Written to emphasize the harmful consequences of placing the total burden of bringing up the young on the family and the school, to suggest the coordination of adult society with schooling, to renew an interest in cognitive and ethical learning, and to emphasize the need for professional competence, this book discusses the alienation of youth from…

When Shanahan, Meehan, and Mogge (1994) reviewed the issue of professionalization, they characterized previous discussions and debates as controversial, negative, and heated, marked more by discord than unity. A key point of disagreement was whether or under what conditions certification could be considered necessary or desirable. They found only…

This progress report details the objectives of the Guam Department of Education's District Action Plan and progress toward achieving them in fiscal year 03-04 and the first quarter of fiscal year 04-05. Areas covered are: (1) standards and assessment; (2) personnel quality and accountability; (3) federal, state, and local programs; (4) home-school…

This manual in Spanish covers thirteen different topics relevant to the education of students with disabilities in the era of educational reform and standards-based education. Sections include: (1) "Raising Standards of Learning: Standards-Based Education and Students with Disabilities" (Janet R. Vohs, Julia K. Landau, and Carolyn…

The standards-based reform movement has the potential to improve American Indian education. The philosophy underlying the language arts standards that promotes the active use of authentic language and the teaching of skills in context, and the constructivist theory of learning reflected in the mathematics and science standards are both consistent…

President Bush's comprehensive education plan includes major initiatives in areas ranging from accountability to school safety. While breaking new ground in some areas, Bush's plan accelerates the progress states have made in improving quality, performance, and flexibility in public education. This status report reviews the progress of states in…

One of the critical elements of effective schools developed as a result of recent reform efforts and restructuring processes was the concept of learning communities and learning circles. This short paper discusses learning communities and learning circles. It defines learning communities as "a fellowship of learners in which the teachers in a…

This publication presents papers given at a 1998 joint meeting of the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association which focused on teacher quality. One common thread of this conference was criticism of the growing practice of granting emergency certification to unprepared or underprepared teachers. The papers address how to…

An interview with the federal secretary of education, Richard W. Riley, covers the new administrator's policy goals, strategies for educational reform, perceptions of the federal role in education, approaches that differ from previous administrations', solutions for disadvantagement, and attitudes about free speech. (MSE)

Maine's gubernatorially appointed Commission on Secondary Education produced eight overarching observations and six core principles governing learning climate, teacher expectations, differentiated instruction, assessment, democratic engagement, and program coherency. This new vision challenges schools and communities to rethink how they assess,…

Outlines disparities in educational access, proposing reforms for equalizing opportunities to learn and examining social and economic challenges; reducing achievement gaps; inequality and achievement; the influence of funding on achievement (particularly among African American students); what matters in teaching (e.g., access to quality teaching,…

The term "corporate university", which has come into wide use in the last decade, is applied to three kinds of organizations: (1) "established," "mainstream", "non-profit universities" adapting to economic and technological pressures by adopting managerial practices of modern for-profit corporations; (2) "newly established", "highly innovative…

The past two decades have witnessed a significant growth in the number of school improvement programs and in the accompanying efforts to evaluate such programs. Passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2002 has intensified the need for evaluations to assess and understand the quality and value of educational interventions. Well over a…

Special education is now an established part of public education in the United States--by law and by custom. However, it is still widely misunderstood and continues to be dogged by controversies related to such things as categorization, grouping, assessment, placement, funding, instruction, and a variety of legal issues. The purpose of this…

The 10 issues of this organizational bulletin for the 1995-96 school year present reports, reviews, and essays on issues concerning the advancement of higher education as well as organizational news items. Major articles include: "Bowling Alone"--An Interview with Robert Putnam; "Crossing Boundaries: Pathways to Productive Learning…