Preparing America's children to start school ready to learn will depend in large part on the availability, quality, and affordability of early education and care. Research conducted since the 1970s indicates that, despite increases, the supply of formal early education and care programs is not adequate to meet the needs of all families. Many…

This collection of 15 papers reconceptualizes the problem of failure in schools and describe the interlocking structural arrangements, curricular and instructional practices, and other school conditions that constitute barriers blocking all students' access to knowledge. A new agenda is offered for the national reform movement, an agenda that…

Major issues facing higher education in Michigan and future trends and demographics are addressed in this 1984 progress report. Attention is directed to the following issues: coordination and communication between educational sectors, particularly regarding admissions standards; precollegiate education; the quality of undergraduate education;…

Seventy-four papers from a 1986 international conference on improving university teaching are presented. Topics include: student-teacher relationships, the pulse of the academic professional, improving teaching via techology, campus-corporate linkages, institutional changes and liberal learning, improving university teaching through evaluation,…

An overview is provided of the discussion at the conference, as well as edited versions of the keynote address and nine commissioned papers prepared as background for the working sessions: "Achieving Quality and Equality" (Donald M. Stewart); "Financial Aid and Ethnic Minorities" (Jacob O. Stampen and Robert H. Fenske); "Minority Education…

Suggestions are made in this book for making significant improvements in the schools. Based on "A Study of Schooling," an extensive on-the-scene investigation of classrooms across the country, the suggestions for significant improvement begin with the premise that the schools must be redesigned piece by piece. All aspects of schooling…

For more than three decades, the courts have attempted to resolve the effects of desegregation on educational quality and educational access. This report reviews a recent court ruling on the 26-year-old desegregation case, Mapp versus Board of Education, in relation to emerging demographic patterns in the Chattanooga (Tennessee) Public Schools…

A research guide on student access to the Arizona University System, with studies of retention and persistence, is presented as one working paper in the final report of the Arizona Board of Regents' Task Force on Excellence, Efficiency and Competitiveness. Six topics of discussion, covering areas to be investigated, are as follows: academic…

Designed to provide background information for a study of higher education in California to be conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, this report describes the essential elements of the system. Section 1 provides an overview of California, postsecondary education in the state, and higher education agencies and…

This report attempts to remedy the neglect of educational equality in recent educational reports by discussing both the educational status of black Americans and recent policy trends as they affect black students. Following an overview, trends in income and employment, family characteristics, and the degree of social mobility are discussed as a…

A review of studies conducted from 1973-1984 shows continuing inequalities between rural Appalachian and non-Appalachian school districts in Kentucky, particularly in the areas of expenditures, sources of revenue, and holding power. The gap between Appalachian and non-Appalachian school systems in per pupil expenditures and the percentage of…

A plan for reducing or consolidating institutions and programs of the University of Wisconsin (UW) is presented, based on a request by Wisconsin Governor Patrick J. Lucey in 1975. The Governor's basic fiscal and enrollment assumptions are identified, and the findings and recommendations of the UW system President John Weaver are presented. Part 1…

Recommendations to improve quality in undergraduate study while maintaining access are offered that would involve statewide entry and exit standards and better preparation of students to meet the standards. Evidence suggests that an estimated 40 to 50 percent of entering freshmen will be referred to remedial education, and colleges may be granting…

The need for better high school/college articulation is addressed in five papers. In "High School/College Partnerships That Work," Ernest L. Boyer describes the ongoing efforts to encourage high school/college collaboration and considers five principles necessary for establishing cooperative programs, including the need for educators at…

This statement explains the need for private financial support of state colleges and universities, and suggests that such support makes the difference between adequacy and excellence in higher education. Private support makes available scholarships and loans, increases the distinguished faculty through endowed chairs, builds special facilities,…