Although the default rate on federally insured student loans is declining, the amount of student borrowing has almost tripled since 1990. Borrowers may be finding loans more burdensome, as nearly one-third are unsubsidized and amounts borrowed are steadily increasing. Also, the General Accounting Office has discovered serious program management…

Secretary of Education from 1988-90 under the Reagan and Bush Administrations describes efforts to establish national education performance goals and improve the academic performance of Hispanic Americans. Also discusses accountability, narrowing the achievement gap, balancing academic achievement with character education, and teacher education.…

Uses data from a multistate, multidistrict study of education reform conducted by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) at the University of Pennsylvania to examine the roles of federal, state, and local governments in standards-based reform and how intergovernmental relationships have influenced education-reform policies and…

The variety of educational organizations and their obsessions is awesome; however, because of the common enemy, the Reagan administration, the lobbyists representing the education associations have become adept at putting aside their differences. (Author/MLF)

Outlines the trends in adult education at the postsecondary level, expresses some concerns about what is happening, summarizes the implications for improving equity in adult education, and suggests policy that the federal government should set in the area of adult education. (IRT)

Many America 2000 proposals should be challenged by educators, in view of powerful and readily available evidence sources, including the Sandia Report suppressed by the Bush Administration. Findings showed that aggregate SAT, NAEP, and GRE scores are rising; dropout rates are declining (except for Hispanics); and beginning teachers' salaries (in…

Considers the role of the federal government and the courts in school desegregation. Notes the resegregative effects of White flight to the suburbs resulting from desegregation efforts, and discusses the Reagan administration's apparent retreat from enforcement of desegregation orders, using Denver as an example. (PGD)

Examines the effect of the increase in the power and influence of the state and federal governments on teacher education. Argues that more governmental influence is not a promising approach to the solution of the problems facing education. (IRT)

Presents four versions of American educational history highlighting centralization/decentralization issues, American faith in schooling, and cascading national and international changes requiring extraordinary reforms. These diverse stories all arrive at the same conclusion--a need for national goals and performance standards to guide…

The September report on the 36th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools did not go into the finer demographic distinctions that most polls explore. In this article, the author takes a closer look at the data to analyze how various subgroups of the population view the parties' and candidates' stances…

Charged to reconsider what indicators would capture and convey important truths about education and learning, the National Center for Education Statistics' Special Study Panel on Education Indicators wrote a 1991 report that rejected most conventional notions of indicators. Instead, they focused on learner outcomes, institutional quality, school…

School choice will not be an issue in 2000 because many parents will have demanded it and public will have rediscovered consumer power as time-honored American way to encourage innovation and improvement. Marysville, Tennessee, schools are good example; nation should watch as California grapples with population challenges. This year, the state…

Suggests Bush Administration avoid pursing several educational policies such as alternative licensing for teachers, allowing more schools to be run by the private sector. Recommends that Bush educational policymakers push for national certification, national accreditation, making teaching a profession, and targeting support for nonperforming…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, has become a symbol of all things good and bad in education. While the basic concepts of the legislation--accountability for results, research-based education programs, increased parental options, and expanded local control and…

Discusses the political battles over federal support of education in the Congress since Reagan's election to the Presidency, including the reaction to the impact of the report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education. Contrasts the activities and attitudes of Reagan and Kentucky's late Democratic Congressman Carl Perkins. (PGD)