This article address the falsehoods regarding No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top legislation, the educational reformers' stance that schools are failing, the privatization movement in education, and the issues of technology in the schools. The importance of poverty is emphasized, although policymakers ignore it and advocate school choice as…

When asked to address the challenges faced by teacher education in an increasingly global society, the author answers only from her place-based perspective: she teaches in a Southern, conservative, primarily rural state where Whites outnumber Blacks two to one and where nearly 20% of the population falls below the poverty line. Although there are…

Six suggestions for improving education in the country are offered. The case is made first that unless children's health care is improved, educational achievement among the poor will not improve. The second point is that poverty limits school achievement as well. Without work on these two issues, neither the nation nor the nation's schools will be…

Argues that "A Nation at Risk" failed to address adequately problems of urban education, and thus the achievement gap between minority and white students still exists. Describes several problems that still plague low-performing urban schools, such as bureaucratic aversion to change, high levels of poverty, and low teacher quality and…

Neglected children need teachers who are not judgmental, moralistic, or easily shocked; who listen, understand, and recognize their own fears and prejudices; and who enjoy interacting with children and define their work as eliciting effort and growth. (SK)

This keynote address focuses on equity in science and mathematics education. The science and math achievement of minority and poor children are discussed from an instructional policy perspective with emphasis on who gets access to what knowledge. The discussion about the politics of knowledge acquisition involves a discussion of race, class, and…

This interview with Billy Tidwell, Director of Research at the National Urban League, discusses contemporary issues in education, training, and urban development, beginning with an overview of educational reform. Minority education and the role of the National Urban League are considered in light of social problems that affect the ability to learn…

In the middle of the 20th century, job training was largely unnecessary, since workers were desperately needed to labor in manufacturing and construction jobs. Skills were learned on the job, and even a high school diploma was not needed for most occupations. Workers received wages that allowed them to raise a family comfortably and then to retire…

This paper examines Kate Walsh's Abell Foundation report, which purports to prove there is no credible research supporting the use of teacher certification as a regulatory barrier to teaching and argues against reforms that would strengthen incentives to bring qualified teaches to inner city schools. This paper discusses inaccuracies in Walsh's…

Wisconsin's welfare reform program, which is called Wisconsin Works or W-2, emphasizes work over education. Wisconsin's welfare reform policy caused the numbers of Wisconsin welfare recipients attending college to shrink by thousands in the mid-1990s. In contrast, increasing numbers of states are coming to realize how much flexibility they really…