequate literacy competencies. This report commences with a Message of the Honorary Ambassador to the United Nations Literacy Decade; Foreword; Executive Summary; and Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE). It then divides into nine sections: (1) Why LIFE?; (2) The Goals and Objectives of LIFE; (3) Strategic Areas for Action; (4) The Scope of LIFE; (5) Making It Happen: The Activities of LIFE; (6) Implementation; (7) Funding; (8) Monitoring and Evaluation; and (9) Annexes. Annexes include: (1) Countries of Priority (35 Countries); and (2) Logical Framework. (Contains 12 footnotes.)

This paper summarizes a May 2000 conference about advancing the civil and human rights of people with disabilities from diverse cultures. The conference included people with disabilities from diverse cultures and members of national civil rights organizations. The conference identified five priority areas for attention: (1) cultivating leadership development; (2) removing educational barriers; (3) providing equal opportunity and access to employment; (4) upholding human rights and civil rights; and (5) expanding voter registration and voter participation. The resulting action plan was organized into four categories: leadership development and capacity building, outreach, coalition and constituency building, and monitoring and evaluation. Examples of specific components of the action plan include: formation of an action organization to be called Leadership Coalition Unlimited, development of an advocacy tool kit, establishment of a listserv of conference participants, and encouragement of disability rights supporters to become active in local chapters of national civil rights organizations. The entire action plan is appended. (DB)

The state of New Mexico passed legislation in 2000 to phase-in voluntary full-day kindergarten (FDK) classes for all 5-year-olds. This case study traces the evolution and development of New Mexico's FDK program. The case study highlights several elements and strategies of the FDK campaign, including framing FDK as a cost-effective educational reform, the strategic crafting of legislation, identification of funding sources, and attracting support and involvement of influential stakeholders. The case study also describes how, with abundant experience at confronting the political and budgetary realities that state policymakers face, the FDK supporters effectively defined the problem of inadequate student achievement, offered FDK as a policy solution, built political pressure and momentum, provided policymakers with funding solutions and implementation strategies, and monitored and influenced implementation after passage of the legislation. The case study notes that while far from a universal blueprint for state-level education policy reform, the advocacy campaign for FDK in New Mexico nonetheless offers lessons that can inform policymaking in other states, and lists several lessons learned about effective legislative advocacy, including the following: (1) successful advocacy campaigns may not require substantial resources or the support of broad coalitions; (2) child and family advocacy organizations should strive for bipartisan, issue-driven alliances and support; and (3) advocates should provide policymakers with funding solutions and implementation strategies. Lessons learned about FDK as an education reform are also detailed including the following: (1) policymakers are more likely to embrace FDK when it is framed as enhancing children's educational success; (2) FDK can be funded without substantial increase in tax revenues; and (3) legislation is only the first step--implementation matters. (Contains 114 references.) (HTH)

This paper analyzes biases in academe concerning what constitutes "legitimate" and "rigorous" scholarship and examines how these biases interact with decision-making power to place minority scholars and their research into a traditionally ascriptive secondary role. Looking specifically at the Chicano/Latino scholar, it is argued that the racial/ethnic factor seems to interact with another pervasive source of division among scholars: the tension between doing research for research's sake and the more applied aspect of academics. This brings into play larger questions about political commitment, partisanship, and advocacy, as well as the relative merits of researcher objectivity and "scientific detachment" versus the empathic understanding of the participant observer. Data from the Carnegie National Faculty Survey (1984) and the National Latino Faculty Survey (1987) are used to compare the views of Latino and non-Hispanic faculty on scholarship and university life and to present the perceptions of Chicano and Puerto Rican faculty on how Latino group-based research is rated in academe. The concluding section discusses the paucity and limitations of existing research on Chicano faculty and the ethnic/racial cleavages in academe. Contains 28 references. (SV)

Despite Ontario's profusion of training programs, diplomas, and certificates for office workers, they need coherence and transferability in training that makes it possible to keep up with changes in their current work, and they need their work experience and training to be transferable to training for other occupations. There is a growing disjuncture among the new work, training needs of office workers, and kinds of training available. Office work is becoming more complex, and its links with other occupations need to be made more specific. Training is being delivered in shorter, more fragmented pieces that particularly focus on technical training or the so-called "soft" employability skills. Entry-level training is getting shorter, while entry-level requirements for many office support jobs are becoming more complex. Cuts in public funding to college and community-based programs have resulted in fewer seats in public programs. Setting standards--sometimes seen as a panacea or, at least, the requisite starting-point for a coherent training system--would add to the confusion and opacity of training options for individual workers. It would also be an instrument to further privatize training. Making training a more "profitable" enterprise makes it less accessible to workers. Through activism, advocacy, and support of unions and organizations, a truly worker-centered and worker-driven training system could begin to eliminate the current confusion, fragmentation, inequities, and ineffectiveness of training for office workers. (Appendixes include 31 endnotes and 18 references.) (YLB)

The mission of AONTAS to "advocate for the right of every adult in Ireland to quality learning" is a testament to its commitment to the adult learner as the central focus of further education and training services. In its current strategic plan which is underpinned by three key themes; voice, visibility and value AONTAS articulates as one of its key principles: to support and affirm the voice of adult learners as the core of its advocacy work. In order to support this principle AONTAS engages in a number of activities which are learner specific--these include information referral for learners and adults returning to education and training and capacity building opportunities for learners to become strong role models. This paper sets out AONTAS position on how the learner voice can best be represented in order to reflect the diversity of adult learning and to ensure that learners have more of a say in service delivery. In making a case for learner forums, NIACE, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education in the UK has already outlined how learner engagement can provide for better decision making, more effective services and greater cost effectiveness in designing services. In this paper a number of activities and mechanisms are proposed which could support and enhance learner representation across the further education and training services. Appended are: (1) Charter for Learning (Limerick City Adult Learner Forum); and (2) The 9 Steps for Wales. (Contains 16 footnotes.)