The accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 place high-poverty schools and racially diverse schools at a disadvantage because they rely on mean proficiency scores and require all subgroups to meet the same goals for accountability. In this article, student achievement data from six states are used to highlight…

Offers a taxonomy of state policy mechanisms (structural organization, revenue generation, resource allocation, personnel training and certification, program definition and accreditation, curriculum materials selection and development, and student testing and assessment) for promoting one or more of three competing goals (efficiency, equity, and…

In the past, researchers concerned with educational achievement gaps sought to identify underlying causes of those gaps by examining deficiencies of students' home backgrounds. In reaction against this "blame the victim" approach, scholars have moved toward focusing on positive aspects of diversity. This article raises critical questions about the…

Discusses how America can improve its educational system and student performance by creating equitable opportunities for all children to learn challenging curricula. Three problems are addressed: confronting entrenched beliefs, practices and policies; dealing with educational tracking; and working towards common rigorous standards combined with…

Many policymakers are shedding essential tenets of modern statecraft. Few seek to sustain the monolithic one best system of schooling: herding students through large institutions, regulated by bureaucracy and guided by professionals under monopolistic conditions. Instead, distinctly unmodern forms of policy and institutional reformation are in…

Discusses declining Federal support for educational programs under the Reagan administration and identifies inconsistencies in Federal arguments to support current educational funding policy. Challenges researchers to provide an analytical framework within which policymakers concerned with the financing and direction of education would be…

Explores the greater emphasis on the role of education in federal social and economic policy and how it came about. It is suggested that changes in the relationship between class, race, and the state in the 1930s and 1940s set in motion a dynamic that made education the chief instrument of social reform two decades later. (GR)

Presents the story of a research team's efforts to conduct a multisite case study of 10 racially mixed schools engaged in trying to reduce ability grouping or tracking. When case boundaries are coconstructed with the help of respondents they become a finding of interest as well as a methodological approach. (SLD)

Presents highlights from a conversation via BITNET on education policy and priorities for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. The electronic discussion took place over 3 weeks with approximately 700 participants. Themes of balancing kindergarten through grade 12 education and higher education and the government's role in research…

Argues that education must include nurturing the student's spirit in order to educate the student for a democratic life. Why such an education is difficult to provide, the challenges faced in providing it, and the contributions research has made are discussed. Further discussed is an agenda for research, practice, and policy, and some important…

Challenges identified by T. Bailey (1993) as obstacles to youth apprenticeship programs are accurate but do not justify the turn to alternative approaches he recommends. U.S.-style program can be built to overcome these difficulties if employer-worker collaboration can be fostered and institutional bases can be constructed. (SLD)

S. F. Hamilton and the author agree on the potential of youth apprenticeship programs for education but disagree on the strength of the problems facing implementation of apprenticeship models. A two-level reform strategy is recommended to develop an institutional and legal structure and to encourage employer participation. (SLD)

Discusses the impact of school choice on educational outcomes, examining: whether there is any evidence that the various alternatives to traditional public schools are delivering education in a fundamentally different and more efficient form; what the equity consequences and demographic implications are for enhanced school choice; and how enhanced…

Discusses report by a National Research Council panel on the overrepresentation of minority children and males in special education programs, especially for the educable mentally retarded. Identifies and discusses two key issues: (1) validity of referral and assessment procedures, and (2) quality of instruction received in regular classroom and…

Suggests that educational researchers need to (1) expand schooling beyond the narrow interests of the marketplace; (2) view multiculturalism as central to democracy; (3) refuse to equate nationalism and monoculturalism; and (4) substitute community, solidarity, and public responsibility for emphasis on choice and individual competitiveness. (SLD)