In "Challenging the One Best System," a team of leading education scholars offers a rich comparative analysis of the set of urban education governance reforms collectively known as the "portfolio management model." They investigate the degree to which this model--a system of schools operating under different types of governance…

In this provocative volume, Chester E. Finn, Jr., and Brandon L. Wright argue that, for decades, the United States has done too little to focus on educating students to achieve at high levels. The authors identify two core problems: First, compared to other countries, the United States does not produce enough high achievers. Second, students from…

Following a 2011 report by the National Research Council (NRC) on successful K-12 education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), Congress asked the National Science Foundation to identify methods for tracking progress toward the report's recommendations. In response, the NRC convened the Committee on an Evaluation Framework…

Public-private partnerships in education exist in various forms around the world, in both developed and developing countries. Despite this, and despite the importance of human capital for economic growth, systematic analysis has been limited and scattered, with most scholarly attention going to initiatives in the United States. This volume helps…

There are four types of capital: economic, human, cultural, and social. The distribution of capital in home and school settings affects the types of educational outcomes and the quality of lifelong opportunities that individuals are able to enjoy. Resource availability and accessibility influence the success levels at which teaching and learning…

Written by some of the foremost experts on rural America, this book focuses on policy-relevant research on the problems of rural areas. In each chapter, rural policy needs are identified by examining the flow of events and rural sociology of the 1980s. Chapters are: (1) "Critical Times for Rural America: The Challenge for Rural Policy in the…

This book examines predominantly rural regions of the United States that lag behind the rest of the country in income, employment, access to services, and measures of education and health. Case studies of nine regions examine historical background; current economic and social conditions (including demography, educational attainment, and…

This book is a critical analysis of the concept of self-determination as it has been developed in the federal government's American Indian social and educational policies since the 1950s. Analyses focus on the links between Indian educational policy and economic development concerns and on the ways in which the idealistic language of…

"Managing School Districts for High Performance" brings together more than twenty case studies and other readings that offer a powerful and transformative approach to advancing and sustaining the work of school improvement. At the center of this work is the concept of organizational coherence: aligning organizational design, human…

This book examines 1980s educational reforms and their consequences for the 1990s, focusing on the Australian Labor Party government's policy response to conditions of economic scarcity. The first section addresses the broader economic, social, political, and ideological context of educational reform under Australian Labor governments, compared to…

This book presents results of a European study into the changing role of human resource development (HRD). Chapter 1, "Introduction," describes the background, objectives, research questions, and underlying research project. Chapter 2, "Learning Organizations and HRD" (Saskia Tjepkema, Hilde ter Horst, Martin Mulder), discusses…

This book includes studies of globalization-related social changes in rural areas of the United States and other countries and implications of these studies for sociological theory. Although no chapter focuses exclusively on education, education-related themes include rural school dropouts and intergenerational poverty, the migration of rural…

The indigenous peoples of Latin America live in conditions of extreme poverty. This book uses empirical data from national survey sources to determine the extent of poverty among Latin American indigenous populations; to compare indigenous and nonindigenous populations with regard to socioeconomic status, living conditions, educational attainment,…

Since 1965, changes in the immigration law have altered the influx from abroad and transformed the nation, especially California. This book examines the fundamental transformation of the state's population, focusing on local outcomes in California communities. Chapters 1 and 2 discuss social and economic causes of immigration, types of migrants,…

This document examines competitiveness in the developing world. Chapters 1 through 3, which are largely conceptual, examine the following topics: the concept of competitiveness and why it is important; market-stimulating technology policies in developing countries, and the relationship between import liberalization and industrial performance.…