The article analyzes the content of college viewbooks, which are designed to entice students to enroll in the universities that they represent. Viewbooks are considered a very important medium by which institutions communicate with prospective students. The authors look at the content of a wide variety of college viewbooks, examining common themes, the ways in which themes vary by institutional type and control, and what messages are communicated to students about the academic purposes of higher education.Viewbooks are an important medium for enticing students to apply to colleges. But what messages are conveyed in them? This study offers an in-depth examination of 48 viewbooks using content analysis. The findings point to the predominance of a highly privatized conception of a college education.
In an attempt to better understand patterns of academic drift in higher education and to demonstrate the usefulness of institutional theory as a lens through which to use these patterns, the authors examine patterns of drift in multiple higher education systems and test the concept of "isomorphism in organizational fields", as discussed in institutional theory. The authors argue that the theoretical framework provided by institutional theory presents a useful lens through which to examine and to explain why academic drift occurs in higher education systems.
The sudden closure of kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) schools nationwide this spring likely helped to avert a medical catastrophe from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This decisive step, however, is castingalongshadow.BythetimetheschoolyearendsinJune, more than 55 million US children will have missed months of in-class instruction. 1 The educational effect to date represents only one dimension of the harm to children. More than 20 million children rely on school breakfast or lunch; surveys now indicate that 1 in 5 mothers with children younger than 12 years old report that their children are going hungry. 2 Millions of children have lost access to health services through school-based health centers. There are major divides by race/ethnicity, geography, and economic class in access to home computers and high-speed internet. 3 When prolonged school closures are combined with summer break, some children may to fall behind normal academic growth by as much as a year in mathematics. 4 The "COVID slide" will likely be greatest among those students who are already at educational and social risk. Children with significant learning disabilities may regress without in-person instruction. In addition, school Reopening schools this fall is an urgent national priority.
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