Reviews the background, intent, and provisions of the Educational Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA), a law designed to simplify and consolidate 30 Federal elementary and secondary education assistance programs. Asserts that significant deregulation will not occur under ECIA, and that the Act will create as many problems as it solves. (GC)

President Carter has made a strong verbal commitment to civil rights and commendable appointments to important positions, but there has not been uniform implementation of this policy. (Author/EB)

Examines programs to encourage girls and minority boys in mathematics, focusing on the need to address multiple equity areas. Mathematics education should involve students as active learners with plenty of hands-on activities, correct academic deficiencies, involve teachers with similar expectations for students independent of sex and race, and be…

Two sets of opinion exist regarding the control of schools. The first pertains to the freedom of parental choice in education and the right of individuals and associations to run private schools subject to minimal government controls. The second stresses the overriding need to promote greater equality of opportunity in the form of publicly…

This document contains 22 papers presented at an international congress on mathematical education. An introductory report describes the work of the theme group, "Mathematics for All," motivated by the move to universal elementary education in developing countries, the move to universal secondary education in industrialized countries, and…

This policy study reviews American school desegregation plans in general and in four cities (Atlanta, Boston, Milwaukee, and Seattle) in particular. Chapter 1 focuses on relevant court decisions from 1954 to the present. Chapter 2 encapsulates the interaction of States, communities, and courts and presents the study's criteria for plan…

The creation of a separate and unequal system of education for blacks and whites in Chicago in the 1920s and 1930s, and black responses to the situation are described and analyzed in this book. Drawing upon material from black newspapers and journals, Chicago Board of Education documents, census data, private manuscript collections, and personal…

In the 1938 Gaines decision, the United States Supreme Court required the State of Missouri to provide for the higher education of black citizens within its borders rather than by the previous out-of-state tuition plan. This report examines the lives of litigants and the effect of their actions in personal and social terms. (PS)

A study of inservice needs of principals and teachers at schools in the process of desegregation indicates the following: (1) White staff must perceive the need for change; (2) inservice training should address overall goals and teachers' implementation needs; and (3) teachers must be interested in pupils' needs as well as in their own…

Summarizes two national studies that revealed computer inequity, an unequal access to computer learning as a consequence of socioeconomic status, race, and/or gender. Discusses implications for education policy and suggests some approaches to financing equity of access and to curriculum changes. (KH)

Policies governing education of ethnic groups in Malaysia favor the Malays, in part to compensate them for disadvantages suffered under British rule. Strong sanctions are used to discourage protest by other ethnic groups. (Author)

Reviews the historical background of the 1985 protests in the Indian State Gujerat. Discusses the major issues in promoting the policy of "compensatory discrimination," directed toward the (1) Scheduled Castes, (2) Scheduled Tribes, and (3) Other Backward Classes. Compares casteism to racism and offers suggestions for dismantling…

In 1997, an active year for school-finance legislation, states responded in a variety of ways to court decisions. This report provides an overview of school-finance legislation for that year. Historically, school-finance suits have focused on the equity and adequacy of state funding, and the decisions handed down in 1997, for the most part,…

Reviews early and recent policies and programs of the Mexican government to provide for the educational needs of the Indian minorities, with emphasis on bilingual education. Recommends further measures that will give Indians equal status in Mexican society. (MJL)

Three individualistic accounts of social justice, (natural rights, human welfare, and fairness) are applicable to language policy planning in education. The article considers them limited and recommends a collectivist account which views various groups' needs as potentially different. It notes that language minority students require schooling…