Issues of access and excellence: New faculty expectations and evaluations

People who become educational leadership professors usually come to their new occupation with a range of skills and experiences. Most doctoral preparation programs in educational leadership however do not always prepare future faculty members to address conflicts that arise when the actual roles and responsibilities of the new faculty member conflict with either their own and values or the institutions\u27 norms, values, or mission. This case is an opportunity to consider how new faculty prepare for entrance into the professoriate. This case guides the reader through an exploration of faculty expectations of their students and themselves and how to plan student evaluations given students\u27 characteristics in the context and the culture of the institution. Future faculty members can benefit from a thoughtful consideration of themselves and how their expectations for themselves and their students affect the teaching and learning process

Faculty fear: The misalignment of faculty rewards and universitycommunity partnerships

This study examined how science and mathematics university faculty at a Hispanic-serving Institution were engaged in the preparation of future and current schoolteachers. The science and math faculty participation in teacher education was part of a grant from the National Science Foundation. Results indicate that science and math faculty are eager to participate in teacher education activities but are concerned that their participation will adversely affect tenure and promotion decisions

The value of connecting research and practice

This study examined the attitudes of undergraduate teacher education majors and education faculty about the value of connecting educational research and practice in the university and in K-12 schools. Seventeen students and ten faculty participated in the study. The findings indicate that many participants think educational practice and research are typically conducted in isolation of each other

The Other Population Crisis

In many developed countries, population decline poses economic and social strains and may even threaten national security. Through historical-political case studies of Sweden, France, Italy, Japan, and Singapore, The Other Population Crisis explores the motivations, politics, programming, and consequences of national efforts to promote births. Steven Philip Kramer finds a significant government role in stopping declines in birth rates. Sweden’s and France’s pro-natalist programs, which have succeeded, share the characteristics of being universal, not means-tested, and based on gender equality and making it easy for women to balance work and family. The programs in Italy, Japan, and Singapore, which have failed so far, have not devoted sufficient resources consistently enough to make a difference and do not support gender equality and women’s work-family balance, Kramer finds

Creating student outcomes assessment and program review dashboards: Does stakeholder context matter?

Accountability in higher education is an increasing high stakes activity. The demand continues by both internal and external stakeholders of postsecondary education for demonstrable evidence that students are learning and that professors are having an effect on student learning. The use of dashboards in higher education—a concept borrowed from the business world—grows daily. In higher education, dashboards are being used as tracking tools from the departmental to the institutional level to monitor performance and support data-informed decision-making. The term “dashboard” refers to a scorecard data display using indicators to present the status of key performance indicators, often including some kind of formative or summative performance evaluations. This roundtable discussion will engage participants in a case study analysis of key stakeholders involved in creating institutional dashboards for student outcomes assessment and disciplinary program review at two private liberal arts institutions in central Minnesota. The case study explores how the various contexts of the faculty, the administration, and members of the boards influenced the creation and use of institutional dashboards. Participants will consider how they can bring lessons learned back to their campuses to better understand the homogeneous and heterogeneous nature of different stakeholder contexts in creating a measure of institutional effectiveness