Eminent historian and educator Larry Cuban provides a thorough examination of, and challenge to, past and present definitions of what constitutes educational success in the US. Cuban argues that in the history of American education, standards of achievement and inadequacy--as well as the reform efforts issuing from them--have been neither stable…

The job of superintendent is tough and demanding. Although conditions seem to be getting worse, the job has always been demanding because of its origins and its relationship with the board of education. As the job developed, dominant conceptions of leadership developed. The three dominant conceptions--teacher-scholar, administrative chief, and…

A tension has long existed between Americans' intense faith in education and the slow pace of changes in educational practices. Citizens have attempted to improve the future by arguing about how to improve youth through education, but actual school reforms have rarely matched expectations. Why this situation has occurred, and why such resistance…