There is a pantheon of literature and popular panic pointing toward the academic ascent of girls and the decline of boys. On the contrary, the reality is different: Boys are learning and succeeding in many places. Two studies find that the places where boys excel have several common characteristics, including teachers who relate to the boys…

In the United States, we tend to assume that young people should become educated and then go to work, as though the two were entirely separate stages of life. This dichotomy blinds us to the fact that work itself can be a powerful means of education-giving students opportunities to apply academic subject matter to real-world problems, and pushing…

For young people in the United States, whatever their backgrounds, one of the essential purposes of schooling should be to help them develop the knowledge, skills, and competence needed to search for and obtain work that they find at least reasonably satisfying. Our present educational system does precious little to introduce young people to the…

In the United States, we tend to assume that young people should become educated and then go to work, as though the two were entirely separate stages of life. This dichotomy blinds us to the fact that work itself can be a powerful means of education. Indeed, the workplace is where many young people become most engaged in learning high-level skills…

In comparing one public school to another, discussions frequently include talk concerning the socio economics of a school or district, which then leads to talk about the advantages that one socioeconomic setting has over another. Educators tend to agree that low academic achievement frequently associated with a low socioeconomic status is a…

House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities unanimously expressed concern for the growing trend in cyberbullying during a hearing last June 24. The event, which featured National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) board member Barbara-Jane Paris and other witnesses, including TV personality Dr. Phil…

The high school dropout crisis in diverse urban communities in the United States is evidence of an endemic disengagement from formal education. The project on which this essay reports utilized visual sociology methods to explore city students' perceptions of schools' purposes, as well as the supports for and impediments to their school success.…

A veteran teacher with over 35 years experience, the author reflects on the events of September 11, 2001, and how the events of that day demonstrated that teachers fulfill many shifting roles in their students' lives. Here, he shares his own feelings of profound sadness for all the victims on that day, and discusses how the roles of teachers often…

An estimated 370,000 schoolchildren were displaced last year by Hurricane Katrina, the worst natural disaster ever to strike the United States. One year after, hundreds of thousands of these displaced students remain scattered in schools across the nation. In Houston, which has the largest concentration of evacuees, two schools continue helping…

Each of the articles included in this issue launched the author backward into nostalgia and reconsideration of her own work as they motivated her to ask new questions in current and future studies. The author's goal, therefore, is not to provide a linear road map through the articles but to point to themes and ideas that run through the project…

Although there has been much interest in the United States about Japanese education, few studies have examined the Japanese school system from the teachers' perspective. This study investigated 143 Japanese and 386 U.S. high school teachers' attitudes concerning their work conditions, roles and responsibilities, and work experiences. An…

Discusses findings based on studies of lower secondary school aged children in Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Compares and contrasts the curriculum, school organization, teacher roles, and student achievement problems in these countries. Offers perspectives on what is needed for comprehensive lower secondary schooling.…

Exploring the relationship between generic skills (sometimes called employability skills) and career and technical education (CTE) requires asking these three questions: Are such skills taught in CTE? Can they be taught? Do employers value them over technical skills. A literature review of 14 books, reports, and journal articles concludes that…

The Commissioner of Education's introduction in volume 1 provides data and discussion on school and college total enrollment, common schools, average schooling amount per U.S. inhabitant, British India's public schools, truant schools, Puerto Rican schools, U.S. educational extension, sociology and education at the Paris Exposition, introduction…