Since its fraternal origins a century ago, Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) International has been foremost a society of individuals joined together in professional collegiality and dedicated to tenets of leadership, service, and research in education. As PDK crosses the threshold into its second century, that early spirit of association lit in 1906, like…

Humorous recounting of criticism of the schools through the ages. (IRT)

This last article in a series of seven describes the outcome of attempts to implement performance contracting in an innovative school district in Colorado. In reviewing the series, the author concludes that although many of the innovations discussed did not survive, the schools were none the worse for their experimentation. (WD)

As we move into the 21st century, a largely unprecedented trend has emerged. Rural and urban schools, for so long faced with distinctly different challenges, have increasingly found themselves facing similar problems: a declining tax base, rising rates of linguistic and cultural diversity, deteriorating infrastructures, and inability to attract…

Recognizing that educational reformers have historically used international comparisons to point out weaknesses in the educational styles currently prevalent in the United States--whether those styles were centered on individual development, scientific achievement, or other objectives--allows us to see today's calls for reform in broader…

Outlines New York's approach to values education. (IRT)

Five historians name those individuals who had the greatest effect on American education. (Author/IRT)

Recounts stories of schooling contained on Sumerian tablets to show that the more fundamental features of school interaction endure basically unaltered through the years. (Author/IRT)

Explores and shatters the myth that students' reading scores were much higher in the first half of this century than they are now. (WD)

Outlines Dewey's views on the proper objectives of vocational education, suggests that these objectives deserve serious reconsideration today, and outlines warning signs that indicate when a vocational program is falling short of genuine education. (Author/IRT)

In the present civic environment there is no purpose for liberal education, for an education worthy of free persons, for the simple reason that there is no place for free persons, for citizens in the full sense who engage together, integrally involved in the pursuit of common purposes. (Author)

Briefly describes the history and current status of the U.S. Department of Education. (Contains 30 references.) (PKP)

The author uses samples of his and his father's college writing to suggest that spelling and punctuation were not taught quite so well in the past as people would have us believe. (IRT)

After examining the results of polls and other indicators of attitudes toward discipline in the schools, the author concludes that our perception of the problem has not changed significantly in 25 years and that the solution, self-responsibility, is the same now as then. (IRT)