The narrative in this chapter runs as follows. As the political, social, and economic environments that surround the American high school undergo seismic shifts, they create new forms of secondary education. We report that the environmental conditions between 1890 and 1920 were such that most of the pillars that anchored the American high school…

The articles in this special issue examine the increasingly complex relationship between segregation, desegregation, and integration in a sociopolitical environment vastly different from that of the initial days of desegregation. These issues are examined from historical and political perspectives, contextualizing the complexities of segregation,…

Background/Context: There historically exists significant epistemological and political tension within the field of curriculum studies. Further, although there is some application of standpoint theory in educational research generally, and little used within curriculum studies specifically, much of it is undertheorized at best and, in many cases,…

Background/Context: Questions about teacher quality, including how teachers ought to be educated and licensed, rank near the top of the educational agenda in the United States. These controversies persist because of lack of consensus about what "teacher quality" means, conflicting claims about the empirical evidence, and public skepticism about…

Background: In the past decade, there has been an increasing national policy push for educators to systematically collect, interpret, and use data for instructional decision making. The assumption by the federal government is that having data systems will be enough to prompt the use of data for a wide range of decision making. These policies rely…

Background/Context: As of 2006, "social justice" is frequently appearing as the centerpiece of numerous educational settings and spaces, such as article and book titles, teacher activist organizations, teacher education policy documents and mission statements, and scholarly conferences. Unfortunately, the organizations and individuals employing…

This paper presents the view that the transfer of educational norms and practices should be examined in terms of networks of communication between members of different educational communities though which information about other educational systems is assessed. (MM)

A follow-up study on the Kensington Elementary School indicated a need for restructuring of educational innovation methods. In developing theory and practice dealing with innovation, technological, political, and cultural perspectives and history and life-history approaches are useful. (DF)

Given the uncertain benefits of universalizing higher education and the possibility of substantial costs, the issue needs to be examined as a social phenomenon and a political proposal. Social and institutional consequences of this type of educational change need to be weighed. (SM)

Research on national systems of education helps explain the U.S. pattern of schooling. Three interrelated factors continue to shape the present transformation of U.S. higher education: the centrality of status competition, the lack of centralized political authority over schooling, and the loose connection between education and the economy. (SM)

Describes a longitudinal observation of Chicago school reform by a research team, and chronicles a method for tracking the implications of school reform over time. The study concludes that Chicago school reform gained strength because it originated as a broad-based social movement that spread ownership among many groups and defined reform as an…

Discusses the relationship between Chicago's school reform and history, noting implications for current reform: (1) origins of bureaucracy and ascendance of experts and professionals; (2) educational reform as a social movement; (3) race and ethnicity; (4) revitalization of the public sphere; and (5) limits of educational reform. (SM)

Comments on the two preceding articles that examined Chicago's complex school reform efforts. The articles present differing views, with one emphasizing democratic and social issues related to reform and the other highlighting the organization of business leaders into a political force. They also raise questions about power, social movements, and…

Examines responses of homosexual parents and their children's teachers and administrators concerning parent-school communication. The article discusses dynamics that encourage homosexual parents to disclose their homosexuality to the school and the value or risk placed on disclosure. It reports on issues of gender, offering parent and faculty…

Describes reform efforts in one urban ghetto school, examining processes and events that illustrate how social manifestations of racial and social class can combine to vitiate reform efforts. Barriers to reform efforts in ghetto schools are detailed. (SM)