The U. S. high school system is in crisis, Wise argues. More than 1 million students drop out every year, significant numbers of college freshmen require remedial courses to handle college work, and employers consistently express disappointment in the skills of graduates. The high dropout rate and students' lack of preparedness carries…

The rift between academic and vocational education has been magnified by the physical isolation of vocational facilities. Vocational educators must abandon their apologetic soapboxes to help parents and students realize the vocational nature of almost all education. Dialogue is essential. Teachers must assume responsibility for educating all…

Alfie Kohn seems ill-informed about Total Quality Management's educational benefits. Students have always been workers; what is changing is the nature of that work. In schools of quality, teachers and students learn together as they create collaborative, trusting environments where failure is but a temporary step on the road to continuous…

More than 20 years ago, A Nation At Risk warned that "a rising tide of mediocrity" threatened the U.S. education system and that the United States would be unable to effectively compete with other economies because of a scarcity of graduates in science and technology. In 2001, No Child Left Behind reiterated that message, pushing through…

Before jumping on another corporate bandwagon, educators should recall the primary difference between business and education. Workers produce consumer goods, whereas students should be concerned with constructing meaning. The marketplace model, even correctly applied, does not belong in the classroom. Total Quality Management is a content-free,…

Society must reconceptualize the public school as any nonprofit entity willing to be accountable for educating our children. The new system should emphasize common standards and school choice. Charter experiments in Moses Lake, Washington; Milwaukee; and Harlem demonstrate the power of choice and transformational leadership. (Contains 11…