The Commissioner of Education for Massachusetts discusses progress in desegregation, educational opportunity, and educational quality in that state, and calls for greater community outreach in an effort to rebuild a social commitment to public education. (GC)

Given the content of the Reagan administration's New Federalism initiatives and their accompanying effects on Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments, the logical means of effectively continuing educational equity appear to rest with the states. A dozen states have enacted laws similar to Title IX, and more states are considering enactment of…

The purpose of this paper, one of three related documents, is to present hypotheses about the causes for the success of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. The fund's success is demonstrated by the following achievements, all discussed indepth: diversity among the fund's applicants and grantees, multidimensional projects,…

During the 1997-98 school year, a large elementary school in the Kansas City area began to research the community learning arrangement within schools. In the early part of the second semester, teachers completed an anonymous survey in which they displayed overwhelming support for the change. Five community learning groups were established and…

The purpose of this paper, one of three related documents, is to describe the events leading to the creation and organization of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, which was authorized by Congress in 1972 through the Educational Amendments Act. The legislative mandate for the fund was to improve postsecondary educational…

This is a speech by the Dean of Student Affairs for Women at Jackson State University on the subject of racism in higher education. The bias against blacks in testing and admission procedures is mentioned. The need for administrators to confront and remove their own biased racial attitudes, and to develop an atmosphere for equal opportunity and…

The Superintendent of Worcester, Massachusetts, public schools (1) discusses the relationship between equity and excellence in education, and (2) encourages Massachusetts administrators to provide students and their parents with excellent programs and with choices among programs. (GC)

Students, teachers, principals, and communities in areas of high poverty and high proportion of minorities are struggling to improve their test scores in this time of high-stakes testing and accountability. Discrimination, inequities, and injustices prevalent in these schools and communities are also issues that must be addressed. Ten principals…

This essay outlines the federal role through Congress, the executive branch, and the judiciary in increasing equality of educational opportunity in the United States. Special emphasis is placed on government efforts of the 1960s and 1970s. (CT)

Attributes of North Carolina school systems that account for discrepancies in students' opportunities to learn about and with computers were investigated in this study, which explored relationships between microcomputer availability and financial and demographic data for a sample of 141 school districts to explore the dimensions of equity in…

The outgoing president of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, (NASDSE), voices his concerns over trends in special education. He notes the lack of attention devoted to speech education in the most recent reports on the status of education, suggests the existence of a subtle attitude of complacency regarding…

A free and pluralistic society is maintained by constitutional guarantees and an educated populace. Nigeria, like other nations in West Africa, spent billions of dollars and embarked on a program of mass educational improvement in the 1960's and 1970's. While secondary school enrollment increased eleven times between 1962 and 1975, over half the…

Historically, school finance has been concerned with three things: adequate provision, equity, and efficiency. While the first of these has been substantially achieved with free public education and a stabilizing student population, recent court cases remind us that the term "adequate educational program" has never been conclusively…

Because educational equity is a developing area, courts have little precedent to guide rulings. Extra-legal evidence may help in deciding what the law is. Social science evidence is also invited by the courts because educational equity law is purportedly an instrument of social change. The sophistication of social science research, as well as the…

Over the past 10 years, several laws have been passed and Executive Orders issued to eliminate some of the sex-based discrimination found in employment. The speaker, director of Education and Women's Activities of the International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers, discusses several of these laws in depth, including: (1) the Equal…