Although urban public school educators are not achieving optimal results, there is no evidence that for-profit educational companies will do any better or possess special expertise in educating poor students of color. Education Alternatives, Inc. has trouble retaining low-paid nonunion paraprofessionals and has cut out minority contractors. The…

A 1998 American Association of University Women report describes a deepening technological divide between girls and boys. Boys are attracted to graphic arts and design; girls typically enroll in clerical and data-entry courses--the 1990s version of typing. Educators must help girls become "power users" and designers. (14 references) (MLH)

Designed to improve equity, MMAP (the Middle School Math Through Applications Project) draws traditionally underserved students, such as minorities and girls, into higher mathematics. The plan features an assessment strategy based on what students are learning, definitions of quality work, student accountability, and encouragement of further…

Educators have long recognized the negative pedagogical effects of the strong centralization, curricular uniformity, and fragmentation that characterizes Israel's equity-driven education system. A recent experiment with site-based management at nine elementary schools may increase teacher and parental involvement, improve school climate, and…

Tennessee's Project STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Ratio), a large longitudinal project involving students in kindergarten through third grade, has provided important information about class-size effects on pupil achievement and development. The project showed that small classes provided higher student outcomes and better student behaviors than…

For years, College Board has been promoting and publicizing necessary pathways to postsecondary education. Even bolder step is EQUITY 2000--demanding program of prealgebra, algebra, and geometry designed to ensure minority students' success in vigorous high school mathematics programs. Pacesetter initiative aims to make high-standards curriculum,…

The Council for Basic Education advocates for a strong liberal arts education, linked to high standards in core subject areas. A basic education has an academic focus centered on intellectual values. If students graduate from schools with high academic expectations, companies will have internationally competitive work forces. Equity can be…

When 29 percent of final grades for students at Bendle Middle School showed up as Ds and Es, teachers knew something had to give. Kenkel, Hoelscher, and West describe how the ABCI approach, based on mastery learning, shook up a community culture of low expectations for working class kids, and opened the way for more appropriate teaching methods…

One of the most important aspects of NCLB is its demand that states ensure a "highly qualified" teacher for every student. This provision draws much-needed attention to the importance of ensuring equitable student access to high-quality teachers, write the authors. Some aspects of the provision have raised legitimate concerns--including…

Will greater school choice result in more responsive, higher quality schools and happier parents? Or will proliferating options further sort students and families by race, social class, and special interest? Increasingly, education is viewed as a private good. If parents become autonomous, self-interested consumers, erosion of common purposes and…

Since the U.S. has no strong centralized educational program, the drive for systemic change is proceeding more slowly and unsystematically than in Japan or France. Systemic reform strategies must emphasize building schools' capacity for self-renewal. Getting from uniformly high standards to diverse delivery systems is the challenge. Marshall…

After creating developmentally appropriate curricula to satisfy students' needs and encourage genius, educators must design schools according to democratic principles. Educators must make education free and universally accessible, equalize opportunities and resources, abolish family wealth's influence, respect students' diverse abilities and…

Notes the schools' sorry record at promoting the achievement and participation of Black, Hispanic, and poor children--the sector providing most of tomorrow's students. Explores misconceptions about learning and individual differences, condemns grouping and tracking processes for restricting students' access to knowledge, and suggests alternative…

"Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools" describes the contrasts between rich and poor schools located within a few miles of each other. The author, Jonathan Kozol, claims that contrasts are due to inequitable funding; he would abolish the property tax and replace it with equitable funding for every child deriving from a…

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…