After presenting an overview of metropolitan schools, described as not successful in providing an adequate education for economically disadvantaged students, the authors examine four critical issues: compensatory education, educational accountability, decentralization and community control, and desegregation. While compensatory education has not…

Designed for teachers and prospective teachers of English, this book briefly discusses the theoretical constructs of humanistic approaches to each aspect of English education in the secondary school and illustrates practical designs for humanistic learning which teach each aspect of the language arts and which are intended to draw the methods…

The federal government is prohibited by the constitution from intruding into educational matters; state governments also have been reluctant to do so. The government has had to depend on voluntary accrediting organizations as evaluators of educational quality. These organizations assess educational quality and encourage its improvement.…

This report sheds light on the use of contract teachers with a particular focus on Cambodia, Nicaragua and India--countries that have all relied on contract teachers at some point. The report documents the use of contract teachers in Cambodia, Nicaragua and India and outlines the experience of contract teachers in West Africa. It also discusses…

How can we fix America's floundering public schools? The conventional wisdom says that schools need a lot more money, that poor and immigrant children cannot do as well as most American kids, that high-stakes tests just produce teaching to the test, and that vouchers do little to help students while undermining our democracy. But what if the…

Contributors to this book were asked to organize their chapters around the following question: "What do you think it will take to redesign entire school systems for success in the 21st century?" The book is therefore about redesigning entire school districts. The subtheme that emerged in the chapters was redesigning school districts as organic…

The purpose of the school counseling program is to impart specific skills and learning opportunities through academic, career, and personal/social development experiences in a proactive and preventive manner for all students. This document presents national standards that can establish similar goals, expectations, support systems, and experiences…

This book examines the appropriateness and technical quality of teacher licensure tests currently in use, evaluating teacher licensure tests and examining the use of tests to hold states and institutions of higher education accountable for the quality of teacher preparation and licensure. It also suggests alternatives for developing and assessing…

This book addresses the complications and implications of parental involvement in education as a policy. It attempts to explain the origins, meanings, and effects of parental involvement as a requisite of schooling, and particularly as a policy solution for low achievement and even inequity in the American educational system. The four chapters…

This book explores a range of conceptual, methodological, and empirical issues concerned with the application of needs-based resource allocation in education via formula funding of schools. The notion of "needs-based formula funding" employed in this discussion refers to the impartial application of an agreed set of explicit rules to…

This book is devoted exclusively to the budgeting process in school districts, unlike the more common generic budgeting texts. As such, it allows an in-depth treatment of both conceptual and practical aspects of budgeting in a single volume. By default, school business officials have had to rely on the state education accounting manual as their…

Changes in assessment policy have resulted in a proliferation of testing in Canadian schools. Advocates claim that more testing will result in greater accountability, but this book states that there is little evidence to support standardized testing from a pedagogical perspective. It examines the effects of standardized testing on educational…

This book presents the results of a study that examined major changes in academic work in recent years and how staff in universities have experienced these changes, along with a discussion of how to increase learning at universities. Data were obtained from an international survey of 161 academic staff in Australia and the United Kingdom. Results…

This book is an easy-to-use guide for school boards in how to use data intelligently when evaluating student achievement, educational improvement, and school accountability. Its purpose is to encourage school boards to use data as a basis for their decision-making instead of speculation, perception, or limited observation. Board members can learn…

This book describes the growing involvement of lawyers in America's public schools in the past half century. It discusses comparatively what leading educators and lawyers believe to be the most important law-driven school reforms and examines these reform efforts from the perspectives of law, education, research, and practice. It also considers…