This paper explores how the idea of community control came about, what the concept is, and some implications it might have for communication practices in school systems. Social and political conditions which led to the idea of community control of education are reviewed. Particular attention is given to the dissatisfaction of minority groups and…

Two concepts have been confused: equality of opportunity and equality of ability, which has led us to link intellectual giftedness with elitism. This linkage undercuts the ability to nurture and benefit from the gifts of the gifted, an important issue in rural places experiencing either withering economies and loss of population or an influx of…

Briefly outlines five ways to ensure accountability: scrutinize student achievement, conduct surveys of teacher and community attitudes toward district performance, carefully review how funds are spent, ask administrators to look closely at programs, and evaluate administrators and teachers regularly. (Author/JM)

Discusses economic factors, personal attitudes, and racial discrimination as causes of residential segregation in Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana. Examines whether school board practices, such as gerrymandering of attendance zones, faculty segregation, use of optional attendance zones, and school construction and placement, have influenced…

Discusses the issue of gender equity in the schools from the perspective of a national values/community values distinction. An overview of the major U.S. Supreme Court decisions on sex discrimination issues is presented followed by a detailed analysis of the implementation of legal mandates regarding sex equity in program access, athletics, and…

In keeping with the State of Washington capital budget allocations for 1991-1993, and with provisions of the 1993-95 state budget proposal, the state Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) undertook a study to determine a preferred organizational model for the construction of a new community college to serve the north King and south Snohomish…

Assessors of literature learning have long been concerned with the issue of difficulty and the fundamental contradictions in the term "examination of literary understanding." An alternate view of literature is that although texts are finally indeterminate, a group of them has been set aside by communities as forming a part of the…

Surveys the textbook censorship picture over the past decade with particular attention to the activities of Tim LaHaye and Norma and Mel Gabler. Suggests 10 steps teachers can take to try and protect controversial texts from censorship. (RBW)

Discusses the history of school desegregation efforts in Chicago from the 1964 Civil Rights Act to the present. Suggests that the concept of "uniform incorporation" of all citizens in society is being replaced by the goal of "egalitarian pluralism" (Pierre van den Berghe's categories) by Chicago's Black and Hispanic leaders.…

This edited work brings several generations of Professor David Tyack's students and colleagues together to explore the purpose and structure of schooling for the common good. For most of the last century, school reformers have attempted to employ schools to solve nearly every social ill. Reforms since the 1980s have, in the main, emphasized using…

Examines the history of German language instruction in American elementary schools (focusing on four midwestern school districts) in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Highlights past administrative and political developments and issues that remain of concern for bilingual education programs today. (Author/MJL)

Presents perspectives of five authorities in education on the question of academic freedom in elementary, secondary, and higher education. Suggests that the meaning of academic freedom has become more ambiguous and elusive as new social and educational settings have developed in recent years. (Author/MJL)

Criticizes school boards as unresponsive to and unrepresentative of the communities they are expected to serve. Analyzes community demand for and board responses to school desegregation in Berkeley, California and Boston, Massachusetts. Suggests that school boards have not met parents' demands for quality education through school desegregation.…

A principal who survived only two years in a new school candidly explains the reason for his firing: he neglected to take into account how different his new school, school system, and community were from those he had left. (JM)

Discusses a recent Wisconsin "school choice" initiative, under which parents may choose public, private, nonsectarian, or religious schools for their children and have state funding directed to the appropriate institutions. Argues that school choice programs empower parents to provide the best education available to their children. (MAB)