Enrollments, test scores, employment--all down. A grim picture for teacher training programs and people attracted to the field. But there are some signs of revitalization. (Editor)

This article discusses using performance based assessment in the social studies classroom. The intent is to show how performance assessment in a social studies classroom can be the basis for providing integrated social science instruction using state standards to address student academic diversity. Elements of classroom performance assessments are…

This article recounts the battle in the "math wars" that took place in Massachusetts, United States in 1999-2000 over the scope, content and teaching of the state's K-12 mathematics curriculum. Harsh controversies arose between the partisans of a "reform-math" movement stressing an undefined "conceptual understanding"…

Standards-based systems generally require students to meet the performance level specified in order to proceed or be certified. This issue of the Oregon School Study Council (OSSC) Bulletin surveys the types of standards currently being proposed. After an introductory chapter, chapter 2 describes eight components of standards, illustrated with a…

Highlights of Public Law 103-227 (Goals 2000: Educate America Act) are presented. Contents include: a summary of how this Act will provide a framework for meeting the national education goals for all students, including those with disabilities; selected definitions of terms used in the legislation; and objectives of the eight national education…

This paper provides an account of individual and collective academic values under the pressure of government policy for social equity in selective admissions at one Australian university. A survey of faculty (N=93) from Law, Social Work, Science, and Architecture identified their goals related to the goals of the university and fairness in…

Accreditation receives much emphasis in our educational systems and it forms a significant element in both institutional and programmatic accountability and credibility. Numerous agencies and associations in addition to national institutional accrediting agencies are recognized as accrediting bodies. The accrediting bodies establish accreditation…

Based on a review of research and literature on student academic performance, provides an overview of the state of basic skills (developmental) instruction in the two-year college. Discusses the characteristics of successful basic skills programs. (DMM)

This report addresses the relationship between state content standards and assessments and the essential components of effective reading instruction. The extent to which the essential components are addressed in the standards and assessments indicates the extent to which states have integrated the essential components into their reading…

This study examines the process through which the Commission on Public Secondary Schools of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC/CPSS) accredits the public high schools of New England. The commission is one of five that compose the association. Recent efforts of government agencies to hold schools accountable by testing…

Rural schools that reorganize themselves as genuine learning communities can develop and maintain a professional development process that benefits staff and students. Key components of a learning community are trust, respect, and collegiality. In schools that have become learning communities, teams of educators work collaboratively in structures…

A qualitative study was undertaken to create lesson plans that integrate science and social studies with the hope that teachers will expand them and incorporate them into their curricula. An instructional package of lesson plans that teachers can use to integrate the science and social studies curriculum was devised. The "Mississippi State…

This paper begins with the following quote from Michel Foucault: "People know what they do; they frequently know why they do what they do; but what they don't know is what what they do does." The context of the paper and the policy directions considered encompass the past decade and take the National Curriculum as an intervention in…

Recommendations of the National Commission on Excellence in Education are reviewed. The appropriate place of various subjects in the curriculum, the possibility of a longer school year, and alternative means of paying teachers are also considered. (PP)

Discusses education in contemporary China, with emphasis on educating working class intellectuals, instituting basic compulsory schooling, centralizing educational policy, and raising academic standards. Journal availability: Comparative and International Education Society of Canada, Althouse College, University of Western Ontario, London, On, N6G…