Discusses the attempt, during China's Cultural Revolution (1968-1976), to sever links between school performance, often dependent on social class, and admission to higher education and resulting upward mobility. Most students then felt it useless to study because success or failure at school work had no bearing on their future. (MH)

The origins, history, and final demise of discriminatory admissions policies at Harvard, Princeton and Yale are examined. It is reported that by the early 1920's the Big Three racial and religious quotas were fully operative in response to the influx of Jews, Catholics, and other new groups that threatened the hegemony of the old-stock Americans…

In this review of college admission practices, four areas are analyzed: (1) changing patterns of admission standards and practices and factors that have influenced those changes during the past 25 years; (2) importance assigned to high school achievement, test scores, and other criteria in arriving at admission decisions; (3) influence of college…

This essay reviews research pertaining to the relative merits and drawbacks of expanding family choice in public education. A primary objective is to identify and explore tensions among competing objectives in the design of expanded choice systems. After an introductory section on goals and definitions, the second section explores how more family…

Chinese history is outlined, modern developments briefly described and compared to events in Japan, and the development of the formal education system covered. Universalized educational opportunity and hierarchies in the school system are discussed as well as the school system in general and teacher education programs. (MH)

(Purpose) This report summarizes a synthesis of the literature related to the evidence, initiatives and approaches to rural/northern medical education, particularly its role in strengthening the medical workforce in rural areas. (Methodology) A literature review was conducted involving the literature databases MEDLINE (January 1990-March 2003),…

In the eyes of much of the academic establishment, William Bowen and Derek Bok's "The Shape of the River" is the definitive defense of affirmative action. Released in 1998, this book, which was also sponsored by the Mellon Foundation, claimed that racial preferences at America's elite universities were crucial to the growth and maintenance of a…

The conditions and experiences of black students in higher education in the 1970s are addressed in 27 essays. The essays are categorized in terms of: history and profile; admissions and access; enrollment, academic experience, and career choice; black higher educational survival; recruitment and retention; and structural policies. Among the…