Parents, lawmakers, supervisors, and unions are among the many constituencies that demand influence, if not control, of the educational process. How does the school administrator balance all the needs of the various groups and still remain true to the ultimate, though most powerless constituency-the students? Through case studies and anecdotes…

This book examines the reactions of schools in Massachusetts and California to policies that sought to persuade schools to abandon or reduce tracking--the practice of grouping students into classes by ability and organizing curriculum by level of difficulty. The text is divided into 8 chapters: (1) "Implementing Tracking Reform," which…

This book argues that the shape of American education in the twentieth century, its forms, functions, and contradictions, is related to the problems associated with American diversity, and that understanding the role that schools have come to play in society requires an examination of the history of the education of outsiders. Several minority…

This book examines concepts of institutional mission in the context of British further and higher education (F/HE), especially in incorporated further education and "mixed economy" F/HE establishments previously under local education authority control. It urges adoption of participative methods of mission establishment, procedures for…

This book follows the debates over Asian-American admissions at Berkeley University (California), the University of California at Los Angeles, Brown University in Providence (Rhode Island), Stanford University (California), Harvard University in Cambridge (Massachusetts), and Princeton University (New Jersey). The book explores important…

This book addresses the issue of angry campus confrontations over issues of race, gender, and ethnicity, and more broadly, the dilemma of the college's and university's ability and desire to attain the goals of liberal education while also desiring to be "politically correct." It is noted that student activists have split the university…

This volume offers the analysis and suggestions for reform of leading educational experts on the topic of education in the inner cities. An introduction provides an overview of the problems of American education and a proposed solution: educational choice. The 12 chapters are as follows: (1) "The Public School Monopoly: America's Berlin…

This book uses an examination of admissions policies, especially affirmative action, at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), to explore higher education and its role in public debates about access, equality, and social change. Chapter 1, "The Admissions Furor: Battle Cries or More Confusion?" casts the personal side of…

This book explores factors that contribute to antisocial behavior among students and reviews the literature on preventing and responding to antisocial behavior. Chapter 1, "A Culture of Violence," links the widespread perception that school violence is increasing to a broader culture of violence. Schools are increasingly turning to…

This critique of higher education makes the case that the decline of America's colleges and universities is directly related to the trend toward research and away from teaching. The book claims that: (1) the "publish or perish" dictum generates useless research and articles, while leading professors away from their students in the pursuit of…