Search

The argument of this paper is set against the backdrop of a climate of intimidation, silencing, and fear that surrounds the discussion of several hot-button issues in academe, nowadays mainly having to do with race. An important and painful feature of this situation is that people on both sides of the issue feel vulnerable. The contribution of this paper is to help all involved to understand what academic freedom means and how it supports or fails to support the expression of controversial views. I show that a climate hostile to academic freedom is not an academic freedom issue "per se." It becomes an academic freedom issue when there is harassment, silencing, or dismissal of those who take a position within the sphere of their professional competence. At bottom, academic freedom is an institutionally-protected privilege relevant, above all, to employment law. Neither First Amendment rights nor anything resembling academic freedom exist in the employee-employer relationship in the private sector. The paper discusses the origins of academic freedom in the United States and the major changes in the understanding of academic freedom over time, particularly those relevant to extramural speech and the rights of students. The paper concludes with a discussion of five contemporary threats to academic freedom, stemming from (1) social stratification within academe, (2) university branding concerns, (3) the actions of conservative state legislatures, (4) the constraints applied by institutional review boards, and (5) the demands of social movement activists.

This report is prepared in compliance with HB 1661 Sec 104(2)(k), which requires the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF, or the Department) Office of Innovation, Alignment, and Accountability (OIAA) to submit to the Governor and the appropriate policy and appropriation committees of the Legislature: (1) A review of the current process for addressing foster parent complaints and concerns through the Department and through the office of the family and children's ombuds established in chapter 43.06A RCW that includes an examination of any deficiencies of the current system; and (2) Recommendations for expanding, modifying, and enhancing the current system for addressing individual foster parent complaints to improve child welfare, the experience of foster parents, and the overall functioning of the child welfare system. This report provides a broad review of the processes in place for the Department to learn of, and respond to, foster parent concerns; and a brief review of data on foster parent complaints and concerns. In addition, it summarizes steps the Department is taking to enhance system responsiveness to foster parent concerns.

This report by the Kentucky Department of Education states that "the school council shall have the responsibility to set school policy consistent with district board policy which shall provide an environment to enhance the students' achievement and help the school meet the goals established in KRS 158.645 and 158.6451." The report's 18 chapters describe: (1) School-Based Decision Making Statute (KRS 160.345); (2) Other Kentucky Statutes Related to School Councils Work (KRS 157.360 Staffing Allocations; KRS 158.031 Primary Program; KRS 158.102 Library Media Specialist; KRS 160.347 Removal of SBDM Members; and KRS 160.348 Advanced Placement); (3) Bylaws and Policies; (4) Roles for School-based Decision Making Shareholders; (5) School Councils and Boards of Education; (6) School Council Elections; (7) Requirement for School Council Member Training; (8) Communicating with Families and the Community; (9) Open Meetings; (10) Committees; (11) Consensus Decision Building; (12) Open Records; (13) Communicating with the Media; (14) Personnel and Staffing Allocations; (15) Minority Educator Recruitment and Retention; (16) Achievement Gaps and Planning Requirements; (17) School Councils and Budgets; and (18) Principal Selection Overview.

In this HEPI debate paper on the media and higher education, Rosemary Bennett provides a commentary on the interaction of the two sectors and proposes ideas on how universities might best engage with journalists to promote themselves and their research. [Foreword by Adam Tickell.]

This report presents findings from the 2016 Ross-CASE Survey of Philanthropic Giving to Universities in UK. The project was conducted by CASE Europe and funded by HEFCE and the Ross-Group. This year's survey comes at a time of great change for the UK charity sector. The historical trend data of previous surveys will be invaluable in helping understand some of the impact of these changes. In the meantime, the 2014-15 survey findings show generally positive moves on the key variables. The two measures of philanthropic income show healthy increases. There may be an emerging trend of larger gifts coming from a relatively flat number of donors, perhaps reflecting a concentration on major gift programmes. Income (whether measured by new funds secured or cash income received) came fairly equally from individuals and organisations. By far the greatest proportion of income from the latter came from trusts and foundations. The fact that organisation donors made up only 2% of total donors demonstrates the considerable importance of trusts and foundations to the higher education sector. Whilst corporations contribute significant funds to universities in other ways (commissioning research, developing sponsorship and other partnerships) the level of philanthropy as defined by this survey is relatively modest (around 6% of new funds secured/cash income received). Income from alumni still makes up the lion's share of individual gifts, demonstrating the value of a relationship which universities now aim to inculcate from student days. There remains significant variance across the sector, but trend data show some evidence of widespread growth. An increasing number of institutions are securing £10M or more in new philanthropic funds and more universities are breaking the £1M barrier as well (on both measures of philanthropic income). It would seem that universities are increasingly recognised as a destination for philanthropic investment which returns a valuable dividend to society due to their importance as educators of next generation leadership and the birthplace of solutions to world problems. Appendices include: (1) CASE; (2) About the survey; (3) Reporting conventions; (4) Acknowledgements; (5) Participating institutions; and (6) Glossary.

Building on the inaugural survey conducted three years prior, the 2015 CASE Community College Alumni Relations survey collected additional insightful data on staffing, structure, communications, engagement, and fundraising. This white paper features key data on alumni relations programs at community colleges across the United States. The paper compares results from 2015 and 2012 across such areas as the structure, operations and budget for alumni relations, alumni data collection and management, alumni communications and engagement strategy, as well as fundraising activities with alumni. The latest snapshot from community colleges across the United States shows that alumni relations has made progress. Survey questions are appended. [For the prior White Paper, "Benchmarking Alumni Relations in Community Colleges: Findings from a 2012 CASE Survey. CASE White Paper," ED571308.]

This report by the Kentucky Department of Education states that "the school council shall have the responsibility to set school policy consistent with district board policy which shall provide an environment to enhance the students' achievement and help the school meet the goals established in KRS 158.645 and 158.6451." The report's 18 chapters describe: (1) School-Based Decision Making Statute (KRS 160.345); (2) Other Kentucky Statutes Related to School Councils Work (KRS 157.360 Staffing Allocations; KRS 158.031 Primary Program; KRS 158.102 Library Media Specialist; KRS 160.347 Removal of SBDM Members; and KRS 160.348 Advanced Placement); (3) Bylaws and Policies; (4) Roles for School-based Decision Making Shareholders; (5) School Councils and Boards of Education; (6) School Council Elections; (7) Requirement for School Council Member Training; (8) Communicating with Families and the Community; (9) Open Meetings; (10) Committees; (11) Consensus Decision Building; (12) Open Records; (13) Communicating with the Media; (14) Personnel and Staffing Allocations; (15) Minority Educator Recruitment and Retention; (16) Achievement Gaps and Planning Requirements; (17) School Councils and Budgets; and (18) Principal Selection (Overview). [For the 2018 edition, see ED589962.]

The 2016 ICARS survey reports on data collected September 2015 to November 2015 in the International CASE Alumni Relations Survey. The findings are drawn from 84 responding institutions across 12 European countries. 76 percent of respondents are from the UK and 24 percent are from other European countries. ICARS emphasises the link between alumni relations programmes and alumni engagement in terms of three success measures: the number of alumni attending events, the number of volunteers and the subsequent number of donors.

The role of state education agencies (SEAs) has shifted significantly from low-profile, compliance activities like managing federal grants to engaging in more complex and politically charged tasks like setting curriculum standards, developing accountability systems, and creating new teacher evaluation systems. The move from compliance-monitoring to leading large-scale education change is not only more complex, it also has shined a brighter spotlight on SEAs and their ability to improve student outcomes. Communication is a critical component to help SEAs create system-wide clarity and coherence, and to proactively manage messages to gain stakeholder support. This report explains the major processes associated with strategic communication and details the communication approaches employed by five SEAs to support the adoption of new state standards, a reform that has recently become politically charged by the suggestion that the Common Core state standards represent government overreach. Because the debate has little to do with the actual content or purpose of the standards--to set a common bar that will better prepare students for college and careers--and more about political perspectives, SEAs find they must take extreme care with their communications and approach to developing, adopting, and implementing new standards. The following are appended: (1) Kansas' Positive Communication Sample; (2) Idaho Myths and Factors for External Stakeholders; (3) Kansas Myths and Facts External Communication; (4) Kentucky's Commissioner's Blog; (5) Arkansas SEA Video Using Teacher Voice; and (6) Arkansas SEA Using Student Voice in Common Core Video.

CASE has conducted salary surveys to track trends in the profession and to help members benchmark salaries since 1982. Following CASE's major overhaul of the survey instrument and data collection system, CASE Europe fielded a European version of the salary survey for the second time in October 2012. All individual CASE Europe members at colleges, universities and independent schools were eligible to participate. Going forward, data will be collected every Autumn and the results will be updated in the first quarter of the following year. At the launch of the 2012-2013 CASE Europe Salary Survey, 4,178 individual CASE Europe members at colleges, universities and independent schools were invited to participate online. A total of 312 usable responses were collected by survey close in January 2013 for a response rate of 7.5 percent. Survey respondents represented a broad range of demographic profiles reflecting discipline/primary function, institution type, institution enrollment size, geographic area, and supervisory level and tenure. At the launch of the 2012-2013 CASE Europe Salary Survey, 4,178 individual CASE Europe members at colleges, universities and independent schools were invited to participate online. A total of 312 usable responses were collected by survey close in January 2013 for a response rate of 7.5 percent. Survey respondents represented a broad range of demographic profiles reflecting discipline/primary function, institution type, institution enrollment size, geographic area, and supervisory level and tenure. The tables presented in the report provide multiple factors that strongly influence salary, such as years of experience, management responsibility, discipline and highest degree earned. Survey Questions are appended.

This communication project provides an overview of public relations as seen through the communication arts. It is specifically focused to give law enforcement officers a general review of the practice of public relations, communication basics, and an understanding of the media. This course also provides the facilitator with multiple tools for assessing transfer of knowledge on the subject. The course has a pre-course assessment designed so as not only to stimulate trainee interest on the subject, but also as a tool to gauge the importance of future communication training on the group. Additionally, this course approaches the transfer of knowledge based on important aspects of problem-based learning by having the trainees submit a completed case study assessment. The following are appended: (1) Training Plan Approval; (2) Training Needs Survey; (3) Background Questionnaire & PBL Case Study; (4) Student Course Guide; (5) Final Exam; (6) Syllabus & Rubric; and (7) References.

In 2011, CASE founded the Center for Community College Advancement to provide training and resources to help community colleges build and sustain effective fundraising, alumni relations and communications and marketing programs. This white paper summarizes the results of a groundbreaking survey on alumni relations programs at community colleges across the United States and Canada. The purpose of the survey was to help community college staff members benchmark their experiences and programs in alumni relations with their peers. The survey was conducted by the CASE research office in conjunction with CASE's Center for Community College Advancement. Survey questions are appended. [For the follow up White Paper, "Benchmarking Alumni Relations in Community Colleges: Findings from a 2015 CASE Survey. CASE White Paper," see ED571307.]

Staff of the National Weather Service Offices should be able to understand interpersonal communication and public relations in order to better serve their mission to "protect lives and property" as well as work with their internal and external partners (NWS Internet Services Team). Two technologies have been developed to assist the integration of multiple external partners in one place at one time particularly National Weather Service (NWS) Chat and conference calls. This training is designed to address these technologies to hopefully inspire offices across the country to see the benefits of their proper usage. A needs assessment and inquiry to internal and external partners provoked demonstration of effective technological usage; information on the inquiries and a table (Table I) on the needs assessment can be found in this document. The initial training session showed improvements in the knowledge base by the trainees, and their scores on the skills of the trainer revealed this method and associated information to be appropriate. Two tables (Table II and Table III) in the document demonstrate these statistics. Supplemental documentation such as learning activities and PowerPoint presentations are provided in the Learning Activities section of this document. The intent of this training is not to criticize any current policies that are utilized by National Weather Service offices around the country but to offer alternative solutions for all external partners committed to serve and protect the public from weather hazards in one location at any given time. (Contains 3 tables.)

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) has conducted compensations surveys to track trends in the profession and to help members benchmark salaries since 1982. The 2012 Community College Compensation Report summarizes the results of CASE's most recent compensation survey just for community college respondents. This report contains data from 146 individuals employed at North American community colleges. The 2012 results provide a comprehensive view of compensation practices to help identify patterns across the profession. Community college salary data is broken down by criteria such as discipline/primary function, enrollment size, supervisory level and tenure. Survey questions are appended.

This research explores the role of "advancement-enabling" technologies in helping institutions meet the challenges of engaging constituents and attracting private support. It includes data on the use of technology, the barriers to effective use of technology, and strategies for effective deployment of technology. First conducted in 2010, the 2012 study updates our understanding of advancement's priorities and challenges, and how technology is being used to meet these challenges. Ultimately, by identifying institutional needs and understanding the role of technology tools in meeting those needs, this research can help improve the ability of advancement professionals to perform well and serve their educational purposes. This report is based on data provided by 361 advancement staff in higher education institutions and independent schools. A total of 284 practitioners from higher education institutions participated, as did 77 from independent schools (private K-12 institutions). Institutions provided data through an online survey from February 2 to March 5, 2012. While advancement's use of technology shifted significantly since 2010, some of the central findings from the 2010 study persist in 2012: (1) Institutions' strategic priorities continue to be focused directly on fundraising, such as securing major gifts from individuals and annual giving. Institutions also continue to be largely confident in their abilities to meet these strategic needs; (2) A lack of staff resources remains a major challenge for advancement professionals. A lack of staff and financial resources continues to stand out as the top challenge to institutions achieving their strategic goals, and a lack of staff is also their top barrier to effectively using technology. These challenges persist amid shrinking staffs: The number of staff members in alumni relations and development departments is considerably reduced since 2010; (3) Advancement professionals continue to view technology as central to achieving their strategic vision, but they remain only moderately satisfied with both their ability to effectively leverage technology in general and with the specific tools they currently use; and (4) A lack of collaboration persists between advancement offices and other departments on campus, and nearly one-half of advancement professionals continue to agree that this lack of collaboration is a challenge. The following are appended: (1) List of participating institutions; (2) Verbatim responses to open-ended questions; and (3) Background information on survey sponsors. [For the 2010 report, see ED571327.]

In November 2010, Baltimore's Fund for Education Excellence and the Annie E. Casey Foundation approached the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) and requested a case study of the implementation of Baltimore City Public Schools' (City Schools) portfolio strategy. These local foundations were interested in understanding how the district reform work, spearheaded by schools CEO Dr. Andres Alonso, aligned with CRPE's definition of the portfolio strategy. Through prior extensive field research, CRPE had a deep understanding of the implementation of the portfolio strategy in districts across the country, including those in Chicago, Denver, Hartford, New Orleans, New York, and Washington, D.C. The foundations were interested in learning how Baltimore's work compared to the approaches taken in these other districts. Under CEO Dr. Andres Alonso, Baltimore City Public Schools has boldly embraced several components of the portfolio strategy. Baltimore should be considered a national example of a district that encourages and supports a robust diversity of school types and providers. District messaging to the community via its "Great Schools, Great Kids" campaign as well as its "Expanding Great Options" policy make it clear that high-quality schools are valued and that children are not to blame if they fail. The introduction of a higher level of accountability to schools via student-based budgeting and other policy levers has helped fuel a dramatic shift in district and school culture. The district has also aggressively closed failing schools, engaged parents and community organizations (including by encouraging their input on new models of schools), spread principal autonomy to all schools, introduced pupil-based funding, and expanded citywide choice to middle school students. This report concludes with detailed recommendations covering three policy areas--school closure, autonomy, and accountability--that are believed to be critical for City Schools if it hopes to more fully adopt a portfolio strategy. In brief, these recommendations include: (1) School closure--(a) Develop a clear set of accountability metrics that drive school closure and charter revocation or non-renewal decisions; (b) Consistently and regularly communicate to schools and to the community how the district makes closure decisions; (c) Improve the timing of school closure announcements so that children in a school slated for closure can participate in the choice process; (d) Ensure enough high-quality seats to satisfy student need; (2) Autonomy--(a) Keep consistent all messaging from all district offices regarding school-level autonomy; and (3) Accountability--(a) Better define and communicate expectations for schools; (b) Consider accountability systems that are outcome-focused and are open to any instructional methods provided they produce student achievement growth. While there are other presenting challenges, these three are tightly interwoven, and progress in resolving them would move the district dramatically ahead in its efforts to ensure a high-quality education for all of its students, as well as maintain its national reputation for embracing a bold and, to date, highly successful reform strategy. (Contains 1 table, 1 figure and 7 footnotes.) [Additional funding for this paper was provided by Baltimore's Fund for Education Excellence.]

How can schools secure volunteers to help fix up the building and grounds? There isn't much research on how to secure volunteers to participate in school clean-ups and fix-ups, but some key ideas can be found in anecdotal examples from many communities around the nation. The first recommendation is that securing volunteers is easier when the school has a solid, active community relations program in place. If people are familiar with the school and its mission, they are more likely to volunteer when the call goes out for help. Secondly, people are more likely to volunteer if asked to do something specific. Finally, communicating with key groups is likely to build support within the group (e.g., alumni, churches, local businesses, service clubs) to help out. That makes the school an integral part of their public service agenda, and usually puts their volunteer efforts at the school's disposal. A list of resources is included.

A prevailing notion among higher education leaders is that public relations and marketing efforts must be intensified to boost legislative support for colleges and universities. However, this view fails to consider whether the academy might increase its standing among legislators and the general public by becoming more productively engaged in state problems. By embracing the principles of public engagement, universities could position themselves as solutions to problems and leverage public and private support for research, teaching, and service in relation to public interests. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 16 notes.)

This white paper reports on a study exploring the views of chief fundraising executives at private colleges and universities about the relationship between public relations and fundraising. The research focused on how fundraising executives define public relations and use public relations tactics and strategies within their institutions' fundraising operations. In addition, fundraising executives were asked about what essential skills and training or academic degrees a fundraiser would need to be successful. The study was designed to explore how strategic public relations is at the core of successful fundraising operations and whether future fundraisers should consider selecting an academic path in public relations to prepare for the profession. The research also focused on the fundraising profession overall and whether having an identified academic base deeply linked in related theories and methodologies would aid the profession in terms of its reputation and credibility. the interview questionnaire is appended.

This research explores the role of "advancement-enabling" technology in helping institutions meet their development and alumni relations goals. It includes data on how technology is being used, barriers to effective use of technology, and strategies for effective deployment of technology. The report is based on data provided by 357 advancement staff in higher education institutions and independent schools. Isurus Market Research and Consulting analyzed the data for CASE and SunGard Higher Education, which fielded the survey. Appended are: (1) Verbatim responses to open-ended questions; (2) Survey document; and (3) Background information on survey sponsors & research company. [This report was prepared for SunGard Higher Education and CASE by Isurus Market Research and Consulting.]

Given the prevalence of alcohol and other drug abuse and violence on campuses and in communities, programs and coalitions developed to prevent or intervene in these problems are faced with a challenging and long-term task. While the development of coalitions or campus-based prevention programs is a healthy start, these efforts must be sustained over time to have a truly lasting effect. Sustainability can seem a daunting task in the midst of implementing programs or mobilizing a coalition; however, by incorporating sustainability into all aspects of prevention efforts (assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation), it becomes an achievable goal. This emphasis on sustainability will actually strengthen prevention efforts from the beginning. This publication is organized into two basic sections. The first emphasizes the need to include sustainability in assessment, planning, and evaluation. The final section focuses on mechanisms for developing and promoting sustainable programs and coalitions. Each aspect plays a role in overall sustainability. This paper presents suggestions for program and coalition sustainability that have been synthesized from publications, Web sites, and personal experiences shared by colleagues across the country. (Contains 3 resources.)

This article reports on the results of a two-year project to strengthen and enhance alumni relations programmes at European universities. Members of the "Alumni go Europe" partnership include CASE Europe, the University of Linz in Austria, the University of Navarra in Spain, and the University of Siegen in Germany. The project is funded as part of the European Commission's Lifelong Learning programme. The report, which is available at no cost, features proven ideas and suggestions as well as group findings for alumni relations practitioners, especially those who are new to the field. A few examples of lessons learned in the report include: (1) Working with volunteers and students to help alumni relations practitioners support the activity; (2) Organizing fewer, more focused events each year. Concentrate on running those events which have good attendance levels; (3) Organizing low-cost events where possible by sharing costs with other departments; and (4) Being targeted and realistic about what you can do when it comes to online communications-don't follow every new trend just for the sake of it. From 2008 to 2010, alumni relations practitioners with the University of Linz in Austria, the University of Navarra in Spain, and the University of Siegen in Germany met with CASE Europe staff in seven European cities to discuss ways to strengthen alumni programmes and networking between institutions. UK colleagues from the Universities of Birmingham, Liverpool, Reading, University College London, Birkbeck, and the School of Oriental and African Studies also participated in the project.

Today's engineering graduates will solve tomorrow's problems in a world that is advancing faster and facing more critical challenges than ever before. This situation creates significant demand for engineering education to evolve in order to effectively prepare a diverse community of engineers for these challenges. Such concerns have led to the publication of visionary reports that help orient the work of those committed to the success of engineering education. Research in engineering education is central to "all" of these visions. Research on the student experience is fundamental to informing the evolution of engineering education. A broad understanding of the engineering student experience involves thinking about diverse academic pathways, navigation of these pathways, and decision points--how students choose engineering programs, navigate through their programs, and then move on to jobs and careers. Further, looking at students' experiences broadly entails not just thinking about their learning (i.e., skill and knowledge development in both technical and professional areas) but also their motivation, their identification with engineering, their confidence, and their choices after graduation. However, an understanding of the engineering student experience is clearly not enough to create innovation in engineering education. Educators who are capable of using the research on the student experience are needed. This involves not only preparing tomorrow's educators with conceptions of teaching that enable innovation but also understanding how today's educators make teaching decisions. The nation also needs to be concerned about creating the capacity to do such research--in short, more researchers are needed. One promising approach is to work with educators who are interested in engaging in research, supporting them as they negotiate the space between their current activities and their new work in engineering education research. To fully support this process, the nation must also investigate what is required for educators to engage in such a path. The Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE) began research in January 2003 as one of two national higher-education Centers for Teaching and Learning funded by the National Science Foundation that year. Originally funded for 2003-2007, supplementary funds from the Engineering Directorate allowed additional analysis and dissemination to continue through 2010. This report describes the work of CAEE. The authors summarize CAEE's findings and outcomes, followed by highlights from their efforts to disseminate the results, including a set of research instruments and other materials that are available for use by others. The authors conclude with a look ahead at next steps and some questions for future research. Appended are: (1) References and Cumulative Bibliography; (2) Cumulative Team List and Advisory Board Members; (3) APS Headlines; (4) Local Inquiry Questions; (5) Looking Ahead: Ideas for Future Research. (Contains 26 figures and 10 tables.)

Since 2005, the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE), with generous funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, has been conducting research to understand the needs and practices of faculty for in-progress scholarly communication (i.e., forms of communication employed as research is being executed) as well as archival publication. This report brings together the responses of 160 interviewees across 45, mostly elite, research institutions in seven selected academic fields: archaeology, astrophysics, biology, economics, history, music, and political science. The overview document summarizes the main practices we explored across all seven disciplines: tenure and promotion, dissemination, sharing, collaboration, resource creation and consumption, and public engagement. We published the report online in such a way that readers can search various topics within and across case studies. Our premise has always been that disciplinary conventions matter and that social realities (and individual personality) will dictate how new practices, including those under the rubric of Web 2.0 or cyberinfrastructure, are adopted by scholars. That is, the academic values embodied in disciplinary cultures, as well as the interests of individual players, have to be considered when envisioning new schemata for the communication of scholarship at its various stages. We identified five key topics, addressed in detail in the case studies, that require real attention: (1) The development of more nuanced tenure and promotion practices that do not rely exclusively on the imprimatur of the publication or easily gamed citation metrics, (2) A reexamination of the locus, mechanisms, timing, and meaning of peer review, (3) Competitive, high-quality, and affordable journals and monograph publishing platforms (with strong editorial boards, peer review, and sustainable business models), (4) New models of publication that can accommodate arguments of varied length, rich media, and embedded links to data; plus institutional assistance to manage permissions of copyrighted material, and (5) Support for managing and preserving new research methods and products, including components of natural language processing, visualization, complex distributed databases, and GIS, among many others. Although robust infrastructures are needed locally and beyond, the sheer diversity of scholars' needs across the disciplines and the rapid evolution of the technologies themselves means that one-size-fits-all solutions will almost always fall short. As faculty continue to innovate and pursue new avenues in their research, both the technical and human infrastructure will have to evolve with the ever-shifting needs of scholars. This infrastructure will, by necessity, be built within the context of disciplinary conventions, reward systems, and the practice of peer review, all of which undergird the growth and evolution of superlative academic endeavors. Individual chapters contain relevant literature and links. (Contains 104 footnotes.)

Crisis management, or crisis communication, is never a good thing for a business to experience. It is, however, a public relations' professional moment to shine and put their honed skills to good use. A good crisis management plan is not only action during the crisis but preparation and reflection. Hiring a PR firm that deals with crisis management DURING a crisis is less advisable for all concerned, and can be very costly, for you should already be prepared, and have a plan in place, before a crisis occurs. Time is always of the essence during a crisis, so preparation is a must. If you are prepared to deal with a crisis, using proven methods based on prior case studies, accompanied by effective training, you can successfully maneuver through a crisis. This lesson will prepare you to do so, and will give you the confidence and correct techniques to not only succeed but excel. (Contains 7 graphics.)

The search continues for effective ways to educate disadvantaged children in big cities. Different cities have tried varied approaches--intensive work on the professional skills of teachers and administrators in Boston, standardized approaches to instruction in San Diego, and extensive use of vouchers and chartering in Washington, D.C., and Milwaukee. Though some school districts have shown flexibility, government and education sector leaders in some cities have become convinced that they must look outside the traditional boundaries of the district for new ideas, talent, and learning opportunities. While also trying to strengthen existing public schools, leaders in several cities, including New York, Chicago, New Orleans, and the District of Columbia, have adopted a "portfolio strategy". The essence of a portfolio strategy is the provision of public education by multiple means. Districts pursuing a portfolio strategy (portfolio districts) sponsor some schools operated by district employees in the traditional way, and others operated by independent organizations and run under new rules. District and community leaders in cities adopting a portfolio strategy (presently including New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Denver, Philadelphia, Hartford, and the District of Columbia, among others) must search for answers to questions that have seldom been asked in American public education: (1) How do they know whether a given school or initiative is likely to succeed or fail?; (2) When do they shore up a struggling school or abandon it?; (3) How do they avoid being stuck with no option other than to continue supporting a school in which children are not learning?; and (4) How do they make sure students are not hurt by closing a school or replacing one school provider with another? This paper is the first to offer answers to these questions. The authors hoped to mine the experiences of other organizations that have developed the capacity to oversee diverse portfolios of service providers, and to apply lessons learned to the challenges districts face as they adopt portfolio-based strategies. While acknowledging that public education is unique in many ways, the project tried to use the practices evident in other organizations as sources of ideas, and it applies them to education cautiously. Subsequent papers, based on a recently funded national study of districts pursuing portfolio strategies, will provide detailed examples of data systems, analytical methods, and decisionmaking processes. These papers will be available in late 2010. "Managing School Performance" Working Paper Series are appended. (Contains 4 tables and 24 footnotes.)

The adoption of problem-based learning as a teaching method in the advertising and public relations programs offered by the Business TAFE (Technical and Further Education) School at RMIT University is explored in this paper. The effect of problem-based learning on student engagement, student learning and contextualised problem-solving was investigated and it was found that students perceive problem-based learning to be beneficial. Several success factors for this approach are also identified. The research for this paper was undertaken by a novice researcher in the Community of Practice scholarship program, a program funded through the National Centre for Vocational Education Research's (NCVER) Building Researcher Capacity initiative. Three appendices are included: (1) Research methods; (2) the first questionnaire used for Student Engagement Survey 2008; and (3) the second questionnaire used for Student Engagement Survey 2008. (Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.)

Based on document analysis and 40 interviews with Roundtable participants and other stakeholders across North Dakota, this report assesses the factors that enabled the North Dakota Higher Education Roundtable vision to be sustained for more than seven years, identifies obstacles encountered during the sustainability process, and provides suggestions to help other states build and eventually sustain their own public agenda. Appended are: (A) Study Methods; (B) North Dakota Higher Education Prior to the Roundtable; and (C) Media Relations Strategies. (Contains 45 endnotes.)