The growing diversity of our society requires transformation of ideological perspectives and changes in social, cultural, and institutional relations in order to legitimize diversity as a societal strength. Dominant ideologies and classroom practices have functioned to serve only one segment of American society. Attention must be directed toward…

Issues emerging from a collaborative evaluation of an interactive video teaching trial conducted in Rockhampton (Queensland, Australia) are reported. The trial aimed at providing an assessment of the feasibility and potential of interactive video technology for teaching and learning in a diverse area of Australia with a number of small, widely…

Classroom teachers are affected directly and indirectly by external forces: international, national, social, institutional, pedagogical, economic, commercial, professional, and religious. It is proposed that teachers make use of constructive forces and combat destructive ones by using organizational and individual resources to create change.…

Focusing on the experience of Seattle (Washington), this paper attempts to determine why school districts across the country have recently sought to de-emphasize segregation. Concerns about the validity of pursuing integration, particularly through busing, have been present throughout the history of school desegregation, but only recently is there…

A comparison of the linguistic contexts of Scotland and Taiwan focuses on three aspects: (1) existence of two linguistic codes belonging to the same language family; (2) the status of one of those languages as the standard set by a larger, more powerful neighbor from whose perspective any other variety is likely to look like a dialect; and (3) the…

Traces the demographic, economic, social, and political contexts of educational reform in Chicago (Illinois) resulting from its initiative to transfer power to elected councils. Argues that several key problems remain in the areas of minority participation, educator sense of ownership, and conflicts between local councils and the central…

Explains how land conditions and local land ownership patterns have contributed to the educational change that left a rural, primarily African-American town in North Carolina without its own school. The town's history, largely interpreted by one elderly African-American man, shows how economic structures have evolved over the past century. (SLD)

This book explores how the use of academic grouping and tracking can limit the educational opportunities available to black students. Equal educational opportunities are examined for 174 U.S. school districts with at least 15,000 students and a 1 percent black enrollment. The focus is on political forces that affect education. The analysis…

This paper describes and evaluates a political skills course for college students. Course objectives include teaching students to do the following: organize and run a meeting; bargain effectively; communicate within and between groups; manage a crisis; organize a political coalition; be aware of personal stress and some of the ways to reduce it;…

This report describes the planning process for the Export Academy at Eastern Michigan University, designed to prepare students for a Master of Arts degree combining export and trade studies with second language (French, German, Spanish). In 1989-91, the Academy prepared the proposal for the new Master's degree program and sponsored a series of…

Considers issues of school choice and school autonomy. Parents, society as a whole, and the educator team of each school should have a lead role in answering the basic questions about schooling. Examples from schools in other countries illustrate some new approaches to school autonomy. (SLD)

Puerto Ricans have been largely ignored in the current debate over English as a national language. Once the rhetoric of language restrictionists is discarded, the real issue becomes that of the political empowerment of Puerto Ricans. The history of language policy in relation to Puerto Ricans is also reviewed. (SLD)

Reviews efforts to develop national content standards for teaching English. Today's standards movements are distinguished from earlier efforts in that the learner is recognized as active, the meaning is socially and historically contingent, and the purpose is the development of language for political power and the creation and appreciation of…

Reviews experiences from the science curricula developed by the National Science Foundation in the 1950s and 1960s for their relevance to national standard-setting efforts today. Experiences include choosing standards of success that fit available expertise, emphasizing professional development, and defining the target audience clearly. (SLD)

The voucher "air war" is a conflict between two longstanding elements of the American political tradition: a time-honored commitment to maximum personal choice and individual freedom versus an equally compelling belief in need for a common civil infrastructure and communitarian interests. Will embracing vouchers further erode the public…