In January 1991 the Federal Minister of Employment and Immigration announced the establishment of the Canadian Labour Force Development Board (CLFDB) as Canada's national training board. Training boards at the provincial and local levels are still in the developmental stage. The lack of a national coordinating mechanism for all aspects of training…

This essay presents an overview of the past 25 years of collective bargaining in American public education. Drawing distinctions between compensation and noncompensation issues, the essay addresses the issue of striking a balance between the interests of organized teachers and the educational interests of their communities, and it incorporates…

This paper examines formal goal statements for education systems from 43 states to determine the overall context of such statements, governance of education goals, and goals related directly to students and learning. Context is explored by determining who is responsible for developing goal statements, the reasons for articulating education goals,…

In 2004, Edvantia, Inc. (formerly AEL) and the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) initiated an effort to identify successful strategies for recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers in rural areas. They reviewed non-rural-specific and rural-specific research and practice literature, surveyed rural superintendents…

This Digest examines school districts' efforts to reap the greatest benefit from smaller classes. Although the report discusses teaching strategies that are most effective in small classes, research has shown that teachers do not significantly change their teaching practices when they move from larger to smaller classes. Smaller classes mean…

Reviews court cases concerning student press rights. Argues that many problems that have arisen over publications could have been avoided by administrators and school boards if only they had been willing to work with students within the framework of the First Amendment. (FL)

Examines the extent and nature of social bias in the recruitment of school board members. Concludes that board members of both races tend to have family origins that are generally of higher socioeconomic status than those of the corresponding adult public, and that they have achieved more upward social mobility than their respective general adult…

Court litigation, state legislation, school board policy, and public opinion clash over sex education in public schools. However, rising teen pregnancy rates and AIDS make the availability of uncensored health and sex information in schools a necessity. (SK)

This brief paper suggests that state leaders create charter districts in which all or most schools are charter or contract schools. Such districts, according to the paper, would help policymakers create school systems that focus on student achievement and provide high-quality choices to students and parents. The paper examines why charter…

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"…

As charter schools continue to gain momentum, trends are becoming visible. Some of the issues surrounding this reform movement are discussed in this policy brief. It examines charter schools in 12 states, offering an overview of what these schools are and how they work. Of the myriad forms that have emerged, their strength or weakness is…

This report reviews the seven times that the courts have considered the question of whether school boards can remove books from school libraries. Because the first and the three most recent cases upheld the rights of boards, while the other three cases were won by plaintiffs who had filed their cases against the boards, the differences in the…

Adopting a wellness program for school personnel can reduce health insurance costs, workman's compensation insurance costs, absenteeism, and staff turnover while improving productivity and morale. Wellness programs focus on improving health and reducing the risk and impact of disease rather than on curing illnesses already contracted. Successful…

Reflecting widespread unhappiness with the growing tax burdens in this country, the most active area of litigation reported in the property chapter this year involves various attempts by taxpayers to prevent the construction or remodeling of public school facilities. While some taxpayers fought to keep schools from being built, others in New York…

The central purpose of this paper is to describe the origins, assumptions, approaches, and problems of the major evaluation efforts relating to vocational education specified in the Educational Amendments of 1976. The first of five chapters provides background information on vocational education, evaluation, and the Education Amendments of 1976.…