Although Susan Allan's article in the same "Educational Leadership" issue has cogently delineated ability grouping's academic benefits for gifted youth, she has failed to recognize the emerging reformist agenda to eliminate grouping as racist. Oakes's and Goodlad's descriptions of instruction at various grouping levels have lead to erroneous…

In an extraordinary ruling, Kentucky's Supreme Court justices have declared that state schools are to be held accountable for the success of all students. Schools must meet a threshold level of improvement, including an increase in the proportion of students performing at the benchmark level, maintaining desired attendance levels, and remaining in…

Now 13 years old and maturing, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was recently re-endorsed as the centerpiece of the federal government's commitment to equity and quality in elementary and secondary education. (Author/MLF)

Shifts in funding priorities at the National Institute of Education may indicate significant changes in the types of activities NIE will support in coming years. Less emphasis will be placed on curriculum development activities and more on research and strengthening others' development capabilities and efforts. (Author)

Discussing the use of tracking (grouping students with similar abilities), the author illustrates the positive side of this often criticized classroom practice. Appropriate tracking accommodates individual differences while motivating students. (MD)

To create genuine teaching/learning environments, educators must use "pragmatic idealism" to balance disparate educational elements. A newly transformed Virginia middle school welcomes students at school entrances, has eliminated bells and tracking, uses a team teaching approach, holds numerous award assemblies, and incorporates plenty…

"The Bell Curve"'s racist overtones have caused a furor, but the book's real (equally controversial) thesis is intellectual segregation's economic and political consequences. The authors bemoan this elitist segregation, yet favor industry's use of IQ tests to select workers. By using IQ to measure a person's ultimate worth, they…

Within the next decade, national standards describing essential outcomes in various school subjects could become the glue holding together curriculum frameworks and guides, textbook adoption, staff development, and student assessment. This article discusses confusion over definitions and intentions, raises questions about delivery and assessment…

In December 1992, the National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment (NCSESA) discussed preliminary working documents addressing Science for All, an ambitious plan to develop comprehensive science education standards by 1994. The science standards will define the understanding level that all students--regardless of background,…

Researcher and former teacher Jeannie Oakes enlarges on the message of her 1985 publication "Keeping Track," a research-based account of tracking's devastating effects in public schools. The widespread practice of tracking students will not be dismantled until educators truly realize that schools can help "make children smart."…

Whatever its causes, racial isolation is social dynamite. Problems and destiny of America and American education cannot be separated from fate of American cities, which daily grow poorer, more violent, less socially cohesive, and more isolated. Problems cannot be addressed without taking racism into account. Schools can help students understand…

The principal author of the 1992 study "How Schools Shortchange Girls" argues that too many proposed remedies are simplistic formulations based on the assumption that gender equity is "for girls only." Opportunities will widen for all students if educators acknowledge schooling's gender bias, review their own practices, and…

Focuses on the ways in which the socialization and education of women in our culture inhibit the full development of their potential. (MLF)

Reviews the educational and legal history of Black education; criticizes the emphasis on achievement scores as a predominant variable in the measurement of such programs; and states that conclusions about Black enrollment, retention, and successful matriculation are generally positive. (Author/MLF)

A coauthor of "Who Chooses, Who Loses?" (1996) argues that choice does little to desegregate schools or break down ethnic family enclaves. Choice schools are usually founded on publicly financed organizations. Choice appears to increase parental involvement without substantially improving student achievement. Choice schools need clear plans for…