This research provides the results of a random survey, administered in 2001, of 128 community college instructional leaders. Respondents rated 48 skills and areas of expertise in effectively fulfilling community college instructional leadership roles. Survey results also suggest respondents recommend a different emphasis in doctoral coursework than they experienced in their doctoral programs of study.
This study examines the effectiveness of Big Decisions, a sexuality curriculum developed to promote abstinence, as well as condom and contraceptive use, while overcoming school districts' concern about controversy surrounding sex education. The authors used a pre- and post-test survey design to measure changes in attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavioral intentions regarding sex, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and condom use. The sample for this analysis included 788 inner-city 9th-grade students, the majority of which (78.4%) were Hispanic. Pre- to posttest data comparisons demonstrated improvement in mean scores for each item, with statistically significant changes for 11 of the 12 items measured. The male participants' pretest responses reflected higher risk status than did those of female participants. A large majority (87.8%) of students rated the program as "great" or "good". The results suggest that Big Decisions provides a promising approach to reaching minority students with both abstinence and risk-reduction messages.
The mass media's role in shaping public policy remains the focus of
intensive research among political science and communication
scholars. Yet virtually nothing is known about media coverage of
state higher education policy making. Using mass communication
theory, this study analyzes press coverage of an appropriations
conflict between two nationally prominent universities. Its purpose
was to determine whether newspapers give preferential treatment to
their local universities, ultimately producing bias in their coverage of
higher education.
In 1997, the state of South Dakota instituted an incentive program to reward institutions for performance related to state policy priorities. The program had a specified starting and ending point, running its course in 2002. This program provides a unique opportunity to study the connection between higher education policy and performance, an issue of central concern in most states as they try to maximize their use of existing state resources. The analysis uses literature and concepts from existing higher education studies as a guide to conduct the case study. The article outlines those areas where policy was most strongly connected to performance and speculates on why other areas may not have yielded such a link.
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